Dynamic spectrum access and management [Dynamic Spectrum Management]

This article addresses a subject that is ripe for application and is approaching necessity for the continued expansive growth in the use of wireless for broadband multimedia communications. If we carry on business as usual in broadcast, public service and paid auctions in assigning spectrum without regard to actual empirical full time use, we will find that there will be starvation alongside the well fed with lots of usable capacity lying follow. At the same time, there will be a sharp deceleration in innovation for new and useful wireless services due to the shortage of interference-free radio spectrum in which these new services would operate. Something needs to be done to encourage more efficient use of total aggregate spectrum, developing the methods to do this in an equitable manner and within a market-based price-cost structure that is also sound scientifically and technologically. The landscape of emerging spectral access technologies, described here, promises to change from a clear channels paradigm to a more contentious environment, allowing users to coexist without major conflict. This will require a transformation of the technology as well as the spectrum management community. A key objective of this review is to show that there are many approaches to spectral access methods as well as different implementations underway. We review coexistence and cooperation, spectrum access, management, and control techniques, and provide a perspective on techniques and technologies that will enable the next generation of spectral-efficient communications.