The Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee (CSMAC) this afternoon reviewed preliminary recommendations on a myriad of issues from its subcommittees and got an update from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration on recent spectrum activities. NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling noted that NTIA is working to implement the Spectrum Pipeline Act, which passed Congress and became law last year (TRDaily, Nov. 2, 2015). He said the agency is looking forward to applications from agencies for money from the Spectrum Relocation Fund. He said the first applications are expected to make it through the process this year.

Mr. Strickling also noted that he and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler are hoping to identify before the end of this year the remaining spectrum necessary to meet the Obama administration’s goal of freeing up 500 megahertz of spectrum by 2020.  Mr. Strickling also noted that CSMAC members have been reappointed for six-month terms to allow them to complete their work during this cycle of the CSMAC. He said NTIA would shortly release a solicitation seeking CSMAC members for the next term. He said it is hoping to have the new CSMAC constituted by the end of this year.

Paige Atkins, NTIA’s associate administrator-Office of Spectrum Management, noted that the CSMAC is “on a compressed schedule” to complete its remaining work. She said NTIA wants final recommendations at the May meeting, whose exact date and location are still to be determined.

“It will be very important to prevent scope creep,” Ms. Atkins stressed, adding that NTIA needs “practical and actionable recommendations.”

At the Aug. 1 meeting in Boulder, Colo., NTIA will discuss what it will do in response to the recommendations, she said.  Ms. Atkins also noted that the FCC and NTIA are working on a public notice to solicit proposals for implementation of a “model city” program to spur spectrum sharing. The public notice is expected to be released in the “next few weeks.” She said officials expect considerable interest in response to the solicitation.

She also reported progress in coordination between industry and federal agencies to clear spectrum for AWS (advanced wireless services)-3 services. “The most intense” coordination has been in the 1755-1780 MHz band, she said, with more than 150 coordination requests being submitted so far.

“There’s good dialogue between the licensees and the agencies that are involved, so I appreciate that,” Ms. Atkins said.

Regarding implementation of the Spectrum Pipeline Act, Ms. Atkins said NTIA has moved to update its regulations so agencies can take advantage of funding for spectrum planning and research and development. NTIA has worked to make sure proposals are ready to be reviewed by a Technical Panel.

Ms. Atkins also noted that NTIA plans to release by the end of April its sixth interim progress report on a 10-year spectrum plan.

Meanwhile, CSMAC members discussed preliminary recommendations from its subcommittees.

For example, a written presentation by the bi-directional sharing subcommittee said, “Because the process to share non-Federal spectrum is not universally known by Federal Agencies, NTIA/FCC should prepare a reference document describing the existing protocols for Federal agencies to gain access, for shared mission critical communication applications, to non-Federal public safety spectrum.”

“NTIA or the FCC should develop and maintain a database that reports pending and executed bi-directional MOUs as both a reference and evidence of best practices,” it added. The panel also said that “NTIA /FCC should explore whether and how Federal Agencies could directly hold a license for non-Federal government spectrum.”

The measurement and sensing in 5 gigahertz subcommittee also outlined draft recommendations in its presentation.

“Feedback between the federal spectrum user community under study and any occupancy measurements should be strengthened. Follow-up to disagreements should be quick and come, to a minimum, to an agreement of differences,” it said. “NTIA should develop a standard test process for occupancy measurements to include mechanisms for building consensus with stakeholders in the test plan, metrology, measurements, and findings.”

There is also a need to “[i]nvestigate the emitter beaconing technologies to assist in spectrum occupancy and/or interference measurements,” the subcommittee suggested. In addition, “NTIA should complete [a] measurement architecture spreadsheet in order to map measurement needs to methodologies and architectures.”

NTIA also “should investigate the use of proper monitoring architectures that match the types of emissions and sharing mechanisms,” it said. “The focus should be to develop technical criteria so that the measurements have a high detection probability.”

Also, “NTIA (and FCC) [should] investigate methodologies for either comprehensive measurement-based equipment certification or a combination of technical feature existence and partial equipment tests.”

The spectrum access system (SAS)/spectrum database international extension subcommittee said that “NTIA should establish spectrum priorities for collaborative dynamic sharing internationally – what are the systems that would be good to share and share sooner than later” and “should study and develop (guide) policies on” these issues: (1) “[p]rivacy and security for international sharing by federal users,” (2) “[m]ethods or mechanisms by which spectrum sharing capability could be provided directly to another countries to facilitate sharing,” and (3) “[e]xport of spectrum sharing technology.”

NTIA also “should expand efforts to [engage] internationally to best represent US interests,” including through discussions with counterparts in other parts of the world and work in standards bodies, according to the subcommittee.

NTIA also “should develop a policy to facilitate the disclosure waveforms and waveform parameters to facilitate spectrum sharing” and “should become more cognizant of shared spectrum R&D programs and work to disseminate information to government and the international community,” the subcommittee said.

The presentation from the 5G exploration subcommittee said that initial draft recommendations deal with deployment scenarios, frequencies, probability aspects, and the next generation of federal systems.

Tom Dombrowsky, senior engineering adviser for Wiley Rein LLP, presented a very brief oral report on the work of the agency and industry collaboration subcommittee. “We’re not seeing a lot of regulatory changes that are needed,” he said. The subcommittee’s focus is on enabling security clearances to allow the sharing of classified or other sensitive information, he said. That was a difficulty during negotiations to free up the AWS-3 spectrum for auction, he noted.- Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily