An agent-based simulation model of a market for dynamic spectrum access

Abstract

The dramatic increase in the demand for spectrum-based services and devices, combined with the long-term exclusive model of spectrum management, has led to an apparent spectrum scarcity. To overcome this scarcity, the concerned literature has proposed a more dynamic spectrum management using Cognitive Radio (CR) networks and Dynamic Spectrum Management (DSM). This paper takes on the analysis of a potential market for dynamically accessing the spectrum. Our work introduces an agent-based simulation model whose design principles include simplicity - to provide a versatile prototype - and modularity - so that it can be easily modified to include different market mechanisms and agents' behaviours. We report on the results of several experiments to obtain a measure of market performance either through providers' revenues or overall social welfare - while analysing several plausible scenarios.