Open spectrum architecture improves sharing for multiple wireless services
From Open RAN to Open Spectrum: A Programmable, Intelligent Architecture for Multi-Service Spectrum Coexistence
Networking and Internet Architecture
Summary
Wireless spectrum is usually managed separately from the devices and software that use it, which can limit how well different wireless services coexist. The authors propose Open Spectrum, a system that treats spectrum, devices, and wireless protocols as one shared and programmable resource. It uses a smart controller and software apps to help different types of services like communication, sensing, and navigation work together on the same infrastructure. Simulations show this approach can increase access to spectrum and improve signal quality for users.
What this means in practice
- •For network operators: Combine radio hardware and spectrum resources dynamically to improve performance and support diverse wireless services simultaneously.
- •For wireless infrastructure developers: Build modular spectrum-sharing platforms that enable multiple spectrum-dependent applications to run over shared physical infrastructure.
Authors
Michele Polese, Minh Dat Nguyen, Paolo Testolina, Tommaso Melodia
Abstract
Considering sharing or coexistence from the perspective of spectrum alone fails to recognize that any spectrum-enabled service also requires (i) radio and processing infrastructure and (ii) a protocol stack, including waveforms and signal processing pipelines. The efficiency of spectrum coexistence frameworks such as Citizen Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) is thus limited to optimizing resource allocation across a single dimension. How to address this limitation, however, remains an open challenge, especially considering the diversity of requirements and operational modes across spectrum services (e.g., sensing, communications, navigation, or positioning). This article introduces Open Spectrum, an architecture that brings softwarization, programmability, and open interfaces to heterogeneous spectrum services, extending the open Radio Access Network (RAN) principles beyond wireless networking. We propose to combine spectrum, services, and infrastructure in a common pool. Its resources are shared and orchestrated by a Spectrum Intelligent Controller (SIC), with plug-and-play spectrum applications, i.e., Spectrum Applications (sApps), and data-driven Radio-Frequency Interference (RFI) modeling using Digital Twins (DTs). We describe the Open Spectrum architecture, shared infrastructure pool, and operational workflows for tenant onboarding and incentives, conflict resolution, and service sharing across sensing, radionavigation, radiolocation, and cellular systems. System-level simulations using the BostonTwin urban DT and Sionna ray tracing show that there exist performance-driven incentives in sharing infrastructure and sharing across multiple services, enabling increased access to spectrum and improvement in median Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) of up to 12 dB.