Collaborative Research: Measurement-Augemented Spectrum Databases for White Spaces

The recent wave of radio spectrum deregulation encourages shared use of underutilized spectrum (so-called 'white spaces') where licensed users (primary) co-exist with unlicensed or lightly licensed users (secondary). Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has recommended use of online spectrum databases to ensure that primary communications are protected against interference coming from secondary communications. However, these databases provide notoriously poor estimates of whether a primary communication is active as they are based on empirically driven radio propagation modeling. This accuracy issue ultimately weakens the business case for white space networks, particularly in urban regions where the demand of both primary and secondary use is high. The core intellectual merit of the project is a fundamental rethinking of the current approach to spectrum databases. The project develops a functional system architecture that improves the spectrum database estimates by integrating the current modeling-based approach with distributed spectrum measurement data. The project delivers the key components necessary to realize such measurement-augmented database system: (i) open access spectrum observatory tool backed by models and databases, (ii) a spatial statistics-based approach to integrate modeling and measurement data, (iii) practical methods to collect large-scale, distributed spectrum measurement data to feed into the database. Success in the project will revitalize the interest in white spaces among commercial operators and also will help FCC in future spectrum policy formulation. The open access spectrum observatory tool will provide researchers with significant data sets and models. The project also plans technology transfer and cross-disciplinary educational efforts in wireless systems.