Spectrum survey for TV band in Beijing

Abstract

The rapid development of wireless communication calls for new spectrum resources. TV band is considered the most promising band for spectrum reallocation and spectrum efficient technologies such as cognitive radio. To facilitate spectrum innovation in this band, we conducted both fixed and mobile measurements in Beijing, China. Unlike previous spectrum surveys which mainly focused on average spectrum occupancy, we analyze the usage of TV band from a comprehensive view. Multiple factors including frequency, time, space domain and specific TV standards are all considered. We find the actual utilization in Beijing is 7% higher than reported in previous study. Moreover, the time and geographical utilization peak of TV coincides with current communication systems, which results in limited time and space domain spectrum opportunity for cognitive radio. We strongly suggest that China accelerate the transition from analog television to digital television to leave more available spectrum resources for other services.