Response surface methodology for efficient spectrum reuse in cellular networks

As cellular network technology evolves, the operators deploy new generation networks while maintaining their legacy networks, since not all users upgrade their terminals at the same pace. Therefore, the spectrum associated to these legacy networks becomes gradually underused. By means of cognitive radio techniques, the operator can allow its new generation terminals to reuse this spectrum. We propose a semi-decentralized scheme in which the operator guides the secondary access by broadcasting some operational parameters of the access strategy. The mechanism dynamically learns the optimal parameters by means of a response surface methodology (RSM), implying a very small signaling overhead. Our results show a notable capacity improvement compared to the classical approaches that exploit either spatial or temporal opportunities.