Efficient Temporal-Spatial Spectrum Sharing through Voluntary Exchange

该项目的目标是开发更高效、更灵活的无线电频谱接入。通常，无线电频段由FCC分配给商业和非商业用户，这些用户可以被认为是“主用户”。这样的用户可能不需要一直使用频谱。这就导致了机会主义地使用频谱的“二次用户”的存在。然而，这种二次使用会给其他二次用户和主用户带来干扰。此外，主要用户几乎没有动力允许这种类型的二次使用，因为这对他们没有任何好处，只会带来风险。为了鼓励频谱共享和提高频谱效率，重要的是要有一种机制或解决方案概念，为主要和次要用户提供正确的激励。然而，在出售或交换频段时，存在着巨大的通信成本和限制。因此，提出了通过自愿交换的频谱共享来解决这些对高效频谱接入的挑战。本文概述的研究项目将确定哪种类型的频谱共享机制对主用户、次用户和社会更好，更具体地说，研究了包括货币交换和易货贸易在内的自愿交换机制，以促进主用户和次用户之间的频谱共享，其中通信成本和信息交换的约束都反映在频谱共享模型中。此外，还研究了避免不同地区用户的干扰的新方法，以进一步提高频谱效率。共享频谱和提高频谱效率是立法者和频谱监管机构当前的优先事项，从国家宽带计划(2010)、PCAST关于联邦政府和非政府用户共享频谱的报告(2012)、2012年的频谱法案以及关于这一主题的两份总统备忘录(2010和2013)就是明证。显然，开发和应用适当的经济理论来促进更多的频谱共享机会是一个可取的结果，对所有利益相关者都有重大的更广泛的影响，包括商业宽带提供商、公共安全、国土安全和国防。

The goal of this project is to develop more efficient and flexible access to radio spectrum. Typically radio spectrum bands are allocated by the FCC to commercial and noncommercial users who can be thought of as "primary users." Such a user may not need to utilize the spectrum all of the time. This has led to the existence of "secondary users" who access the spectrum opportunistically. However, such secondary usage can bring interference to other secondary users and primary users. Furthermore, primary users have little motivation to permit this type of secondary use as there is no benefit to them and only risk. To encourage spectrum sharing and enhance spectrum efficiency, it is important to have a mechanism or solution concept that creates the correct incentives for both primary and secondary users. However, there are significant communication costs as well as limitations involved in the sale or exchange of spectrum bands. Therefore, spectrum sharing through voluntary exchange is proposed to address these challenges for efficient spectrum access. The research project outlined here will determine which type of spectrum sharing mechanisms would be better for primary users, secondary users, and for society.More specifically, voluntary exchange mechanisms including monetary exchange and barter are examined to promote spectrum sharing between primary and secondary users where both the communication costs and constraints for information exchange are reflected in the spectrum sharing models. Moreover, new ways to avoid interference for users located in different regions are examined to further enhance spectrum efficiency.Sharing spectrum and improving spectrum efficiency are current priorities of lawmakers and spectrum regulators, as evidenced through the National Broadband Plan (2010), the PCAST report on sharing spectrum between the federal government and non-government users (2012), the Spectrum Act of 2012, and two presidential memoranda on the topic (2010 and 2013). Clearly, development and application of appropriate economic theories to foster more opportunities for spectrum sharing is a desirable outcome with significant broader impact to all stakeholders, including commercial broadband providers, public safety, homeland security, and national defense.