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DSA: The Path Forward

Ahmed Abd Elaziz GadRegulatory Frameworks Manager

Fadel DighamResearch & Development Director

The National Telecom Regulatory Authority B4 Smart Village, Cairo, Egypt

2010 IEEE Symposium on New Frontiers in Dynamic Spectrum (DySPAN)

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Introduction • It is believed that the traditional command and control

(C&C) spectrum approach has been one of the main reasons causing an artificial scarcity of the radio spectrum.

• Dynamic spectrum access (DSA) entails spectrum efficiency – it enables spectrum allocation in a dynamic fashion

• exploit and utilize the vacant channels over time and space

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• The goal of this paper is to answer the question:

What should we do to pave the path forward for a successful DSA story??

• Three dimensions need to be considered in the same time– the policy (the public interest)– the business/industry– the technology/research

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Analysis Methodology• 使用 SWOT 分析 [*] SWOT matrix [4] multi decisions

approach [4]– SWOT stands for

• Strengths, Weaknesses internal• Opportunities and Threats external

– multi decisions approach• select one technology or product from many based on a set of required

attributes

[*] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis[4] T. Khalil, “Management of Technology: The Key to Competitiveness and Wealth Creation,” McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 2000.

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STEP 1 : Confined SWOT Analysis

• Identify S, W, O and T

http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hant/File:SWOT-Analysis-Chinese.png

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STEP 2: SWOT Matrix

Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities SO strategies (Exploit)

WO strategies (Research)

Threats ST strategies (Confront)

WT strategies (Avoid)

• Construct SO, ST, WO, WT strategies

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STEP 3: Prioritizing and Breaking-down Strategies

• “which strategies are more significant or best to start with?”

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STEP1: Confined SWOT List

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Strengths• S1: Environment Awareness– operational and vacant frequency bands and relevant

transmission parameters– making the DSA-based radio be more autonomous and able of

making best decisions, or serving others' interests (sensing, controling)

• S2: Frequency Agility (Hopping and Bonding)– the ability of operating over a wide range of frequencies– an enabler to the radio interoperability over multiple systems

• S3: Smartness and Reconfigurability– make use of the available environment knowledge – reconfigure its flexible hardware (SDR-based) – pick the optimal set of operational parameters

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Weaknesses• W1: HardWare limitations

– wideband components (e.g., antennas and amplifiers)– high-speed A/D and D/A conversions.

• W2: Coordination and Management – needs a great deal of coordination at different levels:

• vertically across different layers in a network node and • horizontally both across (different) networks

– Current DSA systems and trials are not yet…• capable of achieving a high level of automated coordination and management • scalable or robust enough against network changes and errors.

• W3: Unguaranteed QoS– partial or no knowledge of the primary transmitted signal is only available

hindering the realization of perfect detection– the hidden nodes and the inability to sense the medium while in transmission

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Opportunities • O1: Digital Dividend

– TV signal 從 analogue 轉 digital 會多出 spectrum digital dividend• long-reaching propagation• No unique business model has been set worldwide

– authorities are actually considering the reallocation• The FCC released a report and order (R&O) in Nov. 2008

– permitting the operation of cognitive or DSA-based radios (in conformance with 802.22)

• O2: Broadband Demand– the killer application is moving from the voice only domain to the data domain

• capable of delivering a triple-play service (voice, data, and video)– DSA can fit in different variants to meet different consumer’s needs for high

bandwidth wireless networks• aggregating different narrowband channels into one giant broadband channel.

• O3: Market Incentives– low-entry costs, stimulated innovations, and fair competition– new value chains and business models

• increase the pace of products and business model lifecycles.

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Threats• T1: Existing Policies and Agreements

– The reformation of the legislative and licensing principals needs a long period of time. (Also, security concerns.)

– an adaptive and clear property model is not easy to describe– current spectrum holders may have exclusive right of access for many years yet to

come• long-term agreements with each other on topics related to interconnections

• T2: Monitoring and Enforcement– the task of monitoring and tracking individual activities and operations is

cumbersome• monitoring process fails the whole system is then subject to collapse.

• T3: Disruptive Technology and Business– existing wireless devices needs to be replaced– the deployment is highly contingent upon the availability of sufficient liquidity in

the spectrum market.• shall entail more complex models to interact with other different market players

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STEP 2: SWOT Matrix (Constructing Strategies)

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SO Strategies• SO1. Target underserved areas (S1,S3,O1,O2)

– Deploying DSA-enabled devices in VHF and UHF bands– fulfilling both public and business interests by

• improving the services offered to certain areas• increasing the national broadband penetration

• SO2. Nomadic broadband service provision (S2,S3,O2,O3)

– new entrants can provide nomadic wireless broadband access through an agreement with existing mobile operators

– an intermediate level in between both mobile broadband and limited-coverage wireless WiFi services. • The tradeoff between QoS and price

Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities

SO strategies (Exploit)

WO strategies (Research)

ThreatsST

strategies (Confront)

WT strategies

(Avoid)

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• SO3. Adopt DSA-enabled devices in the next generation public safety radio systems (S2,S3,O1,O3)

– operate on different bands bypassing the interoperability problem between different public safety agencies.

– reconfigure the operation of handsets and devices in emergency situations

– ex. the freed VHF and UHF bands are potential great opportunities

• SO4. More towards adhoc and mesh networks (S1,S3,O1,O3)

– autonomous and less infrastructure dependent– Customers use networking applications even in situations where

the Internet itself is not available• A (possibly) short-lived network just for the communication needs of the

moment

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WO Strategies• WO1. Focus on designing radios operating in nearby bands (devices

& software) (W1,O2,O3)

– rather than over multiple far-apart bands• WO2. Start with a small-scale and conservative design (W2,W3,O1)

– a small-scale realization to maintain manageability – strictly conservative to assure protection to incumbent services and to entail

a compelling success story• WO3. New suit of applications (W3,O1,O3)

– Temporarily unutilized spectrum can be exploited to provide new services and innovative applications• either by the primary holder himself or • by other players (through an agreement with the primary one)

– delay-insensitive applications • including streaming video and files download• ex. a backup system over night

Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities

SO strategies (Exploit)

WO strategies (Research)

ThreatsST

strategies (Confront)

WT strategies

(Avoid)

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ST Strategies• ST1. Gradually move spectrum management policies towards

more flexible and market-oriented models (S1,S2,S3,T1,T3)

– spectrum management schemes• Policy makers should create a healthy environment for the DSA

– tradable property rights model and open access model– The C&C model can still coexist (e.g., different models at different bands)

– contracts, spectrum and service auctions, inter-network access and agreements

• ST2. Interdisciplinary global co-ordination (S1,S3,T1,T2,T3)

– to deal with this paradigm shift, local and international efforts have to be paid • allow for open discussions and global co-ordinations among relevant players

– government officials, industry experts, economists, lawyers, technologists and academics

– ex. DySPAN, FCC, E2R European project, and University of Colorado Silicon Flatirons summit on information policy

Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities

SO strategies (Exploit)

WO strategies (Research)

ThreatsST

strategies (Confront)

WT strategies

(Avoid)

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• ST3. Adoption of policy-based radios (S2,S3,T1,T2)

– radios that can adaptively and online adhere to changes in the policy• a policy can be written and dispatched to the users• ex. a control agency may need to prevent the operation in a certain band

over some time due to an emergency or a policy constraint– policy-based radios can help

• apply changes to current policies when needed• in the monitoring and enforcement operations

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WT Strategies• WT1. Don’t compete with existing technologies, rather

integrate with (W1,W3,T1,T3)

– rather than introducing a stand-alone technology competing with well-established ones, • especially due to weaknesses HW (W1) and QoS (W3)

– ex. Some DSA features can be added to current technology standards to improve its spectral efficiency and offered services.

• WT2. Avoid full open access; rather use best known rules (W2, T2)

– full open access could not be realizable, especially given T2 (Monitoring and

Enforcement) and W2 (Coordination and Management)

– adopt optimally-proven rules • that have been exercised in other systems to start with.

– One recommendation is the usage of the spectrum commons regime as evidenced by the WiFi success story.

Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities

SO strategies (Exploit)

WO strategies (Research)

ThreatsST

strategies (Confront)

WT strategies

(Avoid)

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STEP 3: Prioritizing and Breaking-down Strategies

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Signifying the importance very low:1, low:2, medium:3, high:4, very high:5

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Signifying the importance very low:1, low:2, medium:3, high:4, very high:5

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in general the "confront (ST)" set of strategies have got the highest scores followed by the "exploit (SO)", then "avoid (WT)", and "research (WO)" ones

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• It is recommended to start by confronting the potential threats with the aid of the DSA strengths– ST1. Gradually move spectrum management policies towards more flexible and

market-oriented models – ST2. Interdisciplinary global co-ordination– ST3. Adoption of policy-based radios

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The Path Forward to “Confront”• Policy/Public Interest– Adopt a hierarchical access/sharing approach for the already

licensed bands• in-band sharing, spectrum leasing and trading

– Capitalizing on the WiFi success story, adopt the spectrum commons approach in additionally assigned unlicensed bands• Besides, allow for a pilot project to examine the commons approach in a

newly licensed band accessed by more than one primary holder– Think of new and possibly dynamic spectrum auctioning schemes– Offer incentives for licensees to accept coexistence of unlicensed

secondary users– More international activities and programs should be organized

at different levels

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• Business/Industry – Update current agreements and allow for more flexible dialogs

and interconnections among different operators and service providers

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The Path Forward to “Exploit”• Policy/Public Interest– Allow DSA mechanisms as enablers to fulfilling the universal

access mandates– Assign a portion out of the digital dividend to serve both public

safety interests and broadband demands in underserved areas– Open the market for new entrants that can provide nomadic

broadband services– Adopt new generation of DSA-enabled public safety networks

• The public has demanded a more efficient and effective emergency response system with consistent communication equipment for people/vehicles.

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• Business/Industry– Start negotiations with incumbent operators to share their unused

spectrum resources• to provide broadband services with minimum acceptable QoS levels and low prices

– Look for more applications and business models based on both adhoc and mesh networks.• especially those that need light or no regulations with devices operating in

unlicensed spectrum portions

• Technology/Research– Focus on more effective realization of concatenating far-apart narrow

bands in a single wide band– Consider algorithms and techniques that can overcome the challenges

faced in adhoc and mesh networks

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The Path Forward to “Avoid”• Policy/Public Interest– allow limited and relatively conservative access in specific spectrum

portions

• Business/Industry– look for new services or try to improve current unsatisfactory ones

• Technology/Research– DSA capabilities can in essence be inherited to existing technologies

empowering their functionalities, or can be used to provide new services in new domains rather than regular markets.

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The Path Forward to “Research”• Policy/Public Interest– Assign a digital dividend portion for driving innovations through

a newly offered suit of services and applications.– Establish and sponsor research programs in joint collaboration

with academic and research organizations.– Develop an appropriate regime that

• protects user rights and • finds the right balance between flexibility and innovation from one side

and service reliability and quality from another.

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• Business/Industry– Look for new services that can be attractive, cost-effective,

delay insensitive, and preferably low bandwidth demanding. • Ex: mobile advertisement and wireless payment solutions.

• Technology/Research– Present trials and prototypes of small scale configurations of

DSA based networks with reasonably acceptable QoS– Focus on developing devices that can scan and interoperate

over bands not far away from each other

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comments• 在這快速變化的時代裡，於短時間內找到區域最佳解是成功的第一步 – first successful mover

• 資訊科技進步飛快影響深遠，考慮到國力 / 企業競爭時，政策 / 商業策略制定更顯重要