Cognitive Radio Access Architecture for Ubiquitous Mobile Communication System Design

Spectrum licensing provides exclusive access to the licensees. It also leads to spectrum underutilization as the spectrum may experience idle times when not in use by the subscribers but cannot be accessed by subscribers on other operator networks in need of spectrum. These unused spectrums are known as White Spaces. This work presents a radio access topology that utilizes the cognitive radio access approach to maximize the spectrum utilization in any given cell. This is achieved using a cognitive layer that detects unused spectrum and enables the originating Base Transceiver Station (BTS) to collaborate with neighboring BTS of other operators in the cell by borrowing up to 20% of its spectrum from them. This approach transfers excess calls from the originating operator to the neighbor BTS with the interconnection process implemented at the access layer. This interconnection and borrowing are done so that the neighbor’s calls are not dropped due to the borrowing. This architecture is capable of increasing spectrum utilization in the cells. It will also reduce the challenge of dropped calls, increase subscriber satisfaction, and maximize return on investment for all the operators in the cell. The originating BTS generates revenue from a caller whose call would have been dropped and the neighbor BTS generates revenue from its idle capacity.