Dynamic Resource Allocation for Cooperative Spectrum Sharing in LTE Networks

Conventional spectrum sharing approaches assume that an unlicensed user accessing a licensed spectrum band autonomously operates by sensing (or detecting) the presence of the primary user, which is licensed to use the given band, with minimal coordination from the primary user. However, in this case, incorrect sensing decisions and resource allocation on the unlicensed secondary users' (SU) part can lead to undesired degradation of the primary users' performance. Therefore, there has been a recent paradigm shift to enable cooperative spectrum sharing, in which interaction is allowed between the primary and the secondary network for efficient spectrum utilization while limiting the interference experienced by a primary user. In this paper, we consider a cooperative spectrum sharing architecture in which the SU is assumed to be a cellular network. We then propose a novel fractional-frequency-reuse-based dynamic resource allocation (DRA) algorithm at the secondary (cellular) network. The joint DRA optimization involves simultaneous spectrum allocation across different base stations and then across users within a base station. It is an NP-hard problem and is prohibitively complex to solve for a large cellular network. Therefore, to reduce the complexity of the joint problem and offer a tractable solution, we formulate layered scheduling algorithms for cross-layer resource allocation. Furthermore, the feedback overhead between the layers is kept minimal. Finally, using simulations, we compare our proposed DRA scheme with other resource allocation schemes for sum system throughput, as well as for fairness in allocation. We also present the result for the case when the available primary spectrum varies over time and locations of SUs.