Prospects for TV White Space access in the Evolved Packet Core environment

Abstract

The vision of future wireless network is to integrate different wireless access technologies, each with its own characteristics, into a common IP-based core network to provide mobile units (MU) seamless mobility and service continuity. Integration of different types of radio access networks is a challenging task as it requires comprehensive real time interconnectivity at all layers of the network architecture. This paper provides prospects for integrating TV White Space (TVWS) access in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) core network and describes TVWS Access and Evolved Packet Core (EPC) internetworking architectures. We also define TVWS access specific policies in order to align the new radio access with described internetworking architectures. The paper proposes an interactive framework, cooperation of ETSI's Spectrum Coordinator (SC) and 3GPP's Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) for improving the integration of TVWS access in 3GPP's EPC environment and we evaluate the practical implications of proposed concept in inter system handover scenario against defined TVWS access specific polices.