Enhanced DHCP for the fast retrieval of the spectrum map for white space applications

As white space, unused local TV spectrum, will be allowed for the broadband Internet access, we can use white space network as the supplementary network of licensed and/or unlicensed access networks such as cellular and WiFi™ networks. Thus, after setting up the connection over a cellular or WiFi™ system, mobile devices equipped with a white space interface will connect to a radio resource management server to retrieve a location-based list of open white space channels, “a so-called spectrum map”. This paper aims to reduce a signaling overhead for the setup of a cellular or WiFi™ connection and the retrieval of the spectrum map. To achieve the goal, we suggest embedding the retrieval operations of the spectrum map inside the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) operations for the IP assignment during the connection setup of the cellular or WiFi™ networks. The theoretical analysis demonstrates that our proposal, the fast provision of the spectrum map, can contribute to accommodating one or more white space devices when the total number of open white space channels is 30.