Radio Spectrum Coexistence between Military Radars and Radio Access Networks

Demand for radio frequencies is high due to increasing capacity need for the emerging radio access network, 5G. Hence, the radio spectrum is expected to be more crowded than it is today with users of different radio services. Military radars and radio access networks are two different services that potentially face coexistence. However, interference can occur between users, which undermines the performance of military radars and thereby also national security, which military radar providers, e.g. Saab group, need to address. Hence, the purpose is to investigate how Saab Group can adapt its resources and capabilities effectively, considering a new emerging coexistence environment due to radio spectrum scarcity driven by 5G capacity demand. The research methodology was split in three main parts. Firstly, a documentary research was performed to investigate the current coexistence situation and feasible methods for coexistence. The second method consisted of a delphi study that involved 14 experts from five different stakeholder categories and aimed at predicting the trend of the coexistence environment between military radars and radio access networks. The third method was to conduct expert interviews with Saab employees to investigate what internal technologies that existed within Saab and assess their coexistence potential with radio access networks. Findings indicated that currently implemented coexistence solutions are not sufficient and that there is a need for cross-industry collaboration to reach an efficient and effective spectrum sharing method between military radars and radio access networks. The four most feasible coexistence methods were: 1) location-based; 2) resource allocation; 3) cognitive radars; and 4) interference cancellation. At Saab, five internal technologies were found to have potential to contribute to coexistence between military radars and radio access networks. There are three main resources that Saab can pursue to effectively adapt to the coexistence trends between military radars and radio access networks: 1) competitive technologies for the 4 most feasible coexistence methods; 2) close collaborations with providers of radio access networks to develop common solutions; and 3) extensive insight and involvement in national and international policy development for radio spectrum allocation