Download Wireless Technology, Spectrum Policy and Rural Network

Applying New Technologies to Old
Spectrum Management Problems
Presentation by
Dale N. Hatfield
Adjunct Professor, University of Colorado at Boulder
at the
CFP Bi-Annual Meeting
San Jose, CA
January 22-23, 2008
Introduction
• Purpose
• Outline
– Quick Review of Spectrum Management
Terms/Processes
– Constraints and Criticisms of the Traditional
Approach to Spectrum Management
– Proposals for Reforming the Traditional Approach
– Advances in Wireless Technology
– Tracing One Thread of a Reform Initiative
– Why So Little Market Progress on This
Alternative?
– Concluding Thoughts
Quick Review
• Major Steps in Spectrum Management
– Allocation, Service Rules, Assignment and
Enforcement; Primary and Secondary Status
• Agencies Responsible for Spectrum
Management
• Traditional Centralized “Command and
Control” Approach to Management
Quick Review
• Pressures on the Resource
– More users, more uses, greater bandwidths
– Traditional solutions to spectrum congestion
•
•
•
•
Reallocation
Move higher in frequency
Increased sharing
Improved technology
– More spectrally efficient technologies (bits/second/Hertz)
– More frequency reuse
– Compression
– Focus Here on Increased Sharing (Types)
Constraints and Criticisms of
the Traditional Approach
• Criticisms of the Command And Control
System of Spectrum Management
– Excessive rigidity
– Stifles technical and service innovation
– Lacks incentives for efficient use of the resource
– Creates barriers to sharing
– Erects barriers to other beneficial agreements
and transactions
– Invites rent seeking behavior
Constraints and Criticisms of
the Traditional Approach
• Rigidities in the Allocation, Allotment, and
Assignment of Spectrum
– “Static” spectrum management results in
spectrum going unused in the frequency, time
and/space dimensions – administrative scarcity
– More dynamic/decentralized approaches to
managing the resource were often hampered by
equipment limitations
– Under-utilization due to administrative scarcity
and equipment constraints has been verified by
recent spectrum occupancy measurements
Constraints and Criticisms of
the Traditional Approach
• Rigidities in the Allocation, Allotment, and
Assignment of Spectrum
– As stated by SPTF:
• “In many bands, spectrum access is a more
significant problem than physical scarcity of
spectrum, in large part due to legacy commandand-control regulation that limits the ability of
potential users to obtain such access.”
– Above suggests that substantial amounts of
spectrum capacity could be freed up by more
dynamic and “opportunistic” approaches to
the management of the resource
Proposals for Reforming the
Traditional Approach
• Challenges
– Reducing rigidities in current system
– Taking advantages of advanced technologies
– Vision of a more flexible future
• Competing Approaches/Models
– Property rights/market incentive model
– “Commons” or “unlicensed access” or “license
exempt” model
– Command and control/engineering model
Advances in Wireless Technology
• Technological Advances for Reducing Past
Constraints
– Software Defined Radios
– Cognitive Radios
– Policy Based Radios
• “Intelligence at the Edge” and Its
Implications
Tracing One Thread of a
Reform Initiative
• Two Inter-related Proposals Directed at
Increased Sharing Thru Market Forces
– Modifying/adopting rules to allow market
transactions – a “Secondary Market” in
spectrum – especially lease transactions
– Modifying/adopting equipment authorization
rules to facilitate the regulatory approval of
SDRs/CRs/PBRs
Tracing One Thread of a
Reform Initiative
• Allows Marketplace Forces to Reduce
Scarcity Thru Increased Sharing
– Licensed holder (lessor) of unused/lightly-used
spectrum has legal ability and financial incentive to
lease under-utilized spectrum
– Entity seeking spectrum access (lessee) has ability to
gain access to under-utilized spectrum by leasing
needed spectrum
– Sophisticated equipment (SDR/CR) supports such
voluntary, market-based transactions by
reducing/minimizing possibility of interference
between the lessees’ and lessors’ systems
Tracing One Thread of a
Reform Initiative
• Notes on This Thread or Alternative
– Sharing is voluntary and potentially
cooperative in response to marketplace forces
– Three aspects of the alternative
• Legal ability (e.g. through the secondary market) to
gain more dynamic/opportunistic access to underutilized spectrum
• Availability of approved equipment to gain more
dynamic/opportunistic access to such spectrum
• Actual ability to gain access to under-utilized
spectrum using such equipment without causing
“excessive” interference to existing licensee(s)
Tracing One Thread of a
Reform Initiative
• Status of the Initiative
– In a series of decisions the FCC has made the
necessary changes to its rules to permit the
creation of a secondary market
• It is now perfectly legal to lease under-utilized spectrum in many bands
• A limited market now exists (e.g., see
http://www.cantor.com/brokerage_services/spectrum_and_tower/).
– Likewise, the FCC has modified its rules and
processes to allow the approval of equipment
that has the characteristics of Software Defined
Radios/Cognitive Radios/Policy Based Radios
Tracing One Thread of a
Reform Initiative
• Status on the Initiative (Cont’d)
– Understandably, there have been some
challenging issues associated with involuntary
or non-cooperative sharing (e.g., TV “White
Space”) but those are largely different issues
– For voluntary/cooperative sharing there are
no longer regulatory barriers to such
transactions but few secondary market lease
transactions have actually occurred; Why is
that the case?
Why So Little Progress?
• Possible Explanations:
– Remaining Transaction Costs
– Convergence – Fear of Creating New Competitor
(Versus Traditional “Silos”)
– Insufficient Number of Sellers/Lessors
• Exacerbated by incentives for hoarding and the elimination of
the spectrum cap
– Exclusion of Government Spectrum
– Fear of Permanent Reallocation
– Economies of Scale/Scope and First Mover
Advantages Make It Difficult for Any New Entrant
– Immature Technology
Final Thoughts
• Software Defined Radios/Cognitive Radios/Policy Based Radios
have tremendous potential to solve the problems associated with the
traditional command and control, centralized approach to spectrum
management
• Despite the lack of legal/regulatory barriers to the creation of a
vibrant secondary market in spectrum to facilitate the introduction of
SDR/CR/PBR technology and reduce the amount of under-utilized
spectrum, the current wireless industry structure does not appear to
create strong enough economic incentives for the voluntary
introduction of such advanced systems
• Given this lack of economic incentives, policy-makers may want to
consider a “no harm, no foul” rule or perhaps a “compulsory license”
policy to allow new entry in situations where the incumbents have
failed to use their assigned spectrum efficiently
Contact Information
Dale N. Hatfield
Adjunct Professor
Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program
University of Colorado at Boulder
Engineering Center - ECOT-317
Campus Box 530
Boulder, CO 80309-0530
Main Tel: 1-303-492-8916
Direct Dial: 1-303-492-6648
Fax: 1-303-492-1112
Cell Phone: 1-303-589-4546
Email: [email protected]
or [email protected]