Harmonious Coexistence of Heterogeneous Wireless Networks in Unlicensed Bands: Solutions from the Statistical Signal Transmission Technique

The coexistence problem is always a critical issue for wireless communications in unlicensed bands. The 5G ecosystem involves diversified networks in unlicensed bands, which increases the difficulty in realizing harmonious coexistence. To address such a challenge, this article provides solutions from a novel perspective, the statistical signal transmission (SST) technique. We first introduce the operational principle of SST. Then, relying on SST's characteristics and advantages, such as the support intersystem data exchange, embedded transmission and spectrum saving, and robustness and Doppler tolerance, three specific applications are designed to show SST's feasibility in promoting harmonious coexistence in 5G unlicensed bands. We demonstrate that SSTaided solutions can largely facilitate fair spectrum sharing, spectrum efficiency, and energy efficiency in multiuser access. There are aspects of intersystem information exchange in the coexistence issue, which is appealing.