Abstract
The pursuit of achieving higher data rates in 5G and beyond has triggered numerous technological advancements. One of these is spectrum sharing between Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). In this work, we investigate the spectrum trading between two MNOs with disparate traffic loads in heterogeneous networks. A radio resource sharing technique is proposed that exploits resource block allocation with Interference Range (RBIR) to reduce interoperator interference prompted by spectrum trading. In addition, an algorithm for cooperative load-based spectrum trading at resource block level is proposed for two MNOs with asymmetric traffic load. Two main approaches for spectrum trading, i.e., spectrum sharing (Load-Based Shared Spectrum Pool (LSSP)) and spectrum leasing (Load-Based Leased Spectrum Pool (LLSP)) are analysed, and a heterogeneous network is modeled such that both operators have a dedicated spectrum for their macro and small cell networks. Prior to spectrum trading, a conventional resource block allocation technique is used in which resource blocks from a shared or leased spectrum pool are assigned so that each user experiences the least amount of interference. The performance of LSSP and LLSP is evaluated while taking into account the constraints of both operators, such as net throughput and user satisfaction. Moreover, we evaluate the network performance with increasing interference range as small cells of different transmission/interference range that are present in the network. The performance evaluation demonstrates that when the interference is lesser, as represented by the radius of the interference range, the spectrum sharing is more advantageous in terms of delivering higher average data rates. However, when the interference is higher, then leasing is more beneficial.
Highlights
We investigate the spectrum trading between two Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) with disparate traffic loads in heterogeneous networks
A conventional resource block allocation technique is used in which resource blocks from a shared or leased spectrum pool are assigned so that each user experiences the least amount of interference. e performance of Load-Based Shared Spectrum Pool (LSSP) and Load-Based Leased Spectrum Pool (LLSP) is evaluated while taking into account the constraints of both operators, such as net throughput and user satisfaction
We evaluate the network performance with increasing interference range as small cells of different transmission/interference range that are present in the network. e performance evaluation demonstrates that when the interference is lesser, as represented by the radius of the interference range, the spectrum sharing is more advantageous in terms of delivering higher average data rates
Summary
Heterogeneous networks of different mobile network operators sharing spectrum in the same geographical region can exploit the variable load index (a quantified measure of traffic load) and accomplish mutual benefits by managing the allocation of resource blocks (RBs). Interference was managed by allocating RBs from multiple MNOs to users based on many-to-one matching game with externalities They considered network social characteristics as the criteria for spectrum sharing instead of traffic load requirements. [30] discussed a number of spectrum (licensed and unlicensed) sharing techniques for in-building small cells, namely, dedicated access, co-primary shared access (CoPSA), licensed shared access (LSA) for licensed spectrum access, and licensed assisted access (LAA) for unlicensed spectrum operating in 60 GHz. Saha in Ref. The authors proposed an energy efficient Q-Learning-based framework which has minimized the energy consumption of the system without trading off throughput and addressed the interference problem to the cell edge users by applying it in a proximal spectrum sharing scenario. We proposed multi-operator spectrum sharing based on load for the downlink cellular network to enhance the cell edge user throughput.
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