Application of Radio Environment Maps for Dynamic Broadband Access in TV Bands in Urban Areas

Spectrum sharing based on the dedicated databases, particularly in the context of TV band, is widely considered as a promising tool for better spectrum utilization in the future wireless networks. Practical realization of this paradigm entails the need for the true protection of the incumbent system, and at the same time the guarantee of the quality of the services offered to the secondary users. In this respect, this paper discusses the results achieved in numerous measurement campaigns performed for last years in two European cities, i.e., Poznan, Poland, and Barcelona, Spain. Both indoor and outdoor measurements of the TV band have been compared with the main purpose of true identification of key practical considerations for spectrum sharing in the TV white spaces. As such, this paper constitutes a concise summary of various analyses and provides pragmatic guidelines for deployment of radio-environment maps (REM)-based systems. Based on the conducted measurements and achieved results, the set of practical conclusions for REMs has been deduced, and the prospective procedure of deployment of such a network has been proposed.