Secondary spectrum access in TV-bands with combined co-channel and adjacent channel interference constraints

The potential of VHF/UHF band as a candidate for secondary spectrum access, so called “TV white spaces”, has been intensively investigated in recent years. However, the impact of the accumulated interference from multiple secondary users on different adjacent channels has not been well studied thus far, let alone the effect of combined interference from both co-channel and adjacent channels. This paper presents a framework for assessing secondary spectrum reuse opportunities for portable and mobile devices that comply with geo-location database concepts. The opportunity is evaluated in terms of the maximal number of secondary users that can access the “TV white space” simultaneously. Particular emphasis is given to the protection of TV receiver from harmful aggregate interference originated from not only the secondary users outside the TV coverage on the same channel but also those close to the TV receivers operating on different adjacent TV channels. An optimization problem is solved to maximize the number of secondary users admitted to the available TV channels at different locations. Through in-depth analysis of the interference characteristics of the optimal solution, it is identified that the cumulative effect of adjacent channel interferences has the dominant impact on TV reception, particularly for the case of secondary devices with limited transmit power. This suggests the possibility to achieve near-optimal exploitation of TV-bands for secondary reuse without explicit coordination of co-channel interference from the secondary users deployed over a wide geographical area.