Inter-Operator Spectrum Sharing in a Broadband Cellular Network

Inter-operator spectrum sharing in a wide-area broadband network is considered in this paper. A packet-based cellular model is developed, emphasizing the shift in the telecommunications industry towards IP-based services. In the framework of this architecture, we show the ideal maximum load that the network can handle without excessive delays, and present our main result: that even with sharing, this operating point is rarely achieved. This is the consequence of geographical and physical layer constraints, which limit the gains achievable by spectrum sharing. Using a physical layer cellular model with idealistic resource management, we quantify the achievable sharing gains. We further analyze these gains in the context of variable data rates, quality of service guarantees, and number of operators