Abstract

The IEEE 802.22 is a standard for wireless regional area networks to opportunistically operate in TV bands; however, sharing TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum creates a problem of coexistence because no mechanism is defined for coordinating channel usage among secondary networks. We propose a White Space Resource Sharing mechanism (WSRS) for fixed secondary and mobile IEEE 802.22 networks to improve network coexistence and spectrum efficiency. Based on power control and channel allocation, our mechanism allows the TVWS system to serve vehicular networks in scenarios where there are active secondary fixed networks and no more TVWS channels available for opportunistic usage. Unlike state-of-the-art mechanisms for coexistence in TVWS spectrum, our mechanism allocates resources to vehicles even when the density of fixed nodes and the transmission power of the fixed network cause high interference to the vehicular network. Our results show the offered channel capacity increases up to 50% using the proposed WSRS mechanism compared to the recent IEEE 802.22 standard that does not have a defined TVWS channel sharing mechanism. Furthermore, our WSRS mechanism implements a strategy to protect the fixed secondary network from interference caused by vehicular transmissions while promoting fair usage for both secondary networks.