A spectrum-sharing sandbox project may seem like an esoteric concept. It isn’t.
Without the efficient use of spectrum, the great promise of wireless in the years to come – extraordinary technical innovation and accelerated economic growth – could remain unfulfilled.
In fact, when the spectrum is in the upper 6GHz and upper n77 bands it’s no exaggeration to say that the insights of the Real Wireless spectrum sharing sandbox project could influence the future of wireless.
But what is so special about the upper 6GHz and upper n77 bands?
For upper 6GHz it’s simple: it promises very fast data throughput. No wonder both Wi-Fi and mobile/cellular want to use it. Both can – and arguably should – benefit. Could spectrum be sharing between these two distinct wireless technologies help? Yes. Can such an aim be realised? We think it can. Hybrid sharing, as it’s called, could revolutionise the way we deploy and access wireless services.
And that’s where the Real Wireless spectrum sharing sandbox project comes in. One of its aims is to demonstrate hybrid sharing through field tests of a deployment scenario, bringing together an outdoor mobile base station and an indoor Wi-Fi access point.
Another aim involves the efficient use of existing resources. Europe’s Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations – CEPT – is looking at a number of basic and enhanced co-existence schemes, including methods of spectrum sharing that don’t require hardware changes to existing commercial systems. The Real Wireless project will assess these. In particular, the project will look at cross-technology signalling, where the standard Wi-Fi waveform helps to improve co-existence between Wi-Fi and mobile technologies.
But if mobile and Wi-Fi services can demonstrate the ability to share spectrum, should new harmonised standards be developed to specify operational guidelines that ensure fair co-existence? And should more spectrum be made available for each technology? To answer these questions, revised regulatory approaches will also be under review for the 6GHz part of the project.
The n77 Band is slightly different. Ofcom’s pioneering Shared Access Licence (SAL) framework in the UK provides a mechanism for independent, localised private 5G mobile networks to access the 5G spectrum in the 3.8 – 4.2 GHz band.
But n77 is not just a UK concern. The global wireless industry is also keen to see private networks deployed in this band. Maximising spectrum availability would enable innovation, especially in high-demand areas like urban centres. Can this be done? And is the – still developing – concept of dynamic spectrum licensing one possible answer? The Real Wireless spectrum sharing sandbox project aims to find out.
This means detailed and highly accurate signal measurements in an urban environment and service-level tests in operational network conditions. This way we can see how feasible dynamic spectrum licensing models and higher powers could be for independent private 5G mobile networks operating in the band.
There is of course a lot more technical detail involved in this project, much of which we hope to publish on this site at a later date.
However, put very simply, we believe that in both cases the outcomes of our field trials, simulations and analysis studies could help to change thinking in regulatory regimes and shape international standards. Indeed, other bands and services with similar characteristics could also benefit.
We would go further. Development of the n77 private network ecosystem along with Wi-Fi and mobile 6GHz co-existence could help to unlock the full potential of wireless communication technologies and bring improved hardware availability and lower prices, as well as greater economic and social benefits.
We believe, that, far from being esoteric, the insights supplied by the Real Wireless spectrum sharing sandbox project could be transformative.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The goal of the project right now is to carefully evaluate the case for the adoption of innovative and more intense spectrum-sharing approaches that make more efficient use of spectrum resources – approaches like hybrid sharing and dynamic spectrum licencing.
We would suggest that, in the short term, the insights gained from this project will provide a valuable foundation for policymakers and industry stakeholders to assess and develop strategies that promote the co-existence of different technologies, ultimately benefiting consumers and businesses alike.
And policymakers in particular seem to agree with us.
The Real Wireless spectrum sharing sandbox project is one of three winners in the recent Spectrum Sandbox competition announced by the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). The project is funded by DSIT and has support and participation from Ofcom.
It may seem arrogant to say that our spectrum-sharing sandbox project has an important part to play in the future of wireless. But it looks like we’re not the only ones who believe that.
