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Experimental Radio Applications at the FCC

March 22nd, 2010

This summarizes a selection of applications for the Experimental Radio Service received by the FCC during February 27 – March 14. These are related to smart grid, antennas, radar, military, satellite, data links, roaming services, maritime communications, WiMAX, network protocols, and UAVs.

  • Sensus Spectrum filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for special temporary authority to test European Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) equipment on 412-424 MHz.
  • The University of Colorado filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for special temporary authority to test the feasibility of synthetic aperture radar in an end-fire configuration. This configuration will output short (50ns) bursts of approximately 10W at 500-530 MHz in order to construct an image of objects in an adjacent parking lot. This is an attempt to prove the feasibility of a new radar configuration for a proposal to NASA.
  • Oceanit filed an application for special temporary authority for a Ku-band SATCOM transmission test with an experimental ground-based phased-array antenna. Operation is to be on 13.75-14.50 GHz.
  • Northrop Grumman filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for special temporary authority to test an electronically-scanned-array radar system intended to act as part of a missile interceptor system to protect against rocket, artillery and mortar threats. Operation is to be on 16.2-17.3 GHz.

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Posted in Antennas, Aviation, Experimental, Military, Network Protocols, Radar, Satellite, Smart Grid, Telemetry, Video, WiMAX | No Comments »

Mobile patent lawsuits in perspective

March 5th, 2010

Larry Downes explores several drivers of mobile patent lawsuits, and suggests a mobile-device patent pool as one solution. Moreover, he says, mobile device winners will be those companies focusing on compelling consumer offerings, instead of patent disputes.

Posted in Patents | No Comments »

How to get grant money for public safety radio

March 2nd, 2010

“When you read the application and fill it out, give them what they want.”

Urgent Communications has tips (registration required) from a grant-writing consultant on getting grant money for public safety narrowbanding.

Posted in Public Safety | No Comments »

Experimental Radio Applications at the FCC

March 1st, 2010

This summarizes a selection of applications for the Experimental Radio Service received by the FCC during February 21-26: radar, WiMAX, MVDDS, aeronautical communications, private mobile data, millimeter wave, high-frequency data, space communications, and radiolocation.

  • The Maryland Department of the Environment filed an application (with supporting exhibits) to operate a wind-profiling radar on 915 MHz. The equipment was developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and fabricated by Radian International. The antenna is to consist of one steerable four-panel micro-patch phased array.
  • DTV Norwich filed an application (with supporting exhibit) for special temporary authority to conduct propagation tests prior to potential full-scale deployment of Multichannel Video and Data Distribution Service (“MVDDS”) at 12.2 to 12.7 GHz in the Miami area. This is to determine the suitability of potential transmitter sites for full-scale operation, for which DTV Norwich has a license.

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Posted in Aviation, Experimental, High Frequency, Millimeter-wave, MVDDS, Private Radio, Radar, Radiolocation, Space Communications, Telemetry, Video, WiMAX | No Comments »

Experimental Radio Applications at the FCC

February 21st, 2010

This summarizes a selection of applications for the Experimental Radio Service received by the FCC during February 13-20: landslide monitoring, WiMAX, earth-station antennas, radar, military mobile data, automatic aircraft landing, psyops transmission.

  • Skyport Global Communications filed an application (with supporting exhibits) to test a 55cm slot-array X-band antenna manufactured by EMS Technologies on 8218-8400 MHz. The test will be done using a satellite link between the 55cm antenna in Atlanta, Georgia and a hub in Houston, Texas using the XTAR LANT X-band satellite.

Skyport

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Posted in Antennas, Aviation, Experimental, Military, Millimeter-wave, Radar, Satellite, Terminals, WiMAX | No Comments »

Tower safety guide released

February 20th, 2010

The National Association of Tower Erectors has released a hazard recognition guide to provide aid in recognizing and alleviating hazards at tower sites. Issues covered include job site documentation and conditions, OSHA guidelines, protective equipment, rigging, and radiofrequency radiation exposure. The intended audience includes tower owners, wireless carriers, broadcasters, contractors, and others responsible for safety at tower sites.

The format is an online narrated presentation of about 170 slides. Internet Explorer and registration are required for viewing.

Posted in Towers | No Comments »

Backhaul trends: higher rates, more wireless

February 17th, 2010

A 4G base station can’t be any faster than its backhaul. An article in the February 2010 issue of AGL magazine, written by analysts at Visant Strategies, looks at how backhauls improving in speed to match new air interfaces. Over the next five years, they see the number of base stations having more than 24 Mbps of backhaul capacity increasing more than 20-times.

Today most backhaul links are wireline; through 2015, the percentage of wireless versus wireline backhaul links is predicted to increase, with percentages about even by 2016. The number of backhaul links in wireless networks is predicted to increase from 300,000 in 2008 to 500,000 in 2015.

exp-feb17

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Experimental Radio Applications at the FCC

February 14th, 2010

This summarizes a selection of applications for the Experimental Radio Service received by the FCC during February 8-12: mobile satellite terminals, white space, smart grid, satellite infrastructure, submarine communications.

  • Xtreme Hi-Tech files an application (with supporting exhibits) for experimental license to test a new type of mobile satellite antenna while it is mounted on an SUV. Operation it to be on 14.0-14.5 GHz in suburban Washington DC. Photos accompanying the filing show a Commtact mobile satellite terminal, which Xtreme Hi-Tech sells.

clip_image002

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Posted in Antennas, Experimental, Infrastructure, Military, Satellite, Smart Grid, White Space | No Comments »

Experimental Radio Applications at the FCC

February 11th, 2010

This describes a selection of applications for the Experimental Radio Service received by the FCC during January 30 through February 7: surveillance radar, airborne telemetry, mobile services, satellite, and amateur radio.

  • 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.

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Posted in Amateur Radio, Experimental, Infrastructure, Mobile Services, Radar, Satellite, Telemetry | No Comments »

3G Americas publishes status report on 3GPP specification development: HSPA+, LTE/SAE, and LTE-Advanced

February 5th, 2010

3G Americas, a group promoting the deployment of the GSM family of technologies, yesterday released its annual report on 3GPP specifications and the 3G/4G wireless market. The report reviews the history of 3GPP specification development since 1995, and places current work in context.
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Progress toward an LTE/SAE patent pool

February 3rd, 2010

Sisvel announces it is working with 20 companies to try to form a patent pool for 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and System Architecture Evolution (SAE). It invites other companies to participate. Urgent Communications has a take on this from a public safety perspective, and notes MPEG LA and Via Licensing are also trying to form patent pools. VIA Licensing may soon announce the status of its progress.

Posted in 3GPP, Patents | No Comments »

Electronic news gathering and the iPhone

February 3rd, 2010

The equipment for electronic news gathering started as transportable, transitioned to portable, and is going personal. Frank Beacham looks at the irony of video technology breakthroughs coming at a time of struggle in traditional television news. He questions the role of skilled reporting and analysis in the forthcoming glut of on-location video.

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Google patent application: Estimating wireless device location using measured data rates

February 1st, 2010

Location-based services are reaching beyond navigation and E911. Social networking, advertising, and other emerging applications are driving research and development into better technologies in support of these services, starting with the location estimation process itself.

Today, there are several ways to determine the location of a wireless device in a network. As a rough estimate, the device knows the identification of the base station or access point with which it is associated. That’s a start, but a base station can cover a wide area. To refine that, devices can use GPS. Networks of cellular base stations can measure differences in the timing or signal strength of an uplink signal, and use the results to estimate location. MAC addresses of Wi-Fi access points can be sniffed and mapped by roving monitors. Sometimes, two or more of these techniques are used in concert.
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Posted in Location, Patents | No Comments »

Experimental Radio Applications at the FCC

January 30th, 2010

This summarizes a selection of applications for the Experimental Radio Service received by the FCC during January 25-29: radar, mobile broadband, auto-tracking antennas, millimeter wave, missile telemetry, astronomy research support.

  • Powerwave, a wireless infrastructure vendor, files an application and supporting exhibits for experimental license to operate on 210-216 and 450-456 MHz in Santa Ana, California. The company wants to test operational and coverage aspects of Mobile Broadband Routable Internet (MBRI) users as they move about a campus setting. Hardware and software for handover, quality of service, and power control is to be tested.

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Posted in Ad-hoc Networks, Antennas, Experimental, Millimeter-wave, Radar, Telemetry | No Comments »

Progress in wireless light communications at Penn State

January 29th, 2010

Penn State issues a press release on its latest research in wireless light communications. One thing new seems to be the ability to get high bit rates (>1 Gbps) without a line-of-sight path, using multiple elements on the transmitters and receivers. For best results, avoid dark decorating schemes.

Posted in Wireless Light Communication | No Comments »

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