Double auction based spectrum sharing for wireless operators

As the traffic grows rapidly in wireless communication, the spectrum becomes scarce. The current inefficient fixed spectrum allocation schemes will not satisfy the growing spectrum demand. This paper proposes a double auction based dynamic spectrum sharing scheme for multiple operators adopting OFDMA in the downlink. More specifically, this scheme allows free subcarriers trading between operators to improve the efficiency of the spectrum utilization. In contrast with conventional auction, double auction deals with a “multiple seller and multiple buyer” case, which is more general in inter-operator spectrum sharing. In the proposed scheme, the sellers and buyers estimate the value of the subcarriers first. Then they submit their asks (bids) to the auctioneer based on their valuations. Bidding and asking strategy in a practical framework is proposed as well. Finally, two double auction methods are examined in the simulation.