Channel reporting for television whitespace
View Patent ↗Various technologies described herein pertain to providing spectrum utilization feedback from a whitespace device. A database query for a set of available channels in a spectrum (e.g., broadcast spectrum, etc.) during a time period can be transmitted from the whitespace device to a regulatory authorized database system. The database query includes data that specifies a set of channels used by the whitespace device during a previous time period prior to the time period. Responsive to the database query, a response can be received at the whitespace device from the regulatory authorized database. The response indicates the set of available channels in the spectrum during the time period, where the available channels are unassigned to licensees at a location of the whitespace device during the time period. Moreover, the whitespace device is configured to opportunistically communicate in the spectrum over one or more of the available channels.
1. A whitespace device, comprising:
at least one processor; and
memory that comprises computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform acts including:
transmitting a database query for a set of available channels in a spectrum during a time period, the database query being transmitted for execution on a regulatory authorized database, wherein the spectrum is allocated by a telecommunications regulatory body;
receiving, responsive to the database query, a response that indicates the set of available channels in the spectrum for the whitespace device during the time period, wherein the available channels in the set are unassigned to licensees at a location of the whitespace device during the time period;
receiving channel usage data for the set of available channels in the spectrum, the channel usage data specifies actual usage of the spectrum by at least one disparate whitespace device prior to the time period respectively reported by the at least one disparate whitespace device when querying the regulatory authorized database; and
controlling usage of one or more of the available channels in the spectrum by the whitespace device during the time period based on the channel usage data.
2. The whitespace device of claim 1 , wherein the database query specifies a device class of the whitespace device, and wherein the response indicates the set of available channels in the spectrum for the device class during the time period.
3. The whitespace device of claim 2 , wherein the device class is indicative of whether the whitespace device is a fixed device or a portable device.
4. The whitespace device of claim 1 , the memory further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform acts including:
signing the database query using a private key, wherein a signed database query is authenticated using a public key.
5. The whitespace device of claim 1 , the memory further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform acts including:
identifying the location of the whitespace device, wherein the database query further comprises geolocation information that specifies the location of the whitespace device.
6. The whitespace device of claim 1 , the memory further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform acts including:
periodically transmitting the database query for the set of available channels in the spectrum.
7. The whitespace device of claim 1 , wherein the database query comprises data that specifies a set of channels used by the whitespace device during a previous time period prior to the time period.
8. The whitespace device of claim 7 , wherein the database query further comprises power level data for the whitespace device on the set of channels during the previous time period.
9. The whitespace device of claim 7 , wherein the database query further comprises session length data indicative of a length of a session for the whitespace device on each of the channels during the previous time period.
10. The whitespace device of claim 1 , wherein the spectrum is a broadcast spectrum.
11. The whitespace device of claim 1 , wherein the set of available channels indicated in the response is a function of the actual usage of the spectrum reported by the at least one disparate whitespace device when querying the regulatory authorized database.
12. The whitespace device of claim 1 , the memory further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform acts including:
transmitting a spectrum use query for the channel usage data for the set of available channels in the spectrum, the spectrum use query being transmitted for execution on a spectrum utilization database, and the channel usage data being received by the whitespace device responsive to the spectrum use query.
13. The whitespace device of claim 1 , the memory further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform acts including:
transmitting, responsive to the response, information indicating at least one channel from the set of available channels expected to be used by the whitespace device during the time period.
14. The whitespace device of claim 1 , the memory further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform acts including:
controlling a power level on each of the one or more of the available channels used by the whitespace device during the time period.
15. The whitespace device of claim 1 being a base station, the memory further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform acts including:
selecting a first channel from the set of the available channels for uplink communication; and
selecting a second channel from the set of available channels for downlink communication.
16. A method of operating a whitespace device, comprising:
transmitting, from the whitespace device, a database query for execution on a regulatory authorized database, the database query specifies a device class of the whitespace device and a location of the whitespace device, wherein the regulatory authorized database comprises information related to utilization of a broadcast spectrum by assigned licensees, and the broadcast spectrum is allocated by a telecommunications regulatory body;
receiving, responsive to the database query, a response that indicates a set of available channels in the broadcast spectrum for the device class during the time period, wherein the available channels in the set are unassigned to licensees at the location of the whitespace device during the time period, wherein the available channels in the set are based on actual usage of the spectrum by at least one disparate whitespace device prior to the time period respectively reported by the at least one disparate whitespace device when querying the regulatory authorized database; and
controlling usage of one or more of the available channels in the broadcast spectrum by the whitespace device during the time period.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the database query comprises data that specifies a set of channels used by the whitespace device during a previous time period prior to the time period.
18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
transmitting, from the whitespace device, a spectrum use query for execution on a spectrum utilization database;
receiving, responsive to the spectrum use query, channel usage data for the set of available channels in the broadcast spectrum, the channel usage data specifies the actual usage of the spectrum by the at least one disparate whitespace device prior to the time period respectively reported by the at least one disparate whitespace device when querying the regulatory authorized database; and
selecting the one or more of the available channels for usage by the whitespace device during the time period based on the channel usage data.
19. A whitespace device, comprising:
at least one processor; and
memory that comprises computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform acts including:
transmitting a spectrum use query for execution on a spectrum utilization database;
receiving, responsive to the spectrum use query, channel usage data for a set of available channels in a broadcast spectrum, the channel usage data specifies actual usage of the broadcast spectrum by at least one disparate whitespace device prior to a time period reported by the at least one disparate whitespace device when querying a regulatory authorized database, wherein the available channels in the set are unassigned to licensees at a location of the whitespace device during the time period, and the broadcast spectrum is allocated by a telecommunications regulatory body; and
selecting one or more of the available channels for usage by the whitespace device during the time period based on the channel usage data.
20. The whitespace device of claim 19 , the memory further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform acts including:
transmitting a database query for execution on the regulatory authorized database, the database query comprises data that specifies a set of channels used by the whitespace device during the previous time period; and
receiving, responsive to the database query, a response that indicates the set of available channels in the broadcast spectrum for the whitespace device during the time period.