Straight Path Ventures today filed an application and supporting exhibits for an experimental license to support the development of “radios that can support 5G fixed and mobile services in the 39 GHz band (38.4 – 40.0 GHz).” Straight Path Ventures is affiliated with Straight Path Spectrum, which recently agreed to pay a $100 million civil penalty in a consent decree with the FCC. Straight Path announced a demo of 39 GHz technology last October.
Recently
Experimental authorizations mined
January 27th, 2017As part of his master’s thesis, a student has scraped experimental license information from the FCC’s website, constructed a database, and mined it for the years 2007 to 2016. Pedro J. Bustamante, provide a summary of experimental activity focussing on the years 2007-2016.
Google files with FCC for nationwide airborne millimeter-wave testing
December 2nd, 2015On November 24 Google filed an application with the FCC for a two-year experimental license to conduct nationwide testing in the 71-76 and 81-86 GHz millimeter-wave bands. The application consists of a form and supporting exhibit. As is usual with Google, the version of the exhibit made available to the public is redacted, but there’s enough there to infer that that this involves high-altitude airborne testing – perhaps connected to Project Loon or to solar-powered drones emerging from Google’s Titan Aerospace acquisition.
Wi-Fi Alliance reports some consensus from its Wi-Fi/LTE-U Coexistence Test Workshop
November 22nd, 2015In a November 20 FCC filing, the Wi-Fi Alliance reported on recent meetings with FCC staff on the subject of Wi-Fi/LTE-U coexistence. The Alliance says consensus was reached on the following points at its November 4 Coexistence Test Workshop:
- The LTE-U specification can be further refined to provide greater clarity, and recent updates to the specification are a good step forward
- A broader set of test scenarios than currently exists is likely necessary to test LTE-U’s fairness to Wi-Fi
- Stakeholders are committed to collaborating within Wi-Fi Alliance to develop an industry agreed test regimen for LTE-U devices
A follow-up workshop is scheduled for the week of February 8.
In LTE-U, different companies can come away with different views of the same event. We’ll see if these consensus points hold.
GSA makes a case for the LTE Broadcast business
November 17th, 2015The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), representing mobile industry vendors, has commissioned a report on opportunities in LTE broadcasting. Prepared by a UK business consultancy, it’s part marketing document making a case for impressive growth in the LTE Broadcast business, which in turn makes it a useful sales tool for GSA members.
FCC’s Technological Advisory Council outlines risk-informed interference assessment
April 20th, 2015Interference arguments at the FCC would become more objective and less dependent on wordplay under a proposal by the FCC’s Technological Advisory Council (TAC).
Risk-informed interference assessment is a quantitative methodology intended to draw out the trade-offs between risks and benefits of new services. By using it interference assessments would move from, in the words of a TAC report, “What’s the worst that can happen?” to “What can happen, how likely is it, and what are the consequences?”
Chairman Wheeler outlines his 3.5 GHz plan
March 30th, 2015Friday saw a couple of FCC actions on 3.5 GHz. It was announced that the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) will tentatively be on the agenda for the FCC’s April 17 meeting.
NTIA proposals loosen 3.5 GHz restrictions
March 26th, 2015NTIA has made several proposals in the FCC’s 3.5 GHz proceeding that would greatly increase areas of the country in which the proposed Citizens Broadband Radio Service can be provided.
IEEE 802 and 3GPP step up collaboration on LAA
March 23rd, 2015IEEE 802 and 3GPP are working together more on coexistence of Licensed Authorized Access (LAA) and Wi-Fi. Since November, each group has made a presentation to the other. There’s been an exchange of liaison statements, the latest on March 18 when IEEE 802 sent 3GPP two statements containing several requests and recommendations.
Google files experimental applications to test in 3.5, 5.8, 24, 72, and 82 GHz bands
October 14th, 2014On October 13 Google filed two experimental radio applications with the FCC. The first seeks permission to test in the 3.5 GHz band in Mountain View, California and in suburban Washington D.C. The second is for testing in the 5.8, 24, 72, and 82 GHz bands in Mountain View and San Mateo County, California. The applications are redacted. Most technical detail is unavailable, but here’s what’s visible.
Google files to test millimeter-wave data with airborne terminals
September 25th, 2014Google has applied to the FCC to conduct “airborne” testing of data over millimeter-wave frequencies in Northern Nevada. I saw the frequencies and thought this was another test of millimeter-wave radar for automatic cruise control; Google has applied to test that several times since 2011. The emission designators for the current transmissions, however, contain the symbols D1D; that’s data, not radar. An application to the FCC to test millimeter-wave data is a first for Google.
Google files “confidential” application with FCC for drone tests in New Mexico
September 15th, 2014Google has filed an application with the FCC to conduct drone tests in New Mexico. The company has sought confidential treatment of its application form and exhibits. All we have to go by now is one exhibit that’s been redacted for public consumption. Google provides some detail, and we can try to infer some more.
Looking at radio wave interaction as an electromagnetic Newton’s cradle
July 16th, 2014The interaction of radio waves in free space has never been much of a concern to this wireless engineer. Propagation models do a pretty good job of estimating received signal strength. Receivers are designed to select desired signals and reject undesired ones, within limits. “Interference takes place in the receiver,” I’ve heard more than once. Yes, there are a lot of signals in the air at once, but I’m more interested in the end result.
TIA converges on the network of the future
June 9th, 2014Once a year the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) holds a membership meeting that looks forward to tomorrow’s networks. Last week I moderated a spectrum panel at the “Network of the Future” conference in Dallas, and stayed for the rest of the wireless track (parallel tracks I didn’t attend related to software-defined networking and big data).
Sinclair outlines converged broadcast/broadband vision
May 21st, 2014Sinclair Broadcast Group, the country’s largest TV group owner, is also a communications technology proponent. With partner Coherent Logix, a developer of software defined radio (SDR) technology, it’s behind one of several systems up for consideration in the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) for next-generation television in the U.S.. The new standard will be known as ATSC 3.0.