• AAI/Textron Systems Corporation filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license. The company wants to test its Shadow 200, Aerosonde, Orbiter and other unmanned aircraft systems. This is related to work for the United States Marine Corp. Operation is to be on 310-390 MHz, 902-928 MHz, 1090 MHz, 1350-1390 MHz, 1700-1859 MHz, and 4400-4999 MHz. Transmitting equipment is manufactured by Microhard Systems Corporation, Free Wave Technologies, Advanced Microwave Products, Global Microwave Systems, and Microair Avionics.

FCC staff has asked for several items of information before approving the application. The FAA operates in the frequency bands 328.6-335.4 MHz, 1090 MHz, and 1215-1390 MHz; FCC staff asks for coordination of these bands with the FAA Regional Office. In addition, the frequency bands 225-328.6 MHz and 335.4-399.9 MHz are used for military purposes, and the applicant was asked to coordinate with NTIA’s Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC).

• AAI/Textron Systems Corporation also filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to operate on 420-450 MHz and 2000-2400 MHz for a government project apparently involving the Orbiter miniature unmanned aircraft system. There is not much information about the proposed operation, and FCC staff has asked for more details.

In correspondence to the applicant, FCC staff notes that the “Aerospace & Flight Test Radio Coordinating Council (AFTRCC) oversees the frequency bands; 1435-1525 MHz, 2310-2320 MHz, and 2345-2390 MHz. These frequency bands need to be removed or need to be prior coordinated.”

• Sportvision filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority for testing of an automobile race track wireless data system that is to provide data communications between vehicles in a race track and one or more fixed base stations installed along a track. Operation is to be on 2395-2400 MHz.

One application seen for this system is video image enhancement for television broadcasting of automobile racing events. The would allow television viewers to see, displayed on screen, the real-time location of cars during a racing event.

The vehicles would be equipped with GPS receivers and other sensors that generate a data packet every 200 milliseconds. The wireless system would collect those packets and deliver them to a control station in real time. “The radio itself is a direct sequence spread spectrum unit, using production radios for 2.4 GHz. The system may ultimately be deployed on an unlicensed basis in the 2.4 GHz band or elsewhere, but the high noise levels in that band in the test locations (commercial automobile race tracks) are unsuitable for development and testing of the product.”

“An Intersil baseband processor performs the Direct Sequence modulation and demodulation. It is part of a five-chipset developed for the 802.11b standard. It uses 1/4th of the standard 802.11 speed resulting in a narrow occupied RF bandwidth.”

The frequency band requested is allocated on a primary basis to the Amateur Radio Service, and coordination is to be performed with the ARRL. This application was granted on June 4.

• Motorola filed an application (with supporting exhibit (as amended)) for special temporary authority to “test, evaluate and demonstrate a prototype radio communications system designed to support the internal communications requirements, including public safety-related communications, of an electric power generation and transmission cooperative in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.”

According to Motorola, “[o]peration under this experimental STA will be conducted on a non-interference basis on a limited number of 12.5 kHz channel pairs in the 151.4725-154.5675 MHz band and the 157.1875-162.9625 MHz band.”

• Raytheon Network Centric Systems filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license. Raytheon says it is working to build a “NetWarrior Communications System” using GSM technology. The primary use for this experimental license would be to test and evaluate this system while in development and conduct demonstrations for military and government officials.

The system is called GSMnet and is described as a unique communication solution that provides the ability to create a self-contained, privately managed mobile network based on GSM cellular standards. The enabling technology of GSMnet is said to allow military personnel to manage mobile phone access on the GSMnet communications infrastructure, delivering seamless cellular communications coverage to deployed military personnel and critical incident responders in remote or hazardous environments or when conditions have rendered existing GSM cellular networks inaccessible.

Operation is to be on 1922.6, 1927.4, 2112.6, and 2117.4 MHz. This application was granted on June 15.

• Sierra Nevada Corporation filed an application for special temporary authority to conduct flight testing of X-NET Air WiMax transceiver radio devices. The flight tests will determine the range of the data communications that can be achieved and the data throughput that can be achieved at different ranges.

As background, the C4N (Command, Control, Computers, Communications, and Networks) Division of the Sierra Nevada Corporation has developed an air-ground data communications link under contract with the USAF Rivet Joint aircraft operations as a part of the Big Safari Program. The Sierra Nevada equipment is called the X-NET Air System. It is a dual channel FDD radio link. Operation is to be on 2675 and 2685 MHz. This application was granted on June 28.

• Raysat Antenna Systems filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to operate up to five Land Mobile-Satellite Service (LMSS) earth stations with the AMC-5 and AMC-6 satellites at 79° W.L. and 72° W.L., respectively. The company seeks to test and demonstrate the new SR70 earth terminal, a single-panel, Ku-band array antenna in connection with Department of Defense/Logistics Innovation Agency (DOD/LIA). Operation is requested at 14.0-14.5 MHz.

“The SR-70 antenna technology builds upon RAS’s proven antenna technology for mobile applications. The major enhancement is in the antenna panel which is capable of simultaneous Ku-band transmission and reception within the 14.0-14.5 GHz and 11.7- 12.7 GHz bands, respectively. The antenna allows tracking in three axes, azimuth, elevation and polarization.”

“The antenna consists of a single 6 inch by 6 inch panel array which is mounted on a rotatable platform. The platform rotates in azimuth to orient the panel towards the satellite. The panel also tilts to set the elevation angle. Finally, the antenna has a polarization control mechanism which sets the correct polarization angle for both transmit and receive.”

“During operation, the antenna uses a built-in GPS receiver to determine its position on the earth. It then uses the geographical position and the longitudinal position of the satellite to determine the appropriate elevation angle. Once the elevation angle is set, the antenna rotates in azimuth. During the scanning process the antenna receives Eb/No information from the modem to verify that the target satellite has been acquired. Once the satellite is acquired, the antenna dithers in both azimuth and elevation by ±2.0° to maintain peaking on the satellite and the transmission is enabled. The antenna also has internal 3-axis gyroscopes and 2-axis inclinometers to help with the tracking while the antenna is in motion.”

This application was granted on June 16.

• Lockheed Martin filed an application (with supporting exhibits) to experiment with a swept-frequency radar system operating at various frequencies between 1.0 and 15.4 GHz. The radar transmit-and-receive system will be coherently frequency step-chirped from the start frequency to the final frequency, with a pulse width of 95 ns. Other details are said to be classified; Lockheed Martin has requested confidential treatment of this application, and FCC staff has responded to the company asking for justification.

• Aircell, a provider of Wi-Fi service aboard aircraft (under the GoGo brand) filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to conduct FAA-required tests to determine the susceptibility of aircraft avionics to interference from radio frequency emissions from consumer devices operating in Wi-Fi bands. Aircell says it must demonstrate conformance to those standards to receive FAA Supplemental Type Certificates necessary for the deployment of its service aboard commercial airliners. Testing is to be on 2400.0-2483.5 MHz, 5250-5350 MHz, and 5725-5825 MHz.

Aircell says that “[p]ursuant to Documents DO-294B and DO-160 of the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RCTA), and the FAA, standards for testing the susceptibility of avionics to interference have been set. To comply with these standards, tests within an aircraft must radiate at the legal maximum power authorized for the radiating device, plus the link budget of the highest gain antenna permitted, times the number of simultaneous radiating devices. For the purpose of Aircell’s tests, the math computes a 1 watt signal into a 6 db gain antenna times three wireless access points (WAP). That comes to 30 dBm + 6 dB = 4 watts X 3 WAPs = 12 watts. Since the 12 watt signal exceeds the allowed limits for unlicensed devices, an Experimental License is required.”

• Clearwire Spectrum Holdings III filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to test WiMAX IEEE 802.16m technology in the Phoenix, Arizona market. (The 802.16m standard is now being finalized in IEEE 802.) Clearwire says it is evaluating 802.16m and other 4G technologies “as a potential technology evolutionary strategy.” Clearwire is planning to test overlay 802.16e WiMAX using 10 MHz channels, Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) using 20 MHz channels, and Time Division Duplex (TDD) using 20 MHz channels. Operation is to be on 2496-2690 MHz.

Equipment from “many vendors” will be evaluated. Many tests are to be performed, including those for end-to-end system performance, mobility management, MIMO, scheduler and QoS, base-station RF characteristics, self-organizing networks, and VoIP. This application was granted on June 29.

• Flight Research, Inc. filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license to operate on 2.4 GHz to send NTSC video from a small aircraft to ground. A Strain Security transmitter is to be installed in a Cessna 150 aircraft operating as a surrogate UAV. (SUAV). The SUAV is to fly locally as an academic exercise for students in a UAV flight test short course that is part of the National Test Pilot School. Students will execute tests in remotely-piloted and command-directed modes from a ground control element, collecting data employing typical flight test techniques and evaluating the system. Part of that training involves sending video from the aircraft to the ground. (Much of this information was not in the original application but was supplied by e-mail to FCC staff later.)

• Global Technical Systems filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to test an aircraft-mounted ground-penetrating radar. In the test, a metal target will be buried 6 feet underground and illuminated by the radar for 60 seconds on each pass of the aircraft, which will be flying at 10,000 feet above ground. Data will be collected for ground processing.

Correspondence between the applicant and FCC staff reveals some confusion as to the frequency of operation. It seems it will be in the 1250-1400 MHz range.

• InterDigital filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to conduct research using vacant spectrum in the television broadcast bands (the “white spaces”) for indoor testing of fixed and portable white-space devices. InterDigital says its “goal is to develop technology and enable products for efficient use of bandwidth by combining the advantages of multiple radio access technologies and frequency bands.” “InterDigital plans to test technology that provides cost effective options for wireless distribution of various data types including, for example, broadband content (video) and machine-to-machine packets.” “Another goal of the experimentation is to develop and validate cognitive radio technology.”

In correspondence to the applicant, FCC staff asks for details on how InterDigital plans to prevent interference to TV licensees. The links above are for an application for operation in Melville, New York. An essentially-identical application was also filed for operation in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

• Panasonic Avionics Corporation filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license for ground and flight testing of up to twenty aircraft earth stations (AESs) of two AES types – ten MELCO reflector terminals and ten Aura LE terminals – to further test and demonstrate the functionality of its eXConnect Ku-band Aeronautical Mobile-Satellite Service (“AMSS”) system. The company says eXConnect is to provide broadband internet access, real-time video content, voice and other services aboard commercial aircraft.

The company does not envision formal launch of the eXConnect system onboard U.S. commercial airlines in the near term. It is, however, preparing an FCC blanket license application for authority to operate eXConnect AESs on a full commercial basis. In the meantime, the company wants to conduct limited market studies. Operation is to be on 14.000-14.470 GHz.

• Virginia Tech Mobile and Portable Radio Research Group (MPRG) filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to perform experiments related to new TV band (white space) devices.

The Group intends to test prototype TV white space devices to determine how their operation will affect other co-channel and adjacent-channel users, such as wireless microphones and other professional audio equipment that is commonly operated in the television bands. Frequencies will be coordinated prior to operation by the local SBE frequency coordinator. Operation is to be on 512-608 MHz and 614-698 MHz.

• Lockheed Martin filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to test a Harris model RF-7800S-TR radio as a potential weapon data link to provide in-flight moving target location updates to a weapon to facilitate engaging moving surface targets. The objective of the test is to evaluate the affects of message rate, latency and bit-error-rate on target engagement and determine a realistic target engagement envelope. A larger goal is to demonstrate this class of radio as a viable option to improving moving target strike effectiveness and support the development of low cost, low collateral damage weapons. Operation will be on 350-450 MHz.

• GlySens Incorporated filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to test implantable electronic medical devices on 433.92 MHz. The company has requested confidential processing of its application, so few other details are publicly available from the FCC. This application was granted on June 28.

This is likely related to the company’s announced development of a long-term continuous glucose monitoring system that is designed to provide an unobtrusive means to continuously track glucose levels in people with diabetes. The system is has two parts: a long-lived fully-implanted sensor and an external monitor with a display. The sensor continuously monitors glucose levels in subcutaneous tissue, which are correlated to blood glucose levels. The sensor transmits the glucose measurements wirelessly to the  external display device. This device indicates the current blood glucose level, shows a historical chart of the previous blood glucose values, provides adjustable automatic warnings of high and low blood glucose readings, and stores information for analysis.

• Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) filed an application for special temporary authority to use telemetry, ranging, and video transmitters for the second launch campaign of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The vehicle will be launched for NASA from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, under launch authorities granted by the U.S. Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration. SpaceX is under an active STA for this, but due to delays the STA will expire before launch. This application is to continue that authority, as the FCC does not grant extensions for experimental STAs.

SpaceX will utilize a telemetry and video transmitter on both the first and second stages of the vehicle, plus a C-band ranging transmitter on the vehicles second stage. The first stage will begin transmitting 15 minutes prior to launch and remain active for 2.9 minutes after launch. The second stage will continue transmitting for up to 2 hours after launch. Operation will be on 2213.5, 2221.5, 2251.5, 2273.5, and 5765.0 MHz.

In correspondence to the applicant, FCC staff says that the applicant will have to obtain an orbital debris statement from Space Exploration Technologies, Inc., in accordance with 47 CFR, Part 5.63(e) which states, in part, that “Applicants for an experimental authorization involving a satellite system must submit a description of the design and operational strategies the satellite system will use to mitigate orbital debris.”)

• Professor David Miller from MIT filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to transmit spacecraft telemetry on 2.4000-2.4836 GHz. This is in support of testing of the CASTOR (Cathode/Anode Satellite Thruster for Orbital Repositioning) satellite. Testing is to validate the performance and application of Diverging Cusped Field Thruster (DCFT) technology. This will be achieved by taking on-orbit state data to compare the degradation experienced by the DCFT to that of similar technologies such as Hall thrusters.

• RLM Communications filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license. Operation is to be on various broadcast bands from 540 kHz to 806 MHz. The company says it is “providing the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) research and development support in the areas of Joint Integration and Compatibility Development System (JCIDS) and Special Operations Forces Integration Development System (SOFCIDS) requirements development, product evaluation and systems testing and training. RLM will be providing training documentation, technical writers, training specialists, electronic technicians and other media support professionals in the upcoming Design Testing (DT), Operational Testing (OT) and new equipment training (NET) for a family of electronic broadcast systems which encompass broadcast radio in AM, FM, SW and television in UHF and VHF analog television and digital television. The nature of the activity will include erecting the antenna system several times, startup up the transmitter and increasing ERP into a dummy load and into the radiating” antennas.

As background, the National Broadband Plan recommends repurposing 120 MHz of from the TV bands to mobile broadband. On June 14 the FCC released an Omnibus Broadband Team Technical Paper that describes some of the analyses supporting this repurposing. Chairman Genachowski asked the Commission staff to hold the Forum to consider ideas in the Paper.

At this Forum there were four areas discussed:

• Advancements in Compression Technology
• Cellularization of Broadcast Architecture
• Improvements in VHF Reception
• Methodologies for Repacking the TV Band

Each area had been the subject of discussion by groups in workshops earlier in the day. At the Forum each of the four groups reported  preliminary findings and recommendations.

After hearing the Forum, which is a preliminary effort, I”d say its gist is that technical changes in the TV industry aren’t going to free up significant TV spectrum for mobile broadband.  There are no advancements in compression technology that can be implemented in a timely manner (i.e., less than 13 years). State-of-the-art in compression technology, and market realities, makes channel sharing by different licensees impractical. Cellularization of broadcast architecture is seen as not practical nor economical. There is room for improvement in VHF reception, perhaps through higher transmit power levels and better, smart receive antennas. An examination of methodologies for repacking the TV band shows no scenarios where stations can avoid sharing channels, unless some stations voluntarily go off-the-air. (And, as we heard in the presentation on compression, sharing is seen as impractical.)

The slides used in each of the four sessions are to be made available on the FCC web site. For those interested in more details now, I share my notes below.

Advancements in Compression Technology

The results of this group were presented by Andrew Setos from the Fox group.

MPEG-2 was published in 1994, and no significant improvements are expected.

Compression equipment has improved such that artifacts are less noticeable, but they are still there. For example, where five years ago there might have been an obvious pixilation, now there is more of a blurring effect.

There are more-modern compression technologies such as MPEG 4. Current TVs do not support MPEG-4, and it could take 13 years to migrate that technology to consumer TVs.

The FCC Technical Paper scenario of multiplexing two HD programs for two different licensees in one 6 MHz channel is not viable due to quality degradation that would result when needing to choose a winner and loser when one HD stream exceeds the bandwidth of the other.

Statistical multiplexing efficiencies are lost with two separate licensees. It can work with the same licensee because the licensee knows what is in the different programs.

As far as pairing an HD station and an SD station in one 6 MHz channel, this is not viable as the trend is toward all HD.

The bit allocation for Mobile DTV is a straight carve-out, and statistical multiplexing does not help.

Cellularization of Broadcast Architecture

Bob Seidel of CBS presented the results of the cellularization group.

A Single Frequency Network (SFN) is much easier with OFDM than with the current 8-VSB modulation method.

“Self-jamming,” or interference between two cells in a SFN, was raised as an undesirable artifact of SFNs that would result in lack of coverage between cells.

SFNs will not help improve reception at the edge of coverage areas because of desired/undesired signal ratios that must be maintained there.

The lack of performance requirements for DTV equalizers is an issue.

Practical issues involved in implementing SFNs include feeding programming to multiple sites, and the cost of building and maintaining multiple sites.

It was suggested that, regarding Mobile DTV, wireless broadband providers should work with broadcasters. The point here is, why broadcast, say, the Super Bowl from hundreds of cell sites when Mobile DTV from one broadcast site will suffice.

Little or no UHF TV spectrum can be repurposed from cellularization.

Improvements in VHF Reception

Kerry Kozad from Dielectric Communications reported on the VHF reception panel.

The group was focused on fixed reception; mobile operation on VHF is not contemplated due to the large mobile antennas that would be required.

The low-VHF band (channels 2-6) is a bigger problem than the high VHF band (channels 7-13). Noise is a bigger problem, for one thing.

There are only 39 stations in the low-VHF band.

Noise varies from location-to-location at low-VHF, making it difficult to have consistent  performance and use common planning factors. There are also undesirable propagation effects at the low VHF band. It would likely require an impractical 15 to 20 dB power increase to alleviate these problems.

High-band VHF suffers from the same noise problems, but not as much. A 10 dB power increase would be required to help significantly.

Receiver antennas can be improved, but not much. The best candidate for improved antenna performance is indoor reception, perhaps through smart antennas working in conjunction with the TV set. The TV and antenna manufacturers have to work together for this to happen.

The FCC should not set consumer antenna performance standards. There are too many variables for a one-size-fits-all performance standard.

It would help to standardize descriptive terminology and performance measurement standards.

The FCC should increase maximum power limits, but be aware that there can be more interference with higher power.

Methodologies for Repacking the TV Band

The spectrum repacking session was led by Bruce Franca from MSTV.

He summarized the status of new modeling efforts and reviewed Technical Paper study assumptions.

Population loss (loss of people served) is one of the costs in reclaiming spectrum.

The focus is on reclamation in the UHF band, as mobile broadband operators are not interested in VHF spectrum.

The study assumptions included locating all stations in channels 2-30, and adding no new stations to channels 2-6.

The minimum number of stations that must share in this scenario are 248. From 20 to 40 percent of Designated Market Areas (DMAs) are impacted and must share, depending on border protection.

A more careful approach to DTV interference is suggested. In analog television, interference can be increased 8 dB before someone notices, and can increase 20-30 dB  before someone stops watching. In DTV, however, most TV sets go from perfect picture to no picture in 1 dB.

Interference performance is governed mostly by DTV receive performance.

Different propagation models are available, but there is no indication any are generally better than the Longley-Rice model.

One question was whether protected service areas should be adjusted to more accurately reflect viewing practices, and if so, how. Nielsen reports 10.9 million over-the-air homes, but it is not clear what that means. For example, a home with both FIOS and over-the-air reception is not considered over-the-air by Nielsen.

Hispanic households have a high percentage of over-the-air reception: 20% in Los Angeles, 35% in Houston, and 28% in Phoenix.

50 million DTV converter boxes were sold.

In discussion, it was noted that this panel’s results refer to sharing being “required.” That assumes no stations voluntarily choose to go off the air. If sufficient stations choose to go off, sharing is not required.

The Washington Post reports on a speech by White House Budget Director Peter Orszag:

“The U.S. Patent Office receives 80 percent of its applications electronically. But then patent office bureaucrats have to print them out and scan them by hand into an outdated case management system.”

• Polytechnic Institute of NYU filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license to conduct a network research project using WiMAX on 2535-2540 MHz. This is part of the nationwide Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI) project, a suite of infrastructure that will support experimental research in network science and engineering. GENI is supported by the National Science Foundation and managed by the GENI Project Office at BBN Technologies.

• Mnemonics, Inc. filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to operate in support of a research project that is to develop and demonstrate the viability of wirelessly extracting measured data from a network of passive surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor devices. This sensing technique is said to have several advantages over existing sensors, including no wired connections needed to extract data, no power requirements, operation up to 1000 degrees C., and sensor cost in-quantity in the tens of cents each. Operation will be on 915 MHz.

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to operate on 512-608 and 614-698 MHz. This is in support of research and evaluation of equipment that uses radio-location technology to precisely identify the location of firefighters and firefighter deployed sensors within a building.

• Zimmerman Associates filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to test prototype equipment that uses ultra wideband (UWB) technology developed by Time Domain Corporation. The equipment generates a signal that is pulse position modulated. The position of the modulated pulse varies randomly in time producing an emission that approximates Gaussian noise. The nominal center frequency of the signal is 4.4 to 4.5 GHz with the half power point bandwidth at 3.1 to 5.6 GHz. The radiated power of the device is below the general limits set forth in Part 15. This testing is in support of a U.S. Army contract.

• The Moment Lab, University of California, Santa Barbara filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license to conduct experimentation regarding use of the TV white spaces. The Lab seeks to evaluate its solutions for modulation and coding scheme and channel width adaptation on long-distance (rural) white-space links. Operation will be on 512-608 and 614-698 MHz.

• Panasonic Avionics Corporation filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license  to conduct ground testing in support of Panasonic’s Global Communications Suite (GCS) featuring the “eXconnect” Ku-band aeronautical mobile-satellite service (AMSS) system supporting wireless connectivity for devices such as GSM phones and Wi-Fi enabled laptops. Using low-power wireless transceivers onboard aircraft, GCS processes passenger communications for transmission to ground networks via satellite communications networks. Operation will be on various frequencies between 421 and 5825 MHz.

• Ingegneria Dei Sistemi S.p.a. filed an application for special temporary authority to operate equipment for landslide monitoring as part of a demonstration for the US Geological Survey. The equipment is classified in Europe as a portable Short range Device (SRD) as it said to be compatible with primary services. Compliance testing of this equipment with the applicable requirements in the US, however, has not been yet been accomplished. Operation will be on 17.1-17.3 GHz.

• DRS EW & Network Systems filed an application for special temporary authority to test identification, friend or foe (IFF) equipment that is being developed under a contract with Italian Air Force. Operation is between 1030 and 1090 MHz.

• Boundary County Community Television filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to operate using vacant spectrum in the television broadcast bands (white spaces) for the testing of fixed white-space devices. Boundary County Community Television is working jointly with Spectrum Bridge in investigating the usefulness of available white space (UHF/VHF) spectrum by providing “rural broadband access and support of video, sensor, low power AM broadcast radio using IP streaming, Wi-Fi access and medical records exchange.” The two companies will also be working with the U.S. Customs and Forest Service in application development and evaluation. Operation will be on 174-216, 470-608, and 614-698 MHz near Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

• Magna Electronics filed an application (with supporting exhibits), apparently for experimental license (the application form is not available at this time). Magna Electronics says it is developing an automotive 77 GHz radar for use in the reduction of vehicular accidents through situational awareness. Research is underway to detect forward objects of interest that may cause an accident, to either warn the driver or autonomously brake the vehicle to reduce the impact energy. Magna also notes that over 1.8 million rear end collisions are reported in the United States annually; this is more than 1/3 of all reported accidents and is the leading accident type.

• Dell Marketing filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to conduct market studies that focus on consumer acceptability of mobile digital television transmitted using the ATSC A/153 standard. This authority applies only to reception devices.  Transmission will be made from regularly licensed TV stations. The reception devices to be used in the test (up to 1000 specially configured Dell Netbook computers) will include tuners for the reception of ATSC A/53 conventional DTV signals and ATSC A/153 mobile DTV signals but not analog tuners. Frequencies to be used include 54-72, 76-88, 174-216, and 470-698 MHz.

According to Dell, “The receivers at issue are not to be sold directly to the public. Instead,, the receivers are to be sold to Dell commercial customers who, as a result of the tests they are to conduct, will be able to provide feedback as to such issues as the field performance of the receivers, acceptability of the user interface, consumer expectations and acceptability of possible prices (e.g. “Would you be willing to pay _____ for this device, provided that it includes DTV/MDTV reception capability?”), consumer use data (hours per day of viewing, principle reasons for viewing, reasons for stopping viewing), and perceived value of the service.”

Dell also says “Half of the proposed units will be sold to a major multi-channel video programming provider for use in a test in which the provider will make the receivers available to selected consumers who agree to participate in the test. The others are to be made available for sale to broadcast television transmission equipment makers who will provide them to broadcast stations for demonstration and consumer feedback purposes in connection with the launch of mobile television service this summer. In both cases, a condition of Dell’s sale will be to provide Dell feedback that will assist Dell in both product design and marketing, including being able to set initial prices should the Commission agree ultimately to permit the widespread marketing of portable receivers without analog tuners that are designed for on-the-go reception and are powered primarily from batteries.”

• Alcatel-Lucent filed an application (with associated exhibits) for experimental license to operate on various frequencies between 698 and 2155 MHz to evaluate LTE technology over-the-air. Specific tests are to include validation of call processing, handoffs, power control, and data scheduler algorithms.

• Inmarsat Hawaii filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to conduct technical demonstrations using new, pre-production Global Satellite Phone Service (“GSPS”) prototype handsets, test these handsets in connection with their production and the deployment of other parts of the GSPS network, and otherwise develop radio techniques, equipment, operational data and engineering data related to GSPS. Inmarsat Hawaii says that “GSPS will be a highly competitive offering in terms of hardware costs, airtime rates and service quality, with a strong combination of form and functionality that Inmarsat believes will change the landscape in the provision of the mobile satellite services. The requested experimental authority would facilitate the introduction of GSPS to the U.S. by enabling Inmarsat to develop the technical expertise to extend and enhance existing uses of L-band spectrum through the introduction of GSPS.”

• Associated Air Center filed an application for special temporary authority to perform electromagnetic interference susceptibility tests to demonstrate that the use of on-board cell phones do not cause interference on any electrical equipment installed on the aircraft while on the ground. “A direct influence on the aircrafts navigation and communication systems is not expected, but a susceptibility investigation is considered neccessary [sic] as the electromagnetic field levels are in close vicinity of the signal source might raise to levels that cause interference. The testing will concentrate on demonstrating the electromagnetic compatibility of RF bands used for CDMA, GSM, PDC and UMTS cell phones within a aircraft environment [sic].” Operation will be on various frequencies between 410 and 2700 MHz.

• Booz Allen Hamilton filed an application for special temporary authority to evaluate the RF performance of commercial IEEE 802.16e (Mobile WiMAX) equipment for United States Air Force Global Broadcast Service applications. Operation is to be on 2620.250-2628.500 MHz.

• Raytheon Network Centric Systems filed an application for special temporary authority to test a Ground Surveillance Radar (GSR) system, intended to provide all-weather detection and tracking capability for facility/critical infrastructure and border security programs. Operation is to be on 3100-3500 MHz.

• Vexcel, a Microsoft subsidiary, filed an application (with associated exhibits) for experimental license to demonstrate a specialized short range, low power trailer-mounted radar system that illuminates a rock wall next to a highway and maps the surface profile in detail. Vexcel says that this technique can be used to detect potential dangerous rockfalls that could damage vehicles and travelers on the adjacent highway. Operation is to be on 10.7-11.2 GHz.

As background, Vexcel says that in October 2007, it “made a presentation to the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHA) office proposing the use of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technology for the detection and monitoring of rock fall and landslides on steep slopes that border busy transportation corridors. Vexcel had previously demonstrated through software simulation that integrating the interferometric SAR data processing technique into a ground-based system would enable the measurement of surface displacements on the order of a millimeter at stand-off distances of up to several hundred meters. Since surface displacements are a precursor to rock wall failure, the ability to measure surface displacement over time yields a capability to predict wall failures. This predictive capability would enable transportation authorities to schedule mitigation activities during low traffic periods thereby minimizing the risk to life and limb of rock wall failures and significantly reducing their negative economic impacts.”

“To properly verify the system operation, Vexcel needs to measure several different types of rock formations. To do this, the system will be installed on a trailer which can be towed to each experimental site. A drawing depicting the trailer system is shown in Figure 1. Directional horn antennas are used to transmit and receive the radar’s radio frequency signal. The antennas are mounted on a linear rail system and are moved horizontally and vertically along the rails. The motion is such that the antenna pointing direction is not changed during operation. The horizontal rail allows for 5 meters of motion. The vertical rail allows for 1.6 meter of motion. The antenna’s highest position above the ground during operation is 2.6 meters.”

• TWC Wireless, the wireless division of Time Warner Cable, filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to test WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e) equipment and applications over-the-air. These tests are intended to support system, application and device development, as well as quality assurance. Operation is to be on 2513-2535 MHz.

• L-3 Communications Linkabit Division filed an application (with associated exhibits) for experimental license to conduct a series of experiments with HF and VHF multiband radio equipment. The purpose of the experiment is to confirm performance of the equipment against engineering specifications, characterize field performance of the equipment, and rehearse scripted equipment demonstrations in support of marketing activities. Operation is to be on various frequencies from 1.8 to 107.5 MHz. The communications will be primarily voice with very limited digital data. Also, encrypted (AES 256) and unencrypted communications will be evaluated. Upon successful conclusion of the experiments, the equipment will be offered for sale worldwide, subject to US export regulations.

• Morehead State University filed an application for special temporary authority to operate a ground station and characterize the Mini-RF radar instrument, one of seven instruments on NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). The LRO is currently orbiting the Moon. The science team has a program requirement to characterize the transmit and receive paths of the Mini-RF instrument on a regular basis. The characterizations require one week of testing and repeated every 9-12 months. Operation is to be on various frequencies from 2370 to 7150 MHz.

• Telcordia Technologies filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license to conduct testing on 495-505 and 525-535 kHz in support of deliverables under a Department of Defense research program for the Laboratory of Telecommunication Sciences. The project includes experiments to better understand vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure to natural and man-made phenomena. In particular, Telcordia proposes to conduct experiments on the impact of radio frequency interference (RFI) into advanced communications services such as broadband access. It proposes to do this by running short term transmission experiments at a number of locations using conventional AM transmissions, but just below the commercial AM band to avoid interference with commercial broadcasts.

On May 24 3GPP presented a seminar in Moscow, Evolving Networks to LTE – 3GPP Perspective. There were technical presentations and a panel with the main Russian operators.

The 3GPP Core Network migration path for HSPA+ and LTE was presented by Hannu Hietalahti, TSG CT chairman. The presentation reviewed the 3GPP CoreNetwork, Optimization for IP traffic, the LTE voice solution, and LTE deployment.

An update on the evolution of the  GERAN family of standards (GSM, GPRS, EDGE) was presented by Andrew Howell, TSG GERAN Chairman. He concludes that the GSM radio interface has evolved over the past few years and will continue to evolve to bring additional features and improvements.  The ongoing work within TSG GERAN continues to increase the suitability of GSM/GERAN: for standalone networks, for networks used in conjunction with other radio access technologies (UMTS, LTE…) to provide global coverage whilst allowing excellent service continuity, and as a future proof platform providing a smooth migration path towards other 3GPP based systems (UMTS, LTE).

A progress report on LTE Radio Access Networks was presented by Takehiro Nakamura, 3GPP TSG-RAN Chairman. The presentation reviewed 3GPP standardization activities, LTE Release 8, LTE Release 9, and LTE-Release 10 and beyond (LTE-Advanced).

Services evolution and the impact of IMS was reviewed by Stephen Hayes, Chair 3GPP-SA. He dispelled some myths about LTE and IMS, looked at multimedia telephony services, and looked at fixed mobile convergence.

A regulatory update on flexible use of spectrum and digital dividend was presented by Igor Minaev, ETSI Technical Officer, ETSI Standardization Projects. The digital dividend is a part of radio spectrum that is freed up as a result of more efficient spectrum use through the switchover from analogue to digital terrestrial TV.

The Impact of Femtocells on Next Generation LTE Mobile Networks was presented by Andy Germano, Vice Chairman of the Femto Forum. For LTE services, femtocells are said to have a key role in speeding launch and deployment, enabling services that encourage adoption, and delivers superior performance where needed.

This summarizes a selection of applications for the Experimental Radio Service received by the FCC during April 16 – April 30, 2010. These are related to GPS, ultra-wideband, high-frequency radar, mobile satellite antennas, and flight test telemetry.

• Starling Advanced Communications filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to test vehicle-mounted Ku-band transmit/receive satellite terminals. Data rates will vary from 128 kbps to 2 Mbps. The tests will use the following satellites: Horizons-1 at 127° W.L., Galaxy 17 at 91° W.L., Galaxy 19 at 97° W.L., and Galaxy 16 at 99° W.L.. Operation will be on 14.0 – 14.5 GHz.

• The Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Department filed an application for which all details are not publicly available due to a request for confidentiality. From available exhibits, it seeks to conduct field testing and evaluation of a through-the-wall surveillance radar prototype developed by Akela, Inc. It appears operation will be in the band 500-3600 MHz.

• The Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to operate equipment in support of the SuperDARN radar network, which is used for research on the upper atmosphere. The equipment to be used is in prototype form from Leicester University in the UK. Operation is to be on various frequencies from 8 to 20 MHz.

• DRS Codem Systems filed an application for which confidentiality was requested. From available exhibits, the test seems to involve the company’s DRS’s X-Band vehicle-mounted satellite-terminal antenna system.

• Blue Origin, an aerospace research and development company developing commercial space launch vehicle technology, filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license to support command and telemetry communications testing in support of its New Shepard project, which consists of two vehicles that are attached at launch but separate during flight. Blue Origin conducts flight testing of these vehicles at its test facility in Culberson County, Texas. Each vehicle needs a separate command and telemetry link. Blue Origin already has authorizations for 2069 MHz, 2202 MHz and 2250 MHz. This application adds 2042 MHz.

• Raytheon Missile Systems filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license for missile communications testing. Three radio systems related to range safety are to be tested, and include a Flight Terminate Receiver operating on 420-430 MHz, an S-Band Telemetry transmitter operating on 2200-2290, 2310-2369, and 2360-2390 MHz, and a C-Band transponder operating on 5400-5900 MHz.

• Greenwood Telecommunications Consultants filed an application (and supporting exhibit) for experimental license to test an in-building GPS navigation network solution developed by Insiteo SA, a French company. Operation is to be on 1563-1589 MHz.

• Lockheed Martin filed an application for special temporary authority to test strategies to mitigate the impact of co-frequency Radionavigation Satellite Service (e.g., GPS) signals on the operation of a TPS77 radar signal. Operation will be on 1215-1400 MHz.

A marketplace update provided facts about the Latin American market. At the end of 2009, Latin America had 509 million wireless users. Average ARPU is US $14. Data as a percentage of service revenues in Q3 2009 is 17% compared to 28% in the US. In December 2009, GSM-UMTS-HSPA had a 91% market share, up from 88% in December 2008.

A 3GPP Technology Standards Roadmap provided an overview of 3GPP and key 3GPP issues. It is a good snapshot of where 3GPP stands today.

Operators Vivo, Claro, and NTT DOCOMO presented their strategies for mobile broadband. The Vivo presentation is more market-oriented and is written in Portuguese. The Vivo and NTT DOCOMO presentations include more technical content. Vivo seems concerned about the backhaul-capacity issue.

Ericsson Brazil discussed HSPA evolution in terms of bit rate, latency, MIMO, and multicarrier; related RAN backhaul improvements were also addressed.

Deployment of mobile broadband was addressed. Nokia Siemens Networks discussed migrating from HSPA to HSPA+ and LTE, and noted it has 11 commercial LTE deals, six of which have been announced. Huawei discussed some of its products.

A presentation on spectrum policy by 3G Americas identified some Latin America issues. There is no spectrum for advanced mobile broadband services. Governments are promoting new entrants by using spectrum caps. There are high taxes for wireless services and equipment. Likely bands for 4G will be 2.5 GHz, 1.7/2.1 GHz and 700 MHz.

An analysis by 3G Americas shows that spectrum aggregation limits impose serious costs on existing providers, which are paid by consumers. In markets with constrained providers, consumers may pay twice as much for LTE if spectrum is limited to only 2×5 MHz as compared to 2×10 MHz, and four times as much as compared to 2×20 MHz.

• Clearwire filed an application for special temporary authority (with supporting exhibits) to test WiMAX equipment at various locations in California on 2502-2568 MHz. The purpose of the test is to validate the ability of equipment to operate satisfactorily in the presence of collocated equipment licensed to Sprint in the 800 and 1900 MHz bands.
• DataSoft Corporation filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license. The company says it is developing a Software Defined Radio platform featuring a configurable 400 MHz to 4000 MHz transceiver intended for markets requiring an adaptable, programmable, or cognitive radio such as TV white space, smart grid, and home networking. The experimental license is to support testing of the transceiver in a TV white space application. Due to lack of available white-space client devices, the applicant proposes using re-banded Wi-Fi equipment in the experiment. Operation is to be in Scottsdale, Arizona on 500-540 MHz.

• BAE Systems filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license to test a wireless link for use by the US Army between a soldier’s night weapon sight and night vision goggles. The wireless link will utilize WiMedia MB-OFDM Ultra-wideband technology. Operation is to be on 3.168-4.752 GHz.

• Honeywell filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to test integration of a direct digital radio link into small unmanned aerial vehicles. This is in support of two US Army programs and one US Navy program. The radio is manufactured by AeroVironment, Inc. Both command and control, as well as video downlink, utilize the same radio. Frequency bands requested are 1711.5-1721.5 MHz and 1755-1848 MHz. Operation will be in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

• Texas Tech University Wind Science and Engineering Research Center filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for special temporary authority to operate a Ka-band mobile radar systems in support of tornado research. Operation is to be at 34.86 GHz.

• Kestrel Signal Processing filed an application for special temporary authority to allow “testing of a novel cellular network technology that is compatible with standard GSM cellular handsets.” The operation will be on the grounds of, and overlap in time with, the Burning Man event held near Gerlach, Nevada Aug. 30 – Sept. 6, 2010. Operation will be on 869-894 MHz and 1930-1945 MHz.

• CenturyTel Broadband Wireless filed an application for special temporary authority to assess the performance of equipment manufactured by IPWireless (but not yet FCC type accepted) for providing 700 MHz rural broadband service. Operation is to be at Monroe, Louisiana on 736-746 MHz.

• Inmarsat Hawaii filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for special temporary authority to initiate a program of experimentation designed to facilitate the introduction of a new Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) user terminal type. The testing would attempt to gain knowledge with respect to link quality and to validate Inmarsat’s theoretical approach. Testing also would evaluate the interaction of the new terminal type with Inmarsat’s ground infrastructure. Inmarsat  proposes to test the terminal type in the 1626.5- 1660.5 MHz transmit band and 1525.0-1559.0 MHz receive band.

• Cobham Defense Electronic Systems filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license to operate in Lowell, Massachusetts on various frequencies between 902 and 5925 MHz. Apparently, this is to be experimentation in support of the DARPA program Wireless Network after Next (WNaN). As the exhibit explains, the WNaN “program goal 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. WNaN networks will manage node configurations and the topology of the network to reduce the demands on the physical and link layers of the nodes. The technology created by the WNaN effort will provide reliable and highly- available battlefield communications at low system cost.”

• Radio Design Group filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license to test a wireless intercom system that will utilize an Amplitude Companded Side Band (ACSB) RF platform. The applicant expects this to provide a stable and robust signal that is efficient in terms of transmission bandwidth and power. The applicant also expects this system to allow for an occupied bandwidth of 15 kHz per audio path including guard band. The system will be tested on 174-216 MHz and 470-512 MHz in the vicinity of Grants Pass, Oregon.

In the update, Meeker and her colleagues report mobile internet usage ramping up faster than desktop usage with the number of mobile users exceeding desktop users in five years. Several times the report looks to Japan for leading indicators of mobile trends in the US. Mobile network traffic continues to shift from voice to data, with NTT DOCOMO now at 90% data. It cites Rakuten Ichiba as Japan’s leading electronic commerce company with 19% of its online revenue derived from mobile.

The report sees 3G is seen as key to the success of the mobile internet, but options such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are growing rapidly. Network traffic growth, driven by video, is expected to rise 39-times by 2014, for a compound annual growth rate of 108%.

The report documents the growth in social-networking applications. Facebook is now the top-downloaded iPhone/iTouch application.

In 2008, desktop internet revenue was dominated by advertising and electronic commerce paid by the vendor or advertiser. Also for 2008, and in contrast, mobile internet revenue was dominated by premium content revenue paid by the user.

At the end of the presentation, we see a comparison of the mobile internet revenue mix between Japan and the rest of the world. Mobile internet revenue is broken down into four categories: mobile advertising, mobile paid services, mobile online commerce, and mobile data access. The analysis shows that the rest-of-world percentage breakdown by category in 2008 is similar to Japan’s in 2000. The implication is that the rest-of-the-world should look at what Japan has been doing more recently, since the rest-of-the-world may trend toward that. What’s “that?” A higher share of mobile internet revenue from mobile advertising, mobile paid services, and mobile online commerce, and a lower share from mobile data access.

]]> http://stevencrowley.com/2010/04/14/morgan-stanley-looks-to-japan-for-us-internet-trends/feed/ 0 http://stevencrowley.com/2010/04/06/experimental-radio-applications-at-the-fcc-8/ http://stevencrowley.com/2010/04/06/experimental-radio-applications-at-the-fcc-8/#comments Wed, 07 Apr 2010 02:40:12 +0000 Steven J. Crowley http://stevencrowley.com/?p=779 This summarizes a selection of applications for the Experimental Radio Service received by the FCC during March 15-30, 2010. These are related to weather radar, medical telemetry, RFID, satellite, aircraft telemetry, high-frequency direction finding, and meteorological telemetry.

• Fitness Foundation filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license to test wireless monitoring and reporting of people’s activity levels in support of an effort to combat obesity and promote active lifestyles. Operation is to be on 174-216 MHz and 512-700 MHz near Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. FCC staff is concerned about the potential for interference to others and has asked the applicant why so much bandwidth is needed.
• Hyperion Technology Group filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license to support the development of a system capable of early detection of extreme weather phenomena, including wind shear, tornadoes and hurricane-spawned tornadoes. Operation is to be nationwide on 10.4-10.6 GHz. FCC staff questions this frequency selection, saying in correspondence to the applicant that there are two footnotes to the U.S Table of Allocations that are problematic. US58 prohibits pulsed emissions in 10-10.5 GHz. US59 prohibits any emission other than N0N in 10.5-10.55 GHz. Staff further observes that while experimental licenses are not always bound by allocation restrictions, there is great likelihood that NTIA would object to this application when it gets coordinated with government users. The applicant has suggested a compromise, and notes that the frequency range was selected based on the availability of relatively-inexpensive commercial off-the-shelf hardware for the initial research. Once the concept is validated and high-energy wind phenomena are better understood, it is the applicant’s intention to move to a different frequency and build custom hardware to support that frequency.
• David Miller (MIT) filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to conduct testing of the CASTOR (Cathode/Anode Satellite Thruster for Orbital Repositioning) satellite. The intent is to validate the performance and application of Diverging Cusped Field Thruster (DCFT) technology. According to the Miller, this will be achieved by taking on-orbit state data to compare the degradation experienced by the DCFT to that of similar technologies such as Hall thrusters. In order to measure the thruster’s on-orbit performance, efficiency, and degradation, it is necessary to transmit sensor data and pictures obtained from an onboard camera to a ground station. Operation is to be in low-earth orbit (700-3000 km) on 2.4000-2.4835 GHz.
• Northrop Grumman filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for special temporary authority for the purpose of developing an airborne platform with a microwave transmitter to fulfill a contract with the US Air Force. The requested frequency band is 2250-2260 MHz.
• The University of Washington filed an application for special temporary authority to operate on 433.845-433.995 MHz from free-flying balloons launched in Washington State. This is to support, as part of a class project, research in atmospheric structure using a transmitter as a sounder to make atmospheric temperature profiles and as a beacon to recover the transmitter.
• Keurig, Inc. filed an application for special temporary authority to operate RFID technology on 902-928 MHz. Keurig is a vendor of single-cup beverage brewing systems. Its new Keurig B80K home-based brewers will use new beverage identification technology implemented with RFID. In the system, “K-Cups” containing the beverage powder are embedded with RFID tags. The brewers identify the type of K-Cup used and adjust brewing parameters to match the beverage. Prior to design finalization of the brewer, Keurig wants to conduct consumer acceptance testing with 300 brewers in the field.
• Ticom Geomatics filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for experimental license to operate on various high frequencies in the 2-30 MHz range for test and development of direction finding techniques. As part of a US Navy contract, the company is extending high-frequency groundwave geolocation techniques to include skywave and near vertical incidence skywave (NVIS) signals. This work will include enhancements to a groundwave/skywave discriminator, extensions to include ionospheric modeling, and geolocation and error model enhancements.