Experimental performance evaluation of a 5G spectrum sharing scenario based on field-measured channels

In this paper, an experimental performance evaluation is carried out within a communication scenario that features two of the key enablers of 5G: (i) the use of post-OFDM modulations and (ii) an efficient use of the spectrum via spectrum sharing. The experimental lab set-up has been assembled so as to operate in conditions as realistic as possible via the actual realtime implementation of the involved transceivers and also via the utilization of propagation channels which have been recorded in a field measurement campaign and which are loaded in a channel emulator that also operates in real-time. The experimental results show that co-existence in a shared spectrum scenario is possible and that the performance degradation is kept at a low level as long as one of the two users is making use of spectrally agile post-OFDM modulations such as filterbank multicarrier (FBMC).