Spectrum Usage Monitoring and Airtime Utilization: Insights from a Practical Case Study

This paper introduces an innovative spectrum monitoring setup and a new performance metric, airtime utilization, which quantifies the extent of spectrum usage. Our design offers a protocol-independent solution for detailed spectrum analysis across frequency, time, and power dimensions, which is essential for effective spectrum management. The presented experimental spectrum monitor is cost-effective for large-scale deployment. Extensive measurements in the 3.1 to 3.7 GHz frequency range are reported to demonstrate the practical application of our setup. The airtime utilization metric is explored through various case studies, showing its impact on understanding spectrum dynamics at different times of day, across weekdays and weekends, as well as long-term statistics over 26 weeks. It is observed that a large portion of the spectrum from 3.18 to 3.4 GHz is underutilized, presenting an opportunity to share the spectrum. The paper emphasizes the importance of dynamic and responsive spectrum allocation strategies to optimize the use of this vital global resource. We also discuss the potential for expanding our network of distributed stand-alone spectrum monitoring systems to enhance real-time, comprehensive oversight of spectrum usage.