Patent ID: 8411774

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a Fourier transform engine to perform a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols received from a communication medium or an inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) on modulated subcarriers to generate an OFDM symbol for transmission, the Fourier transform engine having a variable DFT size for the DFT and a variable IDFT size for the IDFT; a controller to: check a data file for bandwidth availability within a network cell when a determination to increase in the number of subcarriers is made, wherein varying a number of subcarriers (N) being used is based on capability information that includes the data file, which indicates portions of an electromagnetic spectrum for which regulatory body licenses are currently obtained for the network cell, determine whether a regulatory body license has been acquired to use spectrum associated with the increased number of subcarriers using the data file, when the regulatory body license is required, vary the number of subcarriers (N) being used by the apparatus to communicate with wireless devices by a predetermined number of subcarriers each time a cell traffic load exceeds or falls below a specified percentage of a maximum cell traffic load, and change the DFT size or IDFT size of the Fourier transform engine in accordance with the number of subcarriers.