Exploiting TV white spaces in Europe: The COGEU approach

The regulatory scenario in Europe is very diverse, and hence innovative solutions to address harmonization and coexistence issues become crucial for the successful exploitation of the TV white spaces (TVWS) among member states. This paper introduces the approach of the European Commission funded COGEU (COgnitive radio systems for efficient sharing of TV white spaces in EUropean context) project in exploiting the TVWS. COGEU proposes a bicameral (national) geolocation database separating bands for commons usage and for secondary spectrum trading. The commons bands are for access without the need for guaranteed quality of service (QoS), while secondary trading bands are for access with a need for guaranteed QoS. Temporary exclusive rights for operating in the TVWS may be bought from a broker. Details of the operation of the broker are given with examples on usage scenarios.