Wireless Technology Prospects and Policy Options (2011) / Chapter Skim
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It has evolved to encompass a patchwork of legacy rules and more modern approaches that have been added over time. Although views vary considerably on whether the pace of reform has been commensurate with the need or opportunity, there have been a number of significant policy changes in recent decades to adjust to new technologies and to decrease reliance on centralized man agement.
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Moreover, some parties stand to gain by changing -- or advocating for change -- while others stand to gain by delay or retaining the status quo. FORWARD-LOOkING POLICY DIRECTIONS The Committee on Wireless Technology Prospects and Policy Options believes that, moving forward, the unambiguous goal for spectrum policy
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The likelihood of ongoing technological change also points to the value of establishing a more adaptive learning system for setting policy that would be better able to track and even anticipate advances in wireless technology and emerging ways of implementing and using wireless services. The sections that follow provide a brief description of key technology considerations and outline policy options, many enabled by new technol ogy, that will be useful in achieving the goal of increasing the supply of spectrum for enhanced or new services.
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The ability to leverage sustained improvements in the performance of digital logic also opens up opportunities to build radios that are much more flexible and adaptable. Such radios can change their operating frequency and modulation scheme, can sense and respond to their environment, and can operate cooperatively to create new opportunities to make more dynamic, shared, and independently coordinated use of spectrum.
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Persisting Technical Challenges Even as the capabilities and the performance of radios continue to improve, several hard technical problems can be expected to persist. These technical challenges -- discussed in more detail below in this report -- include power consumption, nonlinearity of radio components, support for nomadic operation and mobility, and coping with the heterogeneity of capabilities, including both legacy equipment and systems that are inherently constrained, such as embedded network sensors and scientific instruments that passively use spectrum (e.g., for remote Earth sensing and radio astronomy)
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A good deal of empty space exists in the spectrum; the chal lenge is to find ways of safely detecting and using it. ENABLERS OF A MORE NIMBLE, FORWARD-LOOkING SPECTRUM POLICY FRAMEWORk The committee identified the following approaches as enablers of a more nimble approach to spectrum policy.
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More over, there is a much larger space of alternatives, and commercial forces can help drive their evolution and selection provided that the regulatory structure is not overly rigid. This suggests adopting a policy framework that avoids detailed allocation of spectrum in favor of one that uses market mechanisms for spectrum allocation where they make sense and uses an openaccess mechanism in other instances.
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Advances in radio technology, however, make it possible to contemplate new ways of collecting data on spectrum use, such as by the deployment of net works of sensors and the incorporation of sensing capabilities in equip ment deployed for other purposes. Such capabilities would enhance the ability of regulators to enforce compliance with operating rules, and to more quickly assess conflicting claims about harmful interference and provide the data required to implement spectrum management schemes that depend on identifying unused spectrum.
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Test beds allow radio system architectures to be tested at scale, and access to facilities for integrated circuit design and fabrica tion makes it possible to build prototypes. FORWARD-LOOkING POLICY OPTIONS Consider "Open" as the Default Policy Regime at a Frequency Range of Approximately 20 to 100 GHz At frequencies of 20 to 100 GHz, the potential for legacy problems and for interference (in the classical sense)
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A key question is how best to establish incentives for such cooperation. Introduce Technological Capabilities That Enable More Sophisticated Spectrum Management The use of certain technologies, some of them emerging and some of them available but not widely deployed, would make it easier to intro duce new services into crowded frequency bands.
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Trade Near-Absolute Outcomes for Statistically Acceptable Outcomes Although statistical models have long been used in spectrum analy sis, the underlying conservative assumptions have emphasized avoidance of interference to an extent that has significantly affected efficient use of spectrum. An alternative is to relax constraints so as to normally (but not always)
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policies would not have to be homogeneous and could be adapted to local envi ronmental conditions such as signal density, (3) the operating rules of existing devices could be revised to accommodate new technology, and (4)
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Such a shift would also involve assessing tradeoffs between the more rapid introduction of services made possible in a decentralized regime and the significant capital investment made and efficiencies achieved, at least in some instances, under a centralized regime. Establish Enhanced Mechanisms for Dealing with Legacy Systems In recent years, notable efforts to deal with legacy systems have included relocating pointtopoint microwave services to allow deploy ment of personal communications service cellular telephony and the relo cation of Nextel cell services out of public safety bands.
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