Streamlining 5G Spectrum Leasing

The growing demand for wireless communications has driven the development of new networking technologies; however, it also makes efficient usage of the limited frequency spectrum increasingly important. Leasing an unused spectrum on a short-term basis would help increase utilization, but complicated lease negotiations usually make it financially unviable. To address this, the entire leasing process, including negotiations, needs to be streamlined. This paper presents an automated spectrum marketplace for leasing that allows frequency bands to be placed for anonymous auctions between qualified (sub)leasers. The solution utilizes decentralized identifiers and verifiable credentials for entity privacy, and distributed ledgers for the automation and auditing of contract agreements. The prototype implementation demonstrates that the solution significantly streamlines the spectrum leasing process compared with the current solutions.