Time-Limited Leases for Innovative Radios

A time-limited lease is a set of rights granted to an entity, system or device that expires after a specified duration. Leases are widely used in computer and network design. They are useful whenever it is difficult to revoke rights explicitly, such as in cases where the rights holders cannot be cost-efficiently located or contacted. This paper analyzes ways to use the lease concept to facilitate innovation in radio devices and wireless communication. In our vision, manufacturers include in their devices a simple, secure subsystem that contains a clock and controls critical features such as transmitter power and frequency settings. The subsystem has enough computing power to validate cryptographically-signed lease extension messages. It disables specified radio features if no extension message has been received by the end of the lease period. These requirements are not onerous for the types of radios where leases would be used. When devices provide this support, regulators may use certification leases rather than permanent grants to accelerate deployment of innovative radios. Spectrum rights holders may use leases to reduce risk in secondary spectrum market transactions. Firms collaborating in innovative wireless service business models can better retain control of their respective rights. We investigate leases from both technical and policy perspectives and conclude that they can provide significant benefits for the commercialization and deployment of innovative radios.