Spectrum Grant Transfer During CBSD Migration

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Solution Overview

Problem

In CBRS networks, when a service provider migrates a CBSD from one SAS to another, the original SAS retains GAA spectrum grants for a week, causing operational issues and service disruptions due to the delay in spectrum availability at the new SAS.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a new grant transfer request mechanism that allows the new SAS to immediately relinquish existing GAA spectrum grants from the old SAS during the migration process, ensuring the migrating CBSD can use the same spectrum without waiting for the week-long timer to expire.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the old SAS retains the GAA spectrum grant for a week after CBSD migration, then the spectrum grant timer ensures proper deallocation and coordination, but the migrating CBSD experiences operational disruptions and service degradation during the migration period

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvespectrum grant coordination reliabilityVSAvoidCBSD operational continuity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The new SAS sends a grant transfer request to the old SAS before the migration is complete, prompting the old SAS to deallocate the spectrum grant immediately rather than waiting for the timer to expire. This preliminary action eliminates the one-week waiting period and allows the CBSD to continue operating without service disruptions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Productivity

If the old SAS deallocates the spectrum grant immediately after CBSD migration, then the migrating CBSD can use the spectrum without delay, but the inter-SAS CPAS coordination mechanism is bypassed and other CBSDs might receive the spectrum allocation

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvespectrum availability speedVSAvoidspectrum allocation coordination

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The grant transfer request mechanism acts as an intermediary between the new SAS and old SAS, enabling immediate spectrum grant transfer while maintaining proper coordination. The new SAS initiates the transfer request, the old SAS processes and deallocates the grant, and both SASs update their local databases through the established inter-SAS communication interface, ensuring coordinated spectrum management without the one-week delay.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS11785472B2Transfer of spectrum grants during inter-SAS CBSD migration

Publication Date: 2023.10.10 CHARTER COMM OPERATING LLC

AI summary

In certain embodiments, one or more Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) service devices (CBSDs) may be migrated from their current Spectrum Access System (SAS) to a new SAS, where at least one existing PAL or GAA spectrum grant is transferred from the current SAS to the new SAS without waiting for a timer associated with the existing spectrum grant to expire. CBSDs may be migrated one at a time or multiple CBSDs of a single service provider may be migrated in a single process where the multiple CBSDs are identified by a shared organization ID associated with the service provider. In either case, a migrating CBSD can continue to use its previously existing spectrum grants after migrating to the new SAS without significant delay.