Abstract
One application of cognitive radios is to provide broadband wireless access (BWA) in the licensed TV bands on a secondary access basis. This concept is examined to see under what conditions BWA could be viable. Rural areas require long range communication which requires spectrum to be available over large areas in order to be used by cognitive radios. Urban areas have less available spectrum at any range. Furthermore, it is not clear what regulatory model would best support BWA. This paper considers demographic (urban, rural) and licensing (unlicensed, nonexclusive licensed, exclusive licensed) dimensions. A general BWA efficiency and economic analysis tool is developed and then example parameters corresponding to each of these regimes are derived. The results indicate that an unlicensed model is viable; however, in urban areas spectrum needs can be met with existing unlicensed spectrum and cognitive radios have no role. In the densest urban areas, the licensed models are not viable. This is not simple because there is less unused spectrum in urban areas. Urban area cognitive radios are constrained to short ranges and many broadband alternatives already exist. As a result the cost per subscriber is prohibitively high. These results provide input to spectrum policy issues.
Highlights
Cognitive radios (CRs) have the potential for providing broadband wireless access (BWA) as an alternative to existing broadband options
We have presented a general analysis framework for investigating the spectrum and cost issues associated with building out a broadband wireless access network
We explored this issue along demographic and licensing dimensions
Summary
Cognitive radios (CRs) have the potential for providing broadband wireless access (BWA) as an alternative to existing broadband options. In the Notice of Proposed Rule Making, Unlicensed Operation in the TV Broadcast Bands, the FCC proposed both low- and high-power cognitive radio alternatives in the TV bands [1] The latter can provide BWA via outdoor access points (AP) to individual customers. We develop a general purpose BWA spectrum requirements and economics tool With this tool, we examine the network cost for deploying a BWA network in the six combinations of demographics (urban, rural) and licensing (unlicensed, nonexclusive licensed, exclusive licensed). We examine the network cost for deploying a BWA network in the six combinations of demographics (urban, rural) and licensing (unlicensed, nonexclusive licensed, exclusive licensed) For each of these regimes, parameters are estimated. We start by providing an overview of the BWA communication architecture and a description of each regime
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