Process model for recent spectrum sharing concepts in policy making

Regulatory authorities globally are looking for new policy making solutions to achieve more efficient spectrum usage by allowing multiple systems to share the same spectrum bands with the aid of cognitive techniques. This quest has led to the development of different spectrum sharing solutions in different parts of the world for optimising spectrum use in various spectrum bands. Despite the active widespread research on spectrum sharing over nearly two decades, only a few solutions have attracted the interest of industry and regulators as potential concepts for adoption. Though the selected solutions offer great promise, none have proven commercially successful at the time of the writing of this document. The process to introduce and adopt a new sharing concept in a specific spectrum band is very complex and the manner in which this introduction can take place varies considerably based on the regulation structure and the cultural norms of the nation where the deployment takes place. However, some general principles can be found and established for the process. Knowledge of these principles will allow researchers to develop their approaches taking into account requirements arising from different stakeholders in various phases of this process. In this paper, the spectrum sharing ecosystem and three prominent and most recent regulatory spectrum sharing concepts from Europe and US are introduced. Based on an analysis of these concepts, a general process model for spectrum sharing is introduced covering the roles and tasks of different stakeholders and emphasizing the need for seamless cooperation and interactions between them at different phases of the process. The general process model that is presented here can serve as a guideline for the development of new spectrum sharing models and help regulatory authorities to optimize the existing processes by pinpointing tasks for each stakeholder as providing a guide for the critical information that is needed for each phase of the process. Moreover, for academic and industry research and especially those involved with entrepreneurial endeavours, the paper gives a useful overview of the complicated administrative process behind and factors that contribute to the regulatory acceptance of a sharing concept.