Inter-Technology Coexistence in a Spectrum Commons: A Case Study of Wi-Fi and LTE in the 5-GHz Unlicensed Band

Spectrum sharing mechanisms need to be carefully designed to enable inter-technology coexistence in the unlicensed bands, as these bands are an instance of a spectrum commons where highly heterogeneous technologies and deployments must coexist. Unlike in licensed bands, where multiple technologies could coexist only in a primary-secondary dynamic spectrum access mode, a spectrum commons offers competition opportunities between multiple dominant technologies, such as Wi-Fi and the recently proposed LTE in the 5 GHz unlicensed band. In this paper, we systematically study the performance of different spectrum sharing schemes for inter-technology coexistence in a spectrum commons. Our contributions are threefold. First, we propose a general framework for transparent comparative analysis of spectrum sharing mechanisms in time and frequency, by studying the effect of key constituent parameters. Second, we propose a novel throughput and interference model for inter-technology coexistence, integrating per-device specifics of different distributed MAC sharing mechanisms in a unified network-level perspective. Finally, we present a case study of IEEE 802.11n Wi-Fi and LTE in the 5 GHz unlicensed band, in order to obtain generalizable insight into coexistence in a spectrum commons. Our extensive Monte Carlo simulation results show that LTE/Wi-Fi coexistence in the 5 GHz band can be ensured simply through channel selection schemes, such that time-sharing MAC mechanisms are irrelevant. We also show that, in the general co-channel case, the coexistence performance of MAC sharing mechanisms strongly depends on the interference coupling in the network, predominantly determined by building shielding. We thus identify two regimes: (i) low interference coupling, e.g., residential indoor scenarios, where duty cycle mechanisms outperform sensing-based listen-before-talk (LBT) mechanisms and (ii) high interference coupling, e.g., open-plan indoor or outdoor hotspot scenarios, where LBT outperforms duty cycle mechanisms.

I. Introduction

With the densification of heterogeneous wireless-capable devices and the rapid and continuous increase in data traffic volumes in wireless networks [1], spectrum sharing techniques are essential for mitigating mutual interference between co-located, co-channel wireless devices, thereby enabling concurrent operation of multiple devices. It follows that, in practice, the technical design of spectrum sharing techniques for a given technology depends on three major aspects: (i) the technologies implemented by the other devices, where interference is to be managed either between devices of the same technology (i.e. intra-technology coexistence), or of different technologies (i.e. inter-technology coexistence); (ii) the management of the devices, where interference may be managed with various levels of coordination (i.e. intra-and inter-operator coexistence), or in a fully distributed manner (for individually deployed devices); and (iii) the management of the spectrum, spanning a continuum of access models, from exclusive use of spectrum (i.e. exclusive spectrum access rights for a single operator/technology) to a spectrum commons (i.e. equal spectrum access rights for all users/operators/technologies) [2].