A simulation analysis on dynamic channel assignment for open access personal communications services

Spectrum efficiency and an increase in capacity are important concerns for public policy makers. This research was directed to address those concerns, as well as system performance, in a scenario where instead of a single player several operators provide Personal Communications Services (PCS) by sharing the same spectrum. Such an open-entry scheme improves spectrum efficiency and provides market advantages in a decentralized and easy to implement fashion. A spectrum allocation policy based on Dynamic Channel Assignment (DCA) is proposed to foster a competitive industry structure. Advantages of using DCA are discussed, such as decentralized operation, traffic handling flexibility and less need for frequency planning. All of the above points turn DCA into (1) a technologically feasible candidate for Open Access to PCS networks and (2) a preferable solution over Fixed Channel Assignment (FCA).;Finally, the Public Policy part of the analysis elaborates on unresolved issues with open access PCS such as achieving a fair use of the spectrum, incentives for spectrum re-use through construction of additional cells, standardization and barriers to technical change. Incentives are explored based on policy decision variables such as allowed number of available channels. In particular, we explore the concept of limiting the number of available transmitters in each cell site as a means to induce efficient spectrum reuse.;A discrete event simulation model is used to assess spectrum efficiency for up to four competing PCS operators. The simulation considers co-channel interference effects from multiple providers with non-coincident cell layouts. Autonomous Reuse Partitioning (ARP) and Random Channel Selection DCA policies are tested as well in a multi-user environment. It was found that Autonomous Reuse Partitioning improves the performance of DCA with multiple operators.