• The University of Iowa filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to transmit a 2.5 MHz signal from an aircraft trailing-wire antenna to measure the thickness of Alaskan glaciers. The antenna is 60 meters long. Transmit power is 10 watts. The modulation is specified as a 1 MBytes/sec. FM chirp 6 microseconds long with a duty cycle is 1%.

• Amateur Radio operator Frank Ravenswood filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to conduct experiments with spread spectrum on HF and VHF Amateur Radio frequencies. Operation will be from Hillsboro, Oregon in several Amateur bands between 1.8 and 54 MHz.
• ATSC Laboratories filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to conduct white-space equipment tests within the television broadcast bands 54-72 MHz, 76-88 MHz, 174-216 MHz, 470-608MHz, and 614-698 MHz. “ATSC will conduct research and experiments of fixed and personal/portable devices within the White Spaces to analyze the potential utility and feasibility of such operations and technology. In particular, ATSC wishes to determine the impact of such operations and technology in a densely packed ‘in use’ channel structure, consisting of underserved rural and urban populations.” Operation will be in Reno, Nevada.
• Amateur radio operator Brian D. Justin, Jr. filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to transmit on 70 MHz from Bedford, Virginia in support of trans-Atlantic Sporadic E propagation (E-skip) testing.
• Curtiss-Wright Controls filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to demonstrate its ground-penetrating 3d-Radar to prospective customers. Curtiss-Wright says it filed a Part 15 waiver request with the FCC in June 2010 seeking authorization to operate its 3d-Radar for non-federal use. That request was granted on January 11, 2012. The device, however, does not yet have FCC equipment authorization, thus this application. Operation will be at various, yet to be determined, locations and in the frequency range 140-3000 MHz.
• Lockheed Martin filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to conduct developmental testing of an AXCP ocean probe designed for NOAA and intended to profile water velocity and temperature. The probe’s transmitter has an integral monopole antenna that points toward the sky. In normal operation seawater acts as the ground plane. Operation will be at Marion, Massachusetts on 170.5, 172, and 173.5 MHz.

• NorthWestern Corporation, an electricity and natural gas utility, filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to test the usefulness of white-space frequencies and technologies for real-time communications with remote smart grid devices. “This includes point-to-multipoint wireless communications to capacitor banks, reclosers, voltage regulators and voltage sensors. This specific project is focused on improving power quality, power efficiency and outage restoration to rural customers in Montana along an unusually long distribution line.” The utility says it “has already installed smart grid devices which behave autonomously along the line without communications. Although power quality has improved, the line continues to experience problems. The expectation is that real time communications coordinated among the existing smart grid devices will improve power quality and efficiency.” This experimentation is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. Operation will be on up to four 500 kHz-bandwidth channels between 174 and 216 MHz in the vicinity of Philipsburg, Montana.
• Fugro Earthdata Inc. filed an application with exhibits for special temporary authority to operate in support of research on determining the thickness of multiyear arctic ice associated with offshore ice flows using GeoSAR Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IFSAR). The applicant says P-band radar is known to penetrate several tens of meters into glaciers. The ability to accurately and simultaneously measure the top and bottom of the arctic ice from a high flying sensor, however, has not yet been established. Operation will be in an area centered on Barrow, Alaska on 270-430 MHz and 9.63-9.79 GHz.

• The University of Washington filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority transmit from a free-flying balloon over Washington state on 433.845-433.995 MHz. This is in support of a class project entailing the building and operating of inexpensive equipment to collect atmospheric temperature-profile data.
• CBS filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to allow testing to “determine if digital spectrum efficient communication radios, capable of simultaneous voice and data channels, will improve the efficiency of its remote field news gathering and if the known latency and ‘cliff effect’ resulting from digital communications might adversely effect news gathering operations. While CBS believes that the benefits of using digital spectrum efficient radios are well advertised, the resulting audio latency issues experienced by the ‘on-­air’ talent during live broadcasts could be problematic.” CBS goes on to state that “As live broadcasts can be affected by digital latency, CBS seeks to determine if this will limit using digital cues and ‘on‐air’ program audio foldback to live talent broadcasting from remote locations. In addition to voice communications, GPS tracking of news crews, electronic script transfers, and teleprompter data will be tested using the proposed equipment and emission.” Operation will be in Denver, Colorado and vicinity on several frequencies near 450 MHz.
• Qualcomm filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to operate in San Diego, California on 536-548, 578-590, and 656-668 MHz (TV channels 25-26, 32-33, and 45-46, respectively). This is for white-space testing of up to 10 devices, each having a maximum transmit power of 100 mW and bandwidth up to 10 MHz.
• Microsoft filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to conduct femtocell research, including development of software techniques “to improve the user experience.” Microsoft “plans to operate 3GPP Femtocell Reference Platform (‘FRP’) units from Qualcomm. At the radio layer, the Qualcomm FRP is no different than commercially-available femtocells that use Qualcomm chips. At higher software layers, the biggest difference is that the FRPs will connect to core network emulators instead of connecting to a Home NodeB gateway inside a commercial mobile operator. These core network emulators will run on PC servers, and the FRPs will connect to them via Ethernet. The FRPs will be configured to advertise a particular test mobile network to particular UEs. These UEs will be standard, commercially-available 3GPP cellular phones with SIM cards that allow them to connect to the FRPs.” Operation will be in Redmond, Washington on 824-835, 869-880, 1850-1885, and 1930-1965 MHz.
• Coldplay Inc., a wholly-owned affiliate of the musical group Coldplay, filed an the application with exhibit for special temporary authority to transmit a 60 kHz-wide signal centered at 869.5 MHz during the 2012 Grammy Awards on February 12 in Los Angeles. According to the application, “Coldplay has recently integrated a distinctive, innovative audiovisual component into its live performances throughout Europe. Specifically, in recent performances, each audience member has received a Light Emitting Diode (“LED”) wristband that is synchronized with the group’s music and stage lighting. These wristbands, which are controlled by a single, centrally located radiofrequency transmitter flash en masse in coordination with the band’s music and stage lighting to create a stunning visual effect throughout the concert hall while simultaneously enabling individual audience members to immerse themselves in the live performance. Coldplay seeks STA authority from the FCC to test and demonstrate the underlying RF transmitter that provides command/control instructions to the aforementioned LED wristbands during its performance at the 2012 GRAMMY Award Show.” Coldplay says it received consent from AT&T Mobility LLC, the licensee of that frequency in that area.

• Cosmoglia, Inc. filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to operate in support of it’s “Dove 2” satellite project.  As the company states, “The Dove 2 mission is an internal company technology demonstration experiment to test the capabilities of a low-cost spacecraft constrained to the 3U cubesat form factor to host a small payload. Dove 2 will do this by transmitting health and payload data to the ground. The payload data consists of image data taken from an on board nadir pointing camera. The images will be downlinked over the ISM frequency band at 2.4 GHz and the earth observation frequency band at 8.2 GHz. The dimensions of the spacecraft are consistent with CubeSat and P-POD standards. It is a single unit with the dimensions of 10 cm X 10 cm X 33 cm. The total mass is about 5.8 kg. One important metric of mission success is the ability to build a solar panel/battery/power distribution system that will last for years in orbit, so the mission duration will be one year. The spacecraft will launch on August 31st into an elliptical orbit of 290 km by 575 km with a 64.9 degree inclination.” Operation will be on 1616-1626 MHz, 2401.6-2441.0 MHz, and 8.221-8.229 GHz. The operation on 1616-1626 MHz has been coordinated with Iridium.
• The MITRE Corporation filed an application and exhibit for experimental license to operate in Bedford, Massachusetts and McLean, Virginia on 1915-1920 MHz. According to the exhibit, “MITRE is developing innovative solutions for mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). The main goal of the research is to develop network routing algorithms working on peer-to-peer prototype radios supplied by Qualcomm Corporation to enable multi-hop wireless communication networks. Prior explorations in this area have focused on the use of such radios as one- hop peer-to-peer devices. MITRE will perform research, development, testing, and demonstrations. This experimental work will be performed over a 2-year period.”
• Orbital Sciences Corporation filed an application with exhibits for special temporary authority to operate three spacecraft telemetry (return) links with its Cygnus spacecraft in support of a mission to the International Space Station. These links are to monitor spacecraft operation. Return links include: Mode 1: spread spectrum operation with NASA TDRSS, Mode 2: low data rate operation with NASA TDRSS (contingency mode only), and Mode 3: high data rate operation with ground stations. Operation will be on 2202.9-2207.1, 2213-2219, 2214.5-2217.5, and 2215.958-2216.042 MHz.
• Bran Ferren Corp. filed an application for special temporary authority to operate on 2215-2245 MHz at various locations in southern California, Nevada and Utah. This is for the development, testing and demonstration of a “unique airborne video production vehicle” that operates up to 400 feet above ground.
• Sprint filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to test wireless backhaul systems in the Overland Park, Kansas area on 2305-2310 and 2350-2355 MHz. The tested systems are intended to support Sprint’s Network Vision and related broadband deployment initiatives. The requested frequency bands are in the WCS A-block and are licensed to Nextwave, which has given its consent.
• Google Fiber filed an application with exhibits for special temporary authority to “test Bluetooth and Wi-Fi protocols and performance (including coordination of Wi-Fi channels between devices and in the presence of foreign signals) within an integrated access point as part of a fiber residential gateway.” Operation will be in Palo Alto, California on 2400-2483 and 5470-5725 MHz.
• Huawei filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to build an experimental network in Plano, Texas operating on 2578-2602 MHz. This is to demonstrate TDD-LTE backhaul technology to wireless operators. Huawei has permission to use the frequencies from their licensee, Clearwire.
• Enterprise Electronics Corp. filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to “investigate and refine weather surveillance methods to enhance the detection accuracy of severe weather phenomenon. This involves enhancing the design of radar hardware, (transmitters, receivers), and refining software algorithms used to detect, model and display the resulting data. Case studies of weather events are analyzed throughout multiple seasons and refinements are thus integrated into existing radar detection schemes.” Operation will be at Enterprise, Alabama on 2700-2900, 5300-5600, and 9300-9400 MHz.
• Northrop Grumman filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to operate at Hanover and Linthicum, Maryland on 3.1-3.5 GHz. This is for “tests and demonstrations of newly-designed equipment being developed for sale to the U.S. military. Six 50-MHz channels . . . are required for these purposes, with 50 MHz spacing between the channels. The antenna center will be pointed at 237 degrees from North, elevated 15 degrees above horizontal, and capable of scanning +/- 60 degrees in azimuth and elevation. Equipment is Northrop Grumman prototype.”
• General Dynamics filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to operate in support of development of a government system known as Prophet, not described but apparently a signals intelligence and electronic warfare system. Operation will be in Scottsdale, Arizona on 3424-3452 and 3524-3552 MHz.
• Qualcomm filed an application for special temporary authority to complete “propagation testing in support of developing next generation wireless technologies and advanced receivers.” “A single fixed transmitter will be configured per the requested frequencies. Receive power will be measured in the immediate area of the fixed transmitter.” Operation will be in San Diego, California on 3650-3700 MHz and 5790-5820 MHz.
• iRobot Corporation filed an application for special temporary authority to test range, mobility, and other attributes of robots. Operation will be on 4940-4990 MHz in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
• Electronic Warfare Associates filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to test its “Counter – Unmanned Aerial System” radar, said to be capable of acquiring and tracking multiple low-radar-cross-section targets. Operation will be in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey on 5.4-5.9 GHz.
• Georgia Tech Research Institute filed an application for special temporary authority to “Support testing of the recently launched WGS-4 satellite under Army contract. The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) provides test and measurement support to the U.S. Army via contract W911W5-11-D-0001. Under this contract, the U.S. Army has tasked GTRI to support testing of the recently launched WGS-4 satellite located at 121.9 degrees west. GTRI will utilize an approved ground terminal to generate various waveforms to test the satellite. The average duty cycle for the overall test is projected to be 3 minutes ON and 8 minutes OFF. All testing will be monitored by the U.S. Air Force Space Protection Program.” Operation will be on 7.90-8.02 and 8.345-8.400 GHz.
• 3 Phoenix Inc. filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to operate in support of development of an improved periscope detection radar. This work is part of a contract with the U.S. Navy. Operation will be in Wake Forest, North Carolina on 8.51-8.99 GHz.
• Telephonics Corporation filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to test an Advanced Radar Surveillance System (ARSS). The ARSS is to be used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the southern U.S. border.   Operation will be in Huntingdon and Farmingdale, New York on 8850 MHz.

• Lockheed Martin filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to conduct “verification of performance of new radar technology for domestic border security for state officials. Data of this improved radar sensor will be used to show performance improvements compared to current operating sensors used by state law enforcement officials for border security.” Operation will be in Syracuse, New York and Sierra Blanca, Texas on 9.2-10.0 GHz.

• Ultra Electronics Advanced Tactical Systems filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to test a ground surveillance radar system in support of a response the company is preparing to an RFP by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The RFP pertains to an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) system for the U.S. Border Patrol. Operation will be in the Marana, Arizona area on 9300-9500 MHz and 15.75-17.20 GHz.

• Qualcomm filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to test Next Gen Air-Ground System antenna performance using a single fixed transmitter on the ground and measuring the received power in an aircraft.  As background, Qualcomm says it “recently filed a Petition for Rulemaking to Amend The Commission’s Rules To Establish A Next-Generation Air-Ground Communications Service On A Secondary Licensed Basis In The 14.0 to 14.5 GHz Band, RM-11640. Comments and Reply Comments were filed on the Petition in September and October 2011.” “Qualcomm has also met with the FCC staff in IB, OET, and WTB to discuss the request and the expected performance of the Next- Gen Air-Ground system.” Operation will be on 14.0-14.5 GHz at Bakersfield and San Diego, California.
• General Dynamics filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to test a prototype border protection system to support “US Government contract pursuits.” The system includes a surveillance radar capable of detecting moving ground targets out to a distance of about 20 miles. Operation will be in Wittman, Arizona on 16.2-17.2 GHz.
• The Technische Universitaet Darmstadt Institute of Phys. Geodesy filed an application for special temporary authority to operate on 17.1-17.3 GHz in Princeton, New Jersey. This is to determine the oscillation of steel cables during construction of a building using a microwave interferometer. “Attached to the cables are big glass planes as part of the construction of the building. The measured eigenfrequency shall give information about the tension of the cables.”
• Peabody Powder River Mining filed an application for special temporary authority to test technology designed to detect movement in the walls of a mine by measuring the return-time of a reflected RF signal. Operation will be in Wright, Wyoming on 17.2 GHz. During processing of the application, FCC staff asked the applicant for details on the mine; here’s the response: “Peabody’s mine is a surface mine where holes are dug into the ground’s surface, much like a rock quarry. The holes run as high as several hundred feed deep and up to approximately 750 feet wide. As a result, the walls are hundreds of feet high from the base of the large hole.”
• Google filed an application to extend the duration of previously-granted special temporary authority to “Conduct experiments using test vehicles equipped with automatic cruise control radars in a manner that extends the sensing range of the radars when a vehicle is not in motion. Google is developing advanced driver assistance systems with the goal of improving the safety and convenience of vehicular transportation. Each Google test vehicle contains several off-the-shelf automatic cruise control (ACC) radars certified for use in the 76.0-77.0 GHz band. These radars are used to sense the environment around the vehicles.” Google goes on to say that “Testing the vehicles performance in complex traffic situations (for example, when the vehicle is stopped at intersections, or when a vehicle is about to make a right turn on to a busy road, in which case the range of a left-sensing radar must be sufficient to inform the vehicle to allow high-speed traffic to pass before proceeding) will provide critical data that will guide the development of more effective driver assistance technology. The results of these experiments will inform the need for a longer term experimental license. The location of the proposed experiments will be the San Francisco Bay, California area, extending south to Santa Cruz, California and north and east to South Lake Tahoe, California.” Google says that current FCC radar power limits will be exceeded in its tests when the vehicles are not in motion, but it does think that interference will be a problem.
• Raytheon Missile Systems filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to “demonstrate the effectiveness of using solid state W-band technology for improving high-bandwidth point-to-point communications in harsh environments.” Operation will be in Van Nuys, California on 92-93 GHz or 91-93 GHz (the application and exhibit are inconsistent with regard to frequency). The exhibit states that “Raytheon is working on a new product that uses high bandwidth solid state W-band (91-93 GHz) technology, making it possible to deliver compact, secure communications systems with orders of magnitude reductions in size, weight and power. Reducing the size, weight and power needed by broadband data links is essential when working in harsh climates. Traditional point to point technologies operating in this frequency band use large antennas that are buffeted by wind. The buffeting causes a significant drop in data rates, which leads to inefficient communications, lowering of available bandwidth, slowing of vital communications, and wasted power by the transmitters. This technology offers significant advances in power consumption, rapid deployment, and effective high-speed data transmissions under all conditions.” Raytheon expects to achieve 320 Mbps on a 1 km link.

• Amateur Radio operator Brian Justin filed an application with exhibit (shown below) for special temporary authority to “be able to operate antique Heising modulation on 470.0 kHz on or about x-mas evening and several other days” to commemorate Reginald Fessenden’s “original claimed voice transmissions over 100 yrs ago.” The transmissions were to take place on 470-475 kHz from Forest, Virginia.

• Chesapeake Operating, Inc. filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to “provide music and announcements throughout Chesapeake’s corporate campus” and for “determining propagation and coverage while simultaneously considering a waiver to operate permanently under 15.221(b)” of the FCC’s Rules. Operation is to be on 1300 kHz and 1610 kHz in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The applicant says it’s parent company, Chesapeake Energy, “is the Nation’s second-largest producer of natural gas, a top 15 producer of oil and natural gas liquids and the most active driller of new wells in the U.S.” “Chesapeake is considering the use of low power AM broadcasts at its corporate campus that could be used for a variety of purposes. For example, the system could be used for disseminating severe weather information (e.g., tornado watches, tornado warnings, ice storms, etc.,) street closings, traffic re-routes due to construction, as well as during outdoor events such as the farmers market that Chesapeake sponsors during the summer months and outdoor activities associated with United Way campaigns, concerts, and family events.”
• Phillip J. Williams filed an application with exhibits for special temporary authority to operate using spread spectrum on HF and VHF frequencies in the Amateur Radio Service. Current rules don’t permit spread spectrum operation below 220 MHz. In the tests, comparisons will be made with other digital modes such as JT65A, Olivia, MT63 and PSK31, including with regard to weak-signal capabilities. Experiments will focus on minimum required transmitter power and developing operating procedures for the Amateur Radio community. Operation will take place in Euless, Texas in various Amateur bands between 1.8 and 148 MHz.
• The Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets at the University of Kansas filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to conduct testing of a 72 MHz link used to control the “Meridian Uninhabited Aircraft System,” an aircraft that carries a variety of scientific payloads, including ice-penetrating radar, for research on the flow-ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. Operation will be at several locations in Kansas and Utah on 72.01-72.99 MHz.

• National Public Radio filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to evaluate the feasibility of using a Cognitive Modulator. This is envisioned as an alternative to consumer FM modulators long used to allow audio from a personal electronic device to be played through a vehicle’s FM radio. These modulators have their drawbacks: they can cause interference to other FM listeners, FCC rules limit their power such that it can be difficult for them to overcome interference, and they may need to be retuned as the vehicle travels into range of new, interfering FM stations. Preliminary testing led by NPR suggests a Cognitive Modulator operating at 87.7 MHz may present a solution to the above service problems. Such a device would sense the amount of interference and noise (I+N) at or around 87.7 MHz and adjust its transmitter carrier power to provide a desired C/(I+N) in a vehicle’s FM radio. Experimental operation will be in New Haven, Connecticut on 87.7 MHz
• Lockheed Martin filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to operate at Syracuse, New York on various frequencies in the bands 109.375-137.000, and 960-1400 MHz. This is to test electronic-support-measures receiver systems for the U.S. Navy on vessels being deployed overseas.
• Cosmogia Inc. filed an application with exhibits for special temporary authority to operate communications inks in support of the Dove 1 satellite mission. This is a “technology demonstration to: a) test the basic capabilities of the low-cost bus built from non-space, Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) components; b) show that a bus constrained to the 3U cubesat form factor can host a small payload; and c) demonstrate the ability to design, produce and operate satellites on short schedules and low cost. Dove 1 will do this by transmitting health and payload data to the ground.” The satellite is due to be launched as a secondary payload on the maiden flight of the Taurus II from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. It will be placed in a nearly circular orbit of 280 km, which will decay with the satellite burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere approximately 2 weeks after launch. Amateur beacon transmissions on 145.825 MHz will commence upon deployment of the satellite. A half-duplex, spread-spectrum radio on 2.4016-2.4776 GHz will be used for main payload downlink and for telecommand uplink. The satellite has dimensions of 10 cm x 10 cm x 30 cm. Its mass is about 5 kg.
• The Wisconsin Wireless and NetworkinG Systems (WiNGS) Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to test fixed point-to-point backhaul and vehicular networking on TV white=space frequencies. Operation will be in the vicinity of Madison, Wisconsin on 174-216, 470-608, and 614-698 MHz. The experimental platform is called Wide Band Digital Radio. Its major function is to perform frequency translation from Wi-Fi frequencies in the 2.4 GHz range to UHF-TV frequencies.

• Lockheed Martin filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to conduct radiosonde factory acceptance testing as part of a government contract. During testing, the radiosondes are attached to a weather balloon and deployed from a Lockheed Martin facility in Marion, Massachusetts. The weather balloon can travel a ground distance of 250 km and reach a height of 30 km. The average duration of the deployment is 135 minutes. The expected number of deployments is about five per month. The radiosonde transmitter uses a monopole antenna that directs transmitted power towards the ground. Testing will take place on various frequencies between 400.25 and 405.5 MHz.
• Carlson Wireless filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to test white-space radio technology in rural locations of Hawaii prior to database and device certification. This is to compare performance of white-space radio propagation to that of WiMAX and 900 MHz radios in very dense tropical cover and in heavy rain conditions. Operation will be in Pahoa, Hawaii and in Keaau, Hawaii on 470-608 and 614-698 MHz.
• America’s Cup Event Authority, LLC filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to permit video production, and to coordinate operations and security for the Americas Cup World Series Sailboat Race in the vicinity of San Diego. Several frequency bands are requested including 470-476, 476-482, 482-488, and 506-512 MHz (i.e., television broadcast channels 14, 15, 16 and 20), television broadcast auxiliary frequencies 2025-2110 MHz, and amateur frequencies at 2390-2400 MHz and 3300-3500 MHz.
• Robert Miller Consulting filed an application with exhibits for special temporary authority to operate on TV channel 44, 650-656 MHz, near Green Bay, Wisconsin to conduct research on the effects of wind turbines on over-the-air TV reception. The applicant says the “proliferation of wind turbine deployment and the associated history of television interference problems have prompted an urgent need for development of tools to assist in the placement of the turbines so as to minimize interference.” This testing is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and there is the prospect of more funding for more exhaustive tests depending on these initial test results.
• ShawnTech Communications filed an application with exhibits for special temporary authority to operate in Ridgeville, South Carolina on 851-869, 869.2-893.8, 869.70-893.31, 1930.2-1989.8, and 1931.25-1988.75 MHz. Details are not available due to a request for confidentiality. This appears to be a test of a managed-access cellular system for intercepting unauthorized phone calls from a prison. It further appears that a cellular operator gave its consent for the test.
• Boeing filed an application with exhibits for special temporary authority to test RFID tags that Boeing and commercial airlines use on various items aboard commercial aircraft. The device being used is certified for unlicensed use in Europe but not in the U.S. Testing will be in Goodyear, Arizona on 865-867 MHz.
• The South Coast Air Quality Management District filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to operate a wind-profiling radar, which depends on the scattering of transmitted signals by irregularities in the index of refraction of the atmosphere. The irregularities are caused by turbulence in the wind. By determining the Doppler frequency shift, the speed of the wind can be determined. Temperature data can be obtained by measuring the propagation velocity of an acoustic signal. The hardware includes a receiver/modulator, a final amplifier/preamplifier, a digital control and data processor, and an antenna system. These items were developed by NOAA and are fabricated by Vaisala, and will be owned and operated by the applicant, a government agency that manages air pollution control in the southern California counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino. The data collected will include hourly profiles of low-level winds between 100 and 5000 meters above ground level (m AGL) and “virtual temperatures” between 100 and 2500 m AGL. This data will be collected to improve meteorological analyses, as well as air quality forecasting and modeling in the South Coast Air Basin. Operation will be on 915 MHz at Irvine, California.
• Harris filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to test transmission and reception of voice and data from 1.35 GHz to 1.39 GHz at various distances and locations at its facility in Rochester, New York. Stationary and mobile tests will be performed to transmit voice and data in both urban and rural settings. Tests will replicate in-theater tactical communications. This testing is partly in support of U.S. government contracts. The tests will use the Harris AN/PRC 117G wideband tactical radio.

• BAE Systems filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to test next-generation “communication intelligence” for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Operation will be in Hudson, New Hampshire on 1626-1660 MHz.
• Orbital Sciences filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to operate from Persimmon Point, Virginia on 2222-2228, 2239-2243, 2258-2260, 2267-2271, 2286-2290, and 5764-5772 MHz. Orbital is under contract to NASA/Johnson Space Center to develop a commercial cargo transportation system for delivery of cargo to the International Space Station. The contract includes two demonstration flights of this system, and eight operational flights to the Station. The experimental operation is in support of various communications needs for these flights from NASA’s Wallop’s Flight Facility, including flight termination system uplink, multiple S-band telemetry data downlinks, a C-band radar system with transmit and receive, and a GPS uplink.

• RF Film, Inc. filed an application for special temporary authority to provide wireless video transmission from film cameras during the production of “Spiderman 4” in Los Angeles. Operation will be on 2363-2371 and 2380-2388 MHz. Those frequencies are in a band normally used for aeronautical telemetry. The applicant has consulted with the frequency coordinator for that band, (AFTRCC), which approved their use on a non-interfering and temporary basis.
• Google filed an application for special temporary authority to test an “entertainment device.” It will test the functionality of “of all subsystems, including WiFi and Bluetooth radio. Users will connect their device to home WiFi networks. This line of testing will reveal real world engineering issues and reliability of networks. The device utilizes a standard WiFi module, and the planned testing is not directed at evaluating the radio frequency characteristics of the module (which are known), but rather at the throughput and stability of the home WiFi networks that will support the device, as well as the basic functionality of the device. From this testing we hope to modify the design in order to maximize product robustness and user experience. Utilizing the requested number of units will allow testing of real world network performance and its impact on applications running on the device, so that any problems can be discovered and addressed promptly. All devices will be used by and registered to specific individuals (all Google employees), and Google will maintain a record of each device, so that they can be easily recalled at any time during testing and when testing is complete. The devices will be tested at Google facilities and in and around the employees residences.” There will be 252 devices in the test, which will take place in Mountain View and Los Angeles, California; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and New York, New York on 2400-2483 MHz.
• AirScan filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to test “state?of?the?art airborne surveillance and security operations for government and private service customers.” Transmissions will be from aircraft in the Titusville, Florida area on 2475.5 and 2458.5 MHz.
• Panoscan filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to test video transmission from a robot it’s developing for law enforcement inspection purposes. Operation is to be in Sylmar, California on 5725-5858 MHz. The transmitter is an Iftron Mondo Stinger 5.8 video transmitter. Apparently, prior work in development of the radio portion of the robot fell under Part 15 of the FCC’s Rules, and now it does not, necessitating the experimental license. Panoscan says it has a request pending before the Commission for waiver of Section 15.247 of its Rules to allow the use of digital modulation.

• GE Aviation filed an application and exhibits for special temporary authority to conduct outdoor testing of its HEET radar system, a “proprietary three-dimensional radar scanner for radar cross section measurements. This one of a kind scanner is currently in checkout phase. Eventually the system will be used on military bases.” Operation will be in Evendale, Ohio and in Peebles, Ohio on 6.5-18 GHz.
• Telephonics Corporation filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to operate in Huntington, New York on 8850 MHz. This to support testing of the ARSS-1 portable radar system. The radar operates on a single channel at a pulse repetition frequency of 5 kpps. The pulse width is 17.0 ?S and the receive interval is 183 ?S for a total repetition interval of 200 ?S.

• Telephonics Corporation filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to conduct tests of its model RDR-1700B maritime surveillance and imaging radar, which the company describes as a multimode airborne search radar that uses pulse compression techniques to provide various search and imaging capabilities, using a programmable waveform generator that can generate different pulse widths, pulse repetitions, and modulation. The radar operates over the frequency band of 9.2 to 9.5 GHz. The radar is continuously changing frequency thereby minimizing the number of undesired pulses being received by fixed-frequency marine and aviation weather radars. This testing is to improve the radar’s signal processing techniques for the purposes of improving the radars ability to search, detect and track multiple targets during over-water surveillance as well as search and rescue and weather detection/avoidance capabilities. Development of imaging techniques that provide the ability to identify the size and shape details of objects detected beyond visual ranges or bad weather conditions will also be part of the testing. Operation will be in the vicinity of Farmingdale, New York.

• The University of Nebraska – Omaha, filed an application and exhibits for special temporary authority to test repurposing of Furuno marine radar to count aircraft at a non-controlled airport. Operation will be at the Council Bluffs, Iowa airport on 9410 MHz. The applicant says it wants to investigate marine radar in this application as a step toward creating a system to prevent aircraft collisions. The radar system in this experiment will include a stationary radar antenna linked to a 10 inch radar display that will transmit data to a computer, which will be programmed to count aircraft. The data collected includes the distance from the radar, the heading from the radar, and the heading of the aircraft.
• Tachyon Networks filed an application with exhibits for special temporary authority to test an 18” terminal mounted to a C-12 military aircraft. Communications will be with one of three Intelsat-owned, U.S. licensed satellite hubs. This is in support of a U.S. Army contract for communications in Afghanistan related to airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Operation will be centered on Middletown, Delaware on 14.0-14.5 GHz.

• Mokulele Research Corp. filed an application with exhibits for special temporary authority to test airborne mechanical tracking antenna performance. Mokulele will use millimeter-wave spectrum from a directional antenna on the ground pointed straight up. The airborne receiver antenna, installed inside the cabin of a small aircraft, will intercept the narrow beam, and immediately activate its reflector to the optimum angle in order to sustain strongest signal level, while the aircraft’s pitch and bank angles change. The aircraft will fly over the ground station between 8,000 and 18,000 feet AGL in tight circles of approximately 0.5 nautical mile diameter. The signal strength, optimized by the tracking antenna, will be recorded for later analysis. An airborne-antenna signal re-acquisition algorithm will also be evaluated. Operation will be on 46.75-46.95 GHz at Haleiwa, Hawaii.
• Honeywell filed an application with exhibits for special temporary authority to conduct flight testing using a developmental sensor to collect data on potential helicopter obstacles such as power lines and towers. The data collected will be used to learn about the detection criteria of such targets. Operation will be in Torrance, California; Phoenix, Arizona; and Everett, Washington on 92-94 GHz. The sensor antenna connects to a PC?based data processing system used to operate the antenna, display, and capture results. The antenna radiates a 0.7 degree horizontal by 4.0 degree vertical beam. The modulation is a linear frequency modulation that uses up to a total of 1.0 GHz about a center frequency of 93.0 GHz (i.e., 92.5 GHz – 93.5 GHz). The bandwidth is swept repeatedly at a rate of 500 us per sweep.

• Raytheon Missile Systems filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to conduct tests on 94-96 GHz at Tucson, Arizona. “This application is being filed for the experimental development of a directed energy device to be exported that will use radio waves to achieve the mission.” (“Directed energy device” appears to be a euphemism for directed energy weapon.) “Because this technology is very new, there is a great deal to be learned still about how to effectively direct the radio energy while ensuring that there is no lasting harm.” “[A]ny personnel present will have volunteered to work on this technology.” The device to be tested will have an input power of 800 watts and an effective radiated power of 50 megawatts.

• Amateur Radio operator Juan Granados filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to test CW, LSB, RTTY, and digital modes such as BPSK on 130-140 kHz and 495-505 kHz. The testing will take place in Miami, Florida and involve communication with amateurs in other parts of the world.

• Cognitive Data Dispatch (CDD) filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to “explore the possibility of a cognitive type of radio architecture in transmitting very brief time duration data transmissions over a HF radio channel.” “CDD is seeking authority to transmit data in a point-to-point mode using a minimal spectral footprint (utilizing a channel for less than 10 milliseconds at a time, not to exceed 250 milliseconds of total occupation during any 24 hour period) on pre-coordinated HF frequencies using fixed transmit and receive locations. These extremely brief time duty duration transmissions will ensure no harmful interference will occur to any licensed users of these channels. As part of the channel selection process, CDD transmissions will employ cognitive radio features to ensure the optimum transmission channel and minimal opportunity for interference.” Operation will be from sites in Aurora, Illinois; Washington, DC; and East Rutherford, New Jersey on various frequencies from 2.2890 MHz to 7.6971 MHz.

• RIIMIC LLC, d.b.a. Sunair Electronics filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to conduct testing of single-sideband communications equipment in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on 5.888-23.1465 MHz.

• Lockheed Martin filed an application with exhibit for experimental license for control operation of the AN/WLD-1(V) Remote Multi-Mission Vehicle (RMMV) in support of the US Navy’s Remote Minehunting System (RMS) and Multi-Vehicle Communication System (MVCS) programs. This experiment is said to be necessary for development and integration of the radio communication link between the control and remote stations. Operation will be in West Palm Beach, Florida on various frequencies between 30-40 MHz and 1708-2297 MHz.

• Signal Systems Corporation filed an application with exhibits (several confidential) for special temporary authority to test the utility of short duration messaging in the VHF band using meteor burst communications). Data rates will be up to 9600 bps. Operation will be in Ridgley, Maryland and Blacksburg, South Carolina on 40.75 and 49.8 MHz.

• Live2Media filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to test “media broadcast” at an auto race event. The broadcast will consist of messages from the pit crew to the race car, along with announcements. Operation will take place in Laguna Seca, California on several frequencies between 64.0 MHz and 68.2 MHz.

• Garmin filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to test the interoperability of its avionic data link system and data link radio (GDR 66) with an ARINC ground station. The link is characterized by 8-DPSK modulation, 25 kHz channel spacing, a raw data rate of 31.5 kbps, and a carrier-sense multiple-access technique for operation on a shared channel. Operation will be in Olathe, Kansas on 136.975 MHz.

• Adaptrum filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to experiment with prototype TV white-space equipment. The equipment is to be fully compliant with the new white space rules except for equipment authorization. Operation will be in San Jose and Mountain View, California on 174-216 MHz, 470-608 MHz, and 614-698 MHz.

• The Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC) filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to test the usefulness of TV white-space frequencies in, as the applicant states, “supporting smart grid fixed and mobile data connectivity. Fixed applications include long range point to multipoint backhaul of internal utility traffic including supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) traffic and automatic metering infrastructure (AMI) traffic, both located at REC’s electric utility substations. The AMI system also enables real-time load management thereby improving system reliability and reducing peak demand, all of which further the nation’s goal for greater energy independence and reduced carbon emissions. In terms of mobile data connectivity, REC plans to leverage this technology to test the efficacy of these frequencies for mobile workforce management applications in the utility service vehicles including processing work orders – new connects, disconnects, reconnects, and outage orders. REC also has a need to test automatic vehicle location (AVL) to optimize routing of service vehicles in real time.” Operation will be in several Virginia communities on 174-216 MHz.

• The Avionics Engineering Center at Ohio University filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to operate in support of research on the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS). The system is intended to provide fixed and mobile precision approach and landing systems that will support a 200 feet decision height and 0.5 statute mile visibility while operating in military or civil modes. The system will also support auto-land capability for suitably equipped aircraft (to include Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force aircraft) and operate in a GPS-jamming-threat environment. Operation will be in Albany, Ohio on 240.650 MHz and 280.975 MHz.

• Lockheed Martin filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to “perform testing on a Low Frequency Sensor (LFS) radar that will be used for long range detection. The testing will evaluate the sensor detection performance and antenna characterization of the radar.” The test antenna will be log periodic with a gain of 6 dBi and beamwidth of 103 degrees. ERP will be variable up to 10 watts. Operation will be in Syracuse, New York on 420-450 MHz.

• KTS Wireless filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to test a TV white-space system in an orange grove located southwest of Clewiston, Florida. The intent is to apply TV white spaces to the problem of enabling automation for sustainable specialty crop farming. “The current implementation requires a multi-radio solution in several bands with multiple repeaters which is problematic in an industrial environment.” The white-space method is intended to allow a single base-station solution. Operation will be on 470-608 MHz and 614-698 MHz.

• Google filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to operate in support of experiments in TV white spaces in the bands 512-602 MHz and 620-698 MHz. “Google will conduct research and experiments of fixed and personal/portable devices within the white spaces to determine the potential utility and feasibility of such operations and technology. Google requests authorization within the geographic coordinates of its Mountain View, California campus. Google plans to operate up to three fixed base stations at 4 W per 6 MHz channel available, with a radius of operation of 5 miles (8.05 km), and up to 50 mobile stations at 100 mW per 6 MHz channel available.”

• Quantum5x Systems filed an application for special temporary authority to test a “new type of wireless microphone with a rubberized housing and internal antenna, as well as addressing de-sense and intermodulation correction technology.” Operation will in New York, New York on 600-608 MHz and 614-689 MHz.

• Lockheed Martin filed an application with exhibits for special temporary authority to test its “MONAX Cellular solution along the southwest border of Texas. This operation will be supporting evaluation by local and state authorities of the MONAX solution for utilization in securing the border with Mexico.” “MONAX is a powerful, new communications system that combines the convenience of smartphone technology with the power and flexibility of a secure, highly portable infrastructure.” “The 4G wireless system, consists of a unique portable MONAX Lynx sleeve that connects touch-screen COTS [commercial off-the-shelf] smartphones [which look similar to iPhones] to the MONAX XG Base Station infrastructure on the ground or in airborne platforms, offering uninterrupted service to warfighters in the field.” “MONAX offers a rich set of applications and governance, leveraging commercial smartphone application development and application store model. Applications can be easily written or re-hosted on a smartphone, reviewed/approved for mission effectiveness, hosted in a 24×7 app store and made available to the warfighter.” Operation will be near Finlay, Texas on 758-763 MHz and 788-793 MHz.

• Vodafone filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to “test and demonstrate advanced Internet services in . . . GSM, HSPA and LTE environments, such as GPRS (general packet radio system), location-based services, transcoding between email, SMS, and WAP, and secure position/mobile-commerce services.” Operation will be in Redwood City, California on 842-850 MHz, 890-893 MHz, 935-938 MHz, 1920-1936 MHz, 2110-2126 MHz, 2500-2520 MHz, and 2620-2640 MHz.

• Western DataCom filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to test UMTS wireless devices used by the Intelligence & Information Warfare Directorate of the US Army Communications Electronics Research, Development, and Engineering Center. The system is to be used for transmission and reception of voice and data within a single network; it does not connect to any other provider’s network. Operation will at Fort Dix and Lakehurst, New Jersey, on 900-915 MHz, 945-960 MHz, 1755 MHz, 1850 MHz, 1972.4-1977.4 MHz, and 2162.4-2167.4 MHz.

• General Dynamics filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to conduct testing in support of its Labrador program, which is intended to develop methods for locating and identifying radio frequency signals using a variety of devices. The project requires communication between collaborating software-defined radios. Operation will be in Ypsilanti, Michigan; Bloomington, Minnesota; Tucson, Arizona; and Austin, Texas on 902-928 MHz, 1350-1390 MHz, and 1755-1850 MHz.

• Wal-Mart Stores filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to conduct RFID research at its lab in Fayetteville, Arkansas. This research relates, in part, to optimal placement of RFID tags on cases, pallets and assets. “The experimentation will include RFID tagged cases going through a simulated supply chain. This will include testing in a dense reader mode environment. Additional testing will be conducted using RFID enabled handhelds for inventory collection, product locating and product receiving in a simulated store environment. RFID readers fixed to mobile assets (forklifts, carts, wearable devices) will be tested using this site license to ensure that solutions developed using RFID readers in the United States will meet the given performance criteria across all other regions worldwide within which Wal-Mart operates.” Operation will be on 902-928 MHz.

• General Electric Global Research filed an application with exhibits for special temporary authority to test a microwave imaging system for non-destructive testing of in-service wind turbine blades. Operation will take place in Schenectady, New York. The signal will be a broadband linear chirp swept from 1 GHz to 18 GHz up to 10 times per second.

• Rockwell Collins filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to develop and test equipment used in the Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Service. Four Inmarsat geostationary satellites will be used. Operation will be nationwide on 1626.5-1660.5 MHz.

• BAE Systems filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to conduct proof-of-concept tests for the next generation of communication-intelligence unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Operation will take place in Hudson, New Hampshire on 1760-1840 MHz, 2365-2445 MHz, and 10.25 GHz.

• Ericsson filed an application and exhibit for experimental license to conduct tests related to 3G and LTE application performance. “This investigation will examine a new aspect of network performance and will contribute to expansion of the mobile ecosystem. Historically, the wireless industry has relied solely on bandwidth or transmission rates to assess performance. However, the expanding variety of applications that will run over networks indicates that network performance should also be investigated through the lens of application performance. The uniqueness of the planned experiment is to understand the performance of new, varied applications and services on mobile networks.” Operation will take place in San Jose, California on 1920-1930 MHz, 2110-2120 MHz, 2500-2520 MHz, and 2620-2640 MHz.

• Space Exploration Technologies filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to operate in support of R&D for a Vertical Takeoff, Vertical Landing (VTVL) vehicle on its test site in McGregor, Texas. The vehicle is to take off, ascend vertically to a low altitude, and then descend back to its original landing spot. “The tests themselves are divided into low?altitude and higher?altitude tests. The low?altitude tests stay below 215 meters in altitude and last approximately 45 seconds. These tests will be run approximately three times per week during the initial portion of the program. The higher?altitude tests can go as high as 3.5 km and will occur approximately once per week. These tests last approximately 3 minutes.” A downlink is used so operating parameters can be viewed in real time. An uplink is used in case of an anomaly, so the vehicle can be commanded into a safe state. Operation will be on 2040.5675 MHz, 2221.5 MHz, and 2273.5 MHz.

• Space Exploration Technologies filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority for “telemetry and video transmissions during launch (and pre-launch checks) for an orbital test flight of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral, pursuant to the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Demonstrations agreement with NASA. The launch date is currently scheduled for November 30, 2011.” “The purpose of the operation (the Demo C2/3 mission) is to demonstrate the capability to launch a capsule that can dock with the International Space Station.” “[S]pectrum support for the capsule is already being handled by NTIA (via NASA). Accordingly, STA will only cover the launch vehicle stages (first stage and second stage), during launch, as well as pre-launch checks.” Operation will be on 2213.5 MHz, 2221.5 MHz, 2251.5 MHz, 2273.5 MHz, and 5765 MHz at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

• Panasonic Avionics Corporation filed an application with exhibits for special temporary authority to conduct ground testing of potential interference from portable electronic devices (PEDs) in aircraft. This is in support of Panasonic’s Global Communications Suite (“GCS”) featuring the “eXConnect” Ku-band aeronautical mobile-satellite service system providing broadband connectivity on the aircraft during flight. Testing will be in Everett, Washington on 2386-2505 MHz, 5150-5350 MHz, and 5715-5835 MHz.

• Gibbons Systems Inc. (GSI) filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to test a new air-to-air ranging system as part of a contract with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The applicant is developing the system to “fundamentally improve radio ranging among the C-130 fleet deployed by the United States Air Force. Currently, the C-130 fleet utilizes high powered radio transmissions, similar to radar, for maintaining formation, which nonetheless render the formation highly detectable and, thus, vulnerable to enemy monitoring. The GSI RF technology employs several techniques (including low duty cycle, low total signal energy, and high bandwidth) to render the signals difficult to detect, i.e. ‘low probability of detection’ (‘LPD’). “Operation will be in Redwood City, California on 2500 MHz.

• Aurora Flight Sciences filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to operate in support of the development of an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). The applicant says existing data-link systems don’t provide the necessary data rate of 10 Mbps. An auto-tracking antenna, designed for use with this system, combines a high gain directional dish, a low-gain omni-directional antenna, and associated auto-tracking hardware. The omni-directional antenna is for close-in operation of the aircraft, such as during takeoff and landing, where the angular velocity of the aircraft relative to the antenna is too great to track. The high-gain antenna is for long-range operation. “The auto-tracking antenna is provided with the GPS position of the aircraft. Tracking is accomplished using a combination of GPS and signal strength. Signal strength is used to find the aircraft when the tracking is not locked, and GPS is used to follow it thereafter.” Operation will be in Warrenton, Virginia on 4.4-4.8 GHz.

• Motorola Solutions filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to test the outdoor link performance of its RDB350 point-to-multipoint data transceiver. The intent is to test fixed and mobile outdoor data transmission for federal users. The system is based on the IEEE 802.16e standard. Operation will be in Schaumberg, Illinois on 4600-4800 MHz.

• Raytheon Network Centric Systems filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to test a mobile surveillance system based on commercial off-the-shelf radar, electro-optical/ Infrared cameras, and microwave communications (i.e., the Motorola PTP 48600 wireless Ethernet bridge). The system is intended to “monitor international borders.” Operation will be near Las Cruces, New Mexico on 4720-4990 MHz. A similar application was filed for operation near McKinney, Texas.

• Miltec Corporation filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to conduct tests, as part of a U.S. Army contract, in support of the Innovative Waterside Wide-Area Tactical Coverage and Homing Sensors (IWWS) program intended to detect, track, and classify people and vessels in a maritime environment above and below the surface of the water. Operation will be in Kingsport, Tennessee and Guntersville, Alabama on 9.38-9.44 GHz.

• SAIC filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to test“low-power land radar” on 10.25-10.50 GHz. The system uses the ELTA model EL/M 2112 radar, and might be used by the Department of Homeland Security. Testing will take place around the perimeter of Lake Moultrie in South Carolina.

• L-3 Communications filed an application and exhibit for special temporary authority to test a prototype high-capacity airborne networking system. The data links will be between a ground station and an aircraft, and between two aircraft. Operation will be in the vicinity of Monterey, California on 14.50-14.83 GHz and 15.15-15.35 GHz. “The RF transmissions will utilize root raised-cosine (RRC) shaped offset QPSK modulation, at various symbol rates, with shaping factor (alpha) of 0.33. All transmitted data will be encoded with a rate-7/8 turbo product code prior to transmission.” “All transmissions will use identical 9.5” parabolic dish antennas.”

• Raytheon Network Centric Systems filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to “develop and demonstrate a mobile surveillance system based on commercial-off-the-shelf radar (SR Hawk Radar SRC-2362) and electro-optical/infrared cameras to monitor international borders.” Operation will be near McKinney, Texas on 16.21-16.50 GHz.

• Raytheon Network Centric Systems filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to “develop and demonstrate a mobile surveillance system based on commercial-off-the-shelf radar (DRS Manportable Surveillance and Target Acquisition Radar (MSTAR)) and electro-optical/infrared cameras to monitor international borders.” Operation will be near Las Cruces, New Mexico on 16.75-17.25 GHz.

• Samsung filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to “[f]ully characterize the radio channel at mmWave frequencies for mobile, outdoor environments to understand path loss, angular spread, delay spread, NLOS beamforming and blocking issues.” “This will help design mmWave communication systems, providing multi-Gbps data rates for wireless mobile services within new spectrum bandwidth and therefore meeting the challenges raised by the on-going mobile data explosion.” Operation will be on 27.925 GHz in Richardson, Texas.

• L-3 Communications Datron filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to conduct testing of Iridium satellite system feeder-link-terminals (FLTs) related to retrofit work.” The applicant “will retrofit the current 27 FLTs to address obsolescence and maintenance issues as well as modernizing hardware and software interfaces. As many as 12 new FLTs will also be built in the future to support the latest generation of Iridium NEXT satellites currently being planned and designed.” Operation will be in Simi Valley, California on 29.1-29.3 GHz.

• Google filed an application for special temporary authority to conduct “experiments using test vehicles equipped with automatic cruise control radars in a manner that extends the sensing range of the radars when a vehicle is not in motion.” “Each Google test vehicle contains several off-the-shelf automatic cruise control (ACC) radars certified for use in the 76.0-77.0 GHz band.” “Several ACC radars will be mounted on test vehicles and the vehicles will be driven through a variety of traffic situations, including along freeways and urban surface streets and through complex intersections. The radars will operate at a radiated power of 60 uW/cm² at 3 m (i.e., the current in-motion criterion) both while the vehicles are in motion and stationary. Because the power will not exceed the current in-motion criterion, Google believes the experiments will not increase the likelihood of harmful interference to any user.” Operation will be in the San Francisco Bay area. (The FCC has separate in-motion and not-in-motion emission limits for these vehicle radars to prevent prolonged human exposure to RF energy while the vehicle is stopped. I thus find it odd that Google links the in-motion criterion to “interference.”)

• Sierra Nevada Corporation filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to conduct ground testing of an Autonomous Landing Guidance (ALG) radar system. This is intended to allow “a fixed wing aircraft pilot to safely execute takeoff, approach, and landing maneuvers in low visibility conditions such as that caused by thick fog or blowing sand and dust.” “The ALG system is a derivative of other Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) products currently in evaluation programs that provide similar landing situational awareness for rotor wing aircraft pilots. ALG is a millimeter wave (MMW) frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar with a narrow 1.0 beamwidth that is scanned over a 25° by 10° field of regard twice per second. During the scan the radar return data is processed by computer to extract the amplitude and the range to the ground. The computer accumulates all of the range and amplitude data over the field of regard and displays a three-dimensional representation of the ground to the pilot on a flight deck display.” This ground testing is a prelude to flight testing, at which time Sierra Nevada will apply to modify its experimental license. Operation will be at several California and Nevada locations on 94 GHz.

• Brian D. Justin, Jr., an amateur radio operator, filed an application with exhibits for special temporary authority to operate a propagation test beacon on 70.005 MHz at Bedford, Virginia. In his application, he reports an increasing interest in trans-Atlantic VHF communications by amateur radio operators, in part because of recent changes in EU regulations. A beacon would help operators know when sporadic E propagation (E-skip) conditions were good for communications near that frequency. (E-skip is enabled by scattered regions of relatively dense ionization that develop seasonally and reflect signals up to about 150 MHz.) Today, there are beacons on 50 MHz, and FM broadcast stations act as beacons in the 100 MHz range. There’s a gap at 70 MHz; AM video carriers once served as beacons (e.g., VHF channel 4 with a video carrier at 67.25 MHz), but those have gone away with the DTV transition.

• The University of Michigan’s Professor James Cutler filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to operate communication links for the Michigan Multipurpose Minisat (M-Cubed), a small student-built satellite that will capture images of Earth and transmit them to a ground station. The satellite weighs 1.3 kg and forms a cube 10 cm on a side. The imaging system consists of a 2.0 Megapixel CMOS sensor and Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) coprocessor. The test is to prove the reliability of the radiation-hardened FPGA in the space environment and assess the performance of the processing algorithm that will resolve the images in the satellite. M-Cubed will be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on a Delta-II rocket in the fall of 2011. The uplink will be on 144-146 MHz. The downlink will be on 437-439 MHz using an Astrodev Li-1 radio.

• Carlson Wireless Technologies filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to test TV white-space radios in rural, rugged, and forested areas. Testing will take place in various areas around New England on 174-216 MHz.

• Rockwell Collins filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to demonstrate its FlexNet software-defined radio technology at the 2011 Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration,  an annual event directed by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that is intended to showcase new information technology. Operation will be on 245-327 MHz at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

• Telephonics Corporation filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to test an existing 2.4 GHz ISM band product modified for operation in the 300-400 MHz military band. In addition to the change in frequency, the multiple-access method will be changed to frequency-hopping spread spectrum. The objective is to achieve superior communications in urban environments compared to 2.4 GHz operation. Testing will occur in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

• Panasonic Avionics Corp. filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to conduct ground testing in support of the Panasonic’s Global Communications Suite, featuring the eXConnect Ku-band aeronautical mobile-satellite service (AMSS) system, providing broadband connectivity to passengers in flight. Panasonic wants to test the potential for interference from transmitting portable electronic devices to aircraft avionics and communications. The test will use a signal generator to simulate the operation of multiple devices. Test results will be used to support certification of Panasonic’s aircraft equipment with the FAA. The tests will occur in Roswell, New Mexico on various frequencies between 410 MHz and 5.825 GHz.

• Carlson Wireless Technologies filed an application with exhibits for special temporary authority to test fixed white-space devices with attached cellular femtocells. Carlson Wireless and Vergennes Broadband are working jointly with Spectrum Bridge to investigate the applicability of white space spectrum for use in rural broadband applications, including support of femtocells. Operation will be in Vergennes, Michigan on 470-698 MHz.

• Microsoft filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to demonstrate interactive Xbox Live HD (1080p) video streaming over TV-band white-space spectrum during the April 11-14 NAB Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The demonstration was to incorporate Microsoft Research’s prototype white-spaces database, which controls white-space device access to help protect incumbents from interference. The frequency bands requested were 512-608 MHz and 614-698 MHz.

• Shared Spectrum Company filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to conduct tests as part of DARPA’s Wireless Network after Next (WNaN) program. The goal of the program is to “develop and demonstrate technologies and system concepts enabling densely deployed networks in which distributed and adaptive network operations compensate for limitations of the physical layer of the low-cost wireless nodes that comprise these networks.” Operation will be on 902-928, 2400.0-2483.5, 4400-4900, and 5650-5925 MHz in Stafford and Prince William Counties in Virginia.

• LightSquared filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to communicate with SkyTerra-1, a licensed and in-orbit satellite, and conduct a six-month test of two prototype models of Access Terminals (ATs) using the L-band spectrum coordinated for LightSquared’s satellite system. The ATs will transmit on 1626.5-1660 MHz and receive on 1525-1559 MHz. Testing will occur throughout North America.

• Lockheed Martin filed an application with exhibit for experimental license for flight tests of real-time video transmission using the company’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The video source will be the F-35’s Electro Optical Targeting System (EOTS).  EOTS video data will be compressed and routed to an L-3 VORTEX transmitter. The transmitted signal will be received by an L-3 ROVER 5 handheld transceiver with the video displayed on a screen in the device. Operation will be at several locations around the US on 1710-1850 and 2200-2500 MHz.

• GBL Systems filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to develop, test and validate homeland security applications based on a peer-to-peer system under development by Qualcomm. Operation will be in Camarillo, California on 1915-1920 MHz.

• Row 44 Inc. filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to conduct tests using its aeronautical-mobile satellite service (AMSS) network. The tests will use a GSM picocell connected to Row 44′s Ku-band network in a simulated aircraft cabin environment. The objective is to understand the operation of GSM devices in the on-board environment. The tests will take place in Lombard, Illinois on 1930-1990 MHz.

• L-3 Communications filed an application for special temporary authority to operate on 2025-2120 MHz at Simi Valley, California. L-3 builds antennas for satellite tracking, telemetry, and control. The company says it has been experiencing high passive intermodulation (PIM) distortion that “causes transmitter noise to bleed into the receive band.” The testing is intended to resolve this problem.

• AeroVironment Inc. filed an application with exhibits for experimental license to conduct experiments with small unmanned aircraft system (SUAS) technologies intended for use by to state and local public safety agencies. Operation is to be on 4940-4990 MHz in the Camp Roberts and Simi Valley areas of California.

• Kongsberg Seatex AS, a Norwegian company, filed an application with exhibit for experimental license to test its Embedded Maritime Broadband Radio (EMBR) system. The system is intended to provide maritime users with reliable broadband data links using a system with no moving parts such as mechanically-steerable antennas. The system can operate at 5 Mbps when the distance between the nodes is up to 10 km. To eliminate the mechanically-steerable antenna, the system uses an electronically-steerable antenna array comprised of 60 antenna/transceiver sub-units. While there are other maritime broadband data link systems, such as those based on Wi-Fi and WiMAX, this system is said to outperform those due in part to a custom Physical Layer and Media Access Control Layer. Operation will be at 5220-5240 MHz on a route between Galveston, Texas and a Shell oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

• Raytheon Network Centric Systems filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to test its Pathfinder maritime radar system in border surveillance applications.  Operation will be on 9.41-9.71 GHz in McKinney and Falcon, Texas.

• SRC Inc. filed an application for special temporary authority to conduct demonstrations of the SR Hawk ground surveillance radar at Fort Benning, Georgia. Operation will be on 16.21-16.50 GHz.

• Laurel Technologies Partnership filed an application with exhibit for special temporary authority to test the operating capability of the Manportable Surveillance and Target Acquisition Radar (MSTAR) after its integration into a border and force protection ground surveillance system. The system is comprised of a trailer-mounted telescoping mast that supports a sensor package. That package includes the MSTAR radar and two video cameras (for day and night). The experiment will test and evaluate target detection and tracking capabilities of the radar and visual capabilities of the cameras once a target is acquired. Testing will be on 16.75-17.25 GHz in the Largo, Florida area.

• Samsung filed an application for special temporary authority to conduct sounding and propagation measurements on 28 GHz in Richardson, Texas. Samsung wants to better understand the outdoor mobile environment and impacts to path loss, angular spread, delay spread, non-line-of-sight beamforming, and blocking issues.

• Harris filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to operate on various frequencies between 3 and 15 MHz to test an experimental high-frequency wideband waveform that is intended to operate at either 12 kHz bandwidth or 24 kHz bandwidth to allow faster data transfer via high-frequency communications.

• Harris also filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license to operate on 4.94-4.99 GHz in support of development of US Army’s Warfighter Information Network: Tactical (WIN-T) and Future Combat Systems (FCS) programs. Equipment is to consist of the HNRe2 Highband Network Radio, manufactured by Harris. Harris says the HNRe2 is comprised of four elements: 1) the Baseband Processing Unit, 2) the Highband RF Unit (HRFU), 3) an Inertial Navigation Unit (INU), and a GPS device. The HRFU further consists of an upconverter, a High-Powered Amplifier (HPA), a Switched Beam Antenna (SBA), a Low-Noise Amplifier (LNA), and a downconverter). The test network will consist of five fixed nodes and one mobile node. The FCC has asked Harris to justify extended testing in a band that is primarily allocated for non-government public safety use.

• Canon U.S.A. filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to operate wireless devices in support of a private technology and product exhibition from September 1, 2010 through September 3, 2010 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, NY. Canon is planning to import many wireless devices from Japan to be used with displays during the exhibition. These devices are not FCC compliant and not expected to be FCC compliant until after the exhibition. Frequencies requested include 315.0-315.7 MHz, 2.40-2.50 GHz, 5.18-5.67 GHz, and 61.6-62.5 GHz. This application was granted on August 11.

• The Washington State Department of Ecology filed an application (and supporting exhibits) for experimental license to operate 150 Design Analysis model H-222 GEOS satellite radios to transmit stream flow data. Operation is to be on 401.710-401.998 MHz.

• BAE Systems filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for special temporary authority to operate an antenna test range in Merrimack, New Hampshire in support of the manufacture of military systems. Many frequencies are requested from 1 MHz to 2587 MHz. The application was granted on July 29.

• Broad Comm filed an application for special temporary authority to operate in support of an “emergency project by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Ocean Engineering (MIT) related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. …  Part of the project requires collecting continuous video data from an aircraft that will fly over the Gulf. The video feed needs to be relayed to nearby receiving stations either on land or on vessels near the aircraft. The operation may require the aircraft to fly out over the Gulf to a maximum distance of 300 miles (483 km) from the New Orleans, LA area at altitudes up to 3,000 feet.” The application is inconsistent with regard to the specific frequencies requested. At one point it says three frequencies are being requested: 2,210, 2,220 and 2,230 MHz. At another point it says 2253.3 MHz. The application was granted on August 11.

• Olson Instruments filed an application for special temporary authority to test an IBIS sensor unit during static and dynamic bridge testing. Operation is to be on 17.101-17.299 GHz. This application was granted on August 11.

• Lockheed Martin filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to operate synthetic aperture radar (SAR) in the portions of the Gulf of Mexico affected by the oil spill. The SAR data collected will be used to classify oil debris in support of FEMA operations. Operation is at 16.9 GHz.

• DRS ICAS filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to operate in support of the manufacture of military systems. The company has requested confidential treatment of details, but appears to be testing the DRS X46-V SATCOM terminal and 4.8 meter ground station in support of development of X-band mobile satellite communications for Operation Enduring Freedom. Operation is to be on 8326-8332 MHz.

• Reindert A. Smit, apparently an amateur radio operator, filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to experiment with ROS digital communications modem software, whose purpose is to optimize high-frequency, moon bounce, and meteor-scatter digital communications. Operation is to be on several frequencies between 1.838 MHz and 14.416 MHz. Approval was granted on August 10.

• Northrop Grumman filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for special temporary authority to test a radar system that is to demonstrate the ability to track line-of-sight (LOS) terrain obstructions, target detection, and perimeter intrusion. The radar operates using a slotted waveguide array. Operation is to be on 9380-9440 MHz. This application was granted on July 31.

• Raytheon Missile Systems filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license to operate in support of development of interference-resistant command and control radio transmissions. Operation is to be on 430-440 MHz and 902-928 MHz.

• Raytheon Network Centric Systems filed an application (with supporting exhibit) to test the Nett-Warrior Communications System. This system will be integrated into other Raytheon systems. Operation is to be on 30.025-74.600 MHz.

• CapRock Government Solutions filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to test an antenna along with modulation and encryption techniques. Operation is to be on 8280-8300 MHz.

• The Alameda County [California] Sheriff’s Office filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license to operate on 763-768 MHz and 793-798 MHz to develop and evaluate broadband Long-term Evolution (LTE) equipment.

• Alcatel-Lucent filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license to test LTE at several cell sites in the Chicago area. The purpose of the testing is to verify LTE performance in a mobile environment and to optimize system settings under various environments. Key performance indicators to be verified include attach success rate, paging success rate, and handover success. Operation is to be on several frequencies between 698 and 793 MHz. This application was approved on August 7.

• The Aerospace Corporation filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to test synthetic aperture radar (SAR) on 92.05-99.95 GHz. As the applicant explains, in SAR radars, “the transmitter has a component of motion in a direction perpendicular to the beam, and the reflected signals are formed into an “image” of the scatterers when resolved into groups of scatterers in a two-dimensional map based on time-of-arrival (range coordinate) and Doppler frequency shift (azimuth coordinate).” The applicant notes that, in SAR, weather and vibration can mask man-made effects. Part of the research includes mitigating image degradation due to weather and vibration so man-made effects are more apparent. This application was approved on August 7.

• The Union Pacific Railroad Company filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to conduct propagation testing on 220.725-220.750 MHz. The applicant explains that “the US rail industry is subject to a federal mandate to implement Positive Train Control (PTC) technology by the end of 2015. The industry is in the midst of a comprehensive development effort to realize this technology. A central component of PTC is wireless communications. The industry has identified 217-222 MHz as the band of operation for PTC, and some 220-222 spectrum licenses have already been acquired by an industry group. A concerted effort is underway to develop a radio specifically for this application, and we expect to have an authorized radio in early to mid 2011. However, as part of our deployment planning, we need to characterize the performance and propagation of modulated 220 MHz signals by doing field tests this year.”

• The Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to operate high-frequency Coastal Ocean Dynamics Applications Radar (CODAR) to map surface ocean currents. Operation was to be on several frequencies between 24.615 and 26.475 MHz. The FCC rejected the application, saying that CODAR is currently being reviewed for its potential as a service requiring a frequency allocation. Until that determination is made, there will be no more experimental authorizations.

• Rockwell Collins filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to conduct experiments to test waveforms for high speed data over high-frequencies. Testing is to include characterization of performance and actual wideband channel propagation characteristics. Rockwell Collins says it is a member of the Technical Advisory Committee for MIL-STD-188-110C and MIL-STD-188-141C standards revisions and new standard definitions, and the experimental authorization will enable verification of performance and inter-operability metrics in the standards. Operation is to be on many frequencies between 2.398 and 29.720 MHz.

• Rockwell Collins also filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to test a prototype transmitter (as part of a transceiver) for the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) system, a surveillance technique for air traffic control and similar uses. The company intends to conduct mobile ground testing in and around the Rockwell Collins’ facilities in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Operation is to be on several frequencies between 977 and 1096 MHz.

• SpectrumBridge filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to test the usefulness of white space spectrum for use in telemedicine applications – indoor telemetry, medical records exchange, M2M applications, and enhanced wireless broadband access for doctors, patients, and visitors residing within a hospital campus. Testing is to be done in association with Hocking Valley Community Hospital in Logan, Ohio. The requested frequency band is 470-698 MHz.

• Western DataCom filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to conduct a test of extending cellular telephone coverage on the waters of Lake Erie. Operation is to be on 2353.5-2370.0 MHz. The base station would operate from a tethered aerostat (helium balloon system) at 1000-1400 feet above ground.

• Keurig, Inc. filed an application for special temporary authority to test a coffee brewing system that uses RFID technology to adjust brewing parameters in accordance with the beverage being prepared. Operation is to be on 902-928 MHz. This application was granted on August 7.

• Columbia University filed an application (with supporting exhibits) to operate WiMAX equipment on 2535-2540 MHz in support of the GENI project. The application was approved on August 11.

• Lockheed Martin filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for an experimental license to operate three models of ICx Radar System’s perimeter surveillance radar on 35.5 GHz for R&D and customer demonstrations. This will occur at various locations in the US, but primarily in Syracuse, New York.
  

• Honeywell filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to operate in the 1625-1725 MHz range while integrating a new AeroVironment radio with an unmanned aerial vehicle used by the military. A key feature of the radio is that both command and control, as well as video downlink, can be accomplished using the same unit. Operation will be in New Mexico . There is concern about protecting the 1660.5-1668.4 MHz radio astronomy band, and discussions are ongoing.

• Raytheon Network Centric Systems applied for special temporary authority to test and demonstrate the Ground Soldier Ensemble radio system, designed to link a soldier to the battlefield network for real-time tactical situational awareness.  The test is to verify that awareness information is transferred over an Enhanced Position Location Reporting System network and to verify inter/intra team communication over a voice network. Operation will be on 30.025-74.600 MHz near McKinney Texas.

• Brian Justin filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to operate an amateur-radio propagation beacon on 70.005 MHz from Bedford, Virginia for domestic as well as trans-Atlantic reception. Justin states that with recent changes to EU radio allocations, more amateurs are actively utilizing the 70 MHz band; thus, the likelihood of detection of VHF E-skip propagated signals in the EU and North America on that band has increased. Justin says that, unlike other bands, there is a lack of beacons or high-powered sources of narrowband RF signals that can be detected via weak signal methods to indicate when E-skip conditions are favorable. (The transition to digital TV apparently has something to do with this recent dearth; in the past, AM video carriers were used as beacons.)

• Northrop Grumman filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for special temporary authority to cover L- and S-band airborne mobile experimental testing and demonstration in the vicinity of Mojave, California. Operation will be on 1760 and 2305 MHz, and will use an Enerdyne Enerlinks II Datalink in a proprietary configuration. This is part of a project to develop systems for the US military and other government customers. (A similar application was recently filed by Northrop Grumman covering operation in Melbourne, Florida.)

• France Telecom filed an application (with supporting exhibits) to experiment with GSM1800 and W-CDMA base stations over-the-air in the 2 GHz range at its R&D center in South San Francisco, California. The system will be used to “develop and test mobile services that require an access to the existing France Telecom infrastructure in Europe. These services will be developed and tested by either company employees, or by USA startup companies. These services will include mobile games, productivity applications, etc.”

• The University of Southern California (USC) filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to test a prototype nanosatellite payload while it is in low earth orbit. The payload is capable of advanced functions such as propulsion, attitude control, and power distribution. To test the payload, USC is designing a so-called Cubesat, measuring 10cm x 10cm x 30cm, that is capable of hosting the payload, operating its subsystems, and relaying test results to ground operators.

The special temporary authority is for the communications system used by the Cubesat, which will operate on 435-438 MHz. This project is part of  the USC Space Engineering Research Center’s CAERUS mission for a nanosatellite technology.