Enabling LTE in TVWS with radio environment maps: From an architecture design towards a system level prototype

This paper reports recent prototyping efforts that show the feasibility of the radio environmental map to enable efficient exploitation of TV white spaces by a cellular LTE system. We describe a flexible REM backend implementation, fully integrated with standard-compliant operational LTE base station equipment. Simulations results indicate that REMs enhance white-space detection by their means to incorporate accurate and local channel propagation information, while experimental laboratory results illustrate the feasibility and performance of transmitter localization capabilities in a REM.