Multi-Operator Spectrum Sharing Models under Different Cooperation Schemes for Next Generation Cellular Networks

Abstract

Spectrum sharing between operators with exclusive licensing have become a major concern for mobile network operators and regulators to respond to the growing spectrum demand of the multimedia applications. One of the important issues in spectrum sharing is to determine the potential benefit when multi-operators share the resources under certain mutual agreements. The paper focuses on dynamic spectrum sharing management in next generation cellular networks. We propose three loss network models and derive the closed form expression of blocking probability, each having specific level of cooperation and interaction. The analytical frameworks are presented to analyze the benefits due to multi-operator cooperation for spectrum sharing. This quantifies the operators' gains and degradations of operators engaged in cooperative arrangements. We also analyze the overall network performance in terms of spectrum utilization and present a detailed comparisons between the proposed analytical frameworks.