Wireless Technology Prospects and Policy Options (2011) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
3 Policy Options
3 Policy Options
Pages 67-84
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 67... ...
• Despite reisions aimed at ensuring greater flexibility, the current framework continues to rely significantly on centrally managed allocation and assignment, with goernment regulators deciding how and by whom wireless communications are to be used. Spectrum policy has become more flexible over the past sev eral decades in such areas as permitted modulation waveforms and types 6
|
From page 68... ...
. kEY CONSIDERATIONS FOR A FUTURE POLICY FRAMEWORk Enabling More Nimble Evolution of Spectrum Policy The current spectrum plan reflects decades of historical practice and in its myriad allocations and assignments reflects many stages of tech 1 For example, this point arose repeatedly in the remarks of those who briefed this committee.
|
From page 69... ...
In addition, following many decades of fitting in new services wherever there was free space, there is little or no unclaimed spectrum at lower frequencies. Much of the current spectrum frame work also reflects a time when oper ating rights were fairly well defined and when there were relatively few systems, system operators, and transmitters.
|
From page 70... ...
Steinberg, "Using MarketBased Spectrum Policy to Promote the Public Interest," Office of Plans and Policy's Working Paper, January 1997; Gerald Faulhaber and David Farber, "Spectrum Management: Property Rights, Markets, and Commons," Office of Plans and Policy's Working Paper, 2002. 3 Yochai Benkler, "Overcoming Agoraphobia: Building the Commons of the Digitally Networked Environment," Harard Journal of Law and Technology 11(Winter)
|
From page 71... ...
Regula tors often rely, at least implicitly, on technical standards that guide those building devices and services in how to comply with the regulations. This reliance on standards setting reflects two related ideas -- first, that regula tors may be better positioned to review technical proposals already cap tured in standards than to recommend specific technical approaches, and second, that it may be best to leave some of the technical details needed to define a service to standards rather than rules.
|
From page 72... ...
The expertise of its engineering staff allows the FCC to address many specific technical issues it must grapple with regularly -- for example determining the right noise figure for a particular system or the appropriate specification for adjacent channel interference. Spectrum policy has entered an era in which many critical and stra tegic technical issues are likely to arise as technologies, applications, and services evolve.
|
From page 73... ...
It has a technical research branch, a measurements and calibration branch, an equipment authorization branch, and a customer service branch. In 1998, OET convened a Technology Advisory Council drawn from a range of technical experts, including manufacturing, academia, communica tions services providers, and researchers.
|
From page 74... ...
NIST, which has consider able expertise and resources for technology evaluation and is currently working in such areas as the performance of land mobile radios and their use for public safety, is another potential source of expertise. (One caveat is that the FCC's status as an independent agency rather than an executive branch agency may limit work done by the NTIA or NIST to technical and not policy matters.)
|
From page 75... ...
3 ITS performs fundamental research and engineering with technical pro grams several areas directly related to wireless technology: broadband wireless, digital land mobile radio, information technology, propagation measurement and models, and spectrum research. It provides the technical resources from the United States in developing international telecommunications standards.
|
From page 76... ...
TECHNOLOGY-ENABLED POLICY OPTIONS Considering "Open" Approaches in the Range of 20 to 100 GHz Use is relatively sparse at frequencies of 20 to 100 GHz; commercial services in that range represent a small fraction of the services that oper ate below 20 GHz. The relatively high attenuation in materials -- and short free space propagation in the oxygen absorption band around 60 GHz -- means that propagation distances are relatively short.
|
From page 77... ...
This is not to say that existing applications in those ranges would be quickly or easily replaced, but rather that over time it would be attractive to introduce new applications at 20 to 100 GHz rather than carving out the rights to introduce them at lower frequencies. Finally, although usage at 20 to 100 GHz is relatively low compared to usage at frequencies below 20 GHz, existing users at the higher fre quencies are likely to object, and some exceptions to the open rule would probably be needed to protect some existing services.
|
From page 78... ...
Introducing Technological Capabilities for More Sophisticated Spectrum Management Some current and emerging technologies could make it much easier to introduce new services into crowded frequency bands. Given sufficient motivation, ingenuity, and investment, it is not possible to obtain signifi cant improvements in communications capacity in a particular piece of spectrum, but migrating current nondigital services to digital transmis sion will be a major challenge, especially for specific applications like aviation radios, which have a large, politically powerful legacy base.
|
From page 79... ...
Thus, adaptive radios are viable only if radios meet demanding specifications for both dynamic range and noise. The problem remains of how to deal with legacy hardware, which does not have this capability built in because it was made before receiver perfor mance was improved to exploit these opportunities.
|
From page 80... ...
The difference between the approaches emphasizing absolute and acceptable outcomes regarding interference is somewhat analogous to the difference between personal auto safety (which "accepts" a certain number of accidents) and common carrier air safety (which has an explicit albeit unrealizable goal of zero accidents)
|
From page 81... ...
Better receiver standards would create an environment in which receiver capabilities present less of a barrier than they do today for imple menting new spectrum sharing schemes. For example, it might be possible to overlay unlicensed use onto licensed use with receiver specifications written to these standards.
|
From page 82... ...
Potential advantages to this approach include a lower barrier to entry (because entry either will not require engagement with a regulator for spectrum assignment or will entail negotiation with an existing license holder, or it will be easier and less costly to find an existing license holder willing to share its spectrum assignments) and flexibility of use (because operation is defined primarily by the attributes of radio equipment rather than by regulation)
|
From page 83... ...
Some current proposals would maintain a form of centralized control but would replace regulation with much more nimble and dynamic approaches, such as services that collect and distribute information about or grant access to open channels. Establishing Mechanisms for Dealing with Legacy Systems In recent years, notable efforts to deal with legacy systems have included relocating microwave services to allow deployment of PCS cellular telephony and the relocation of Nextel cell services out of public safety bands.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.