Considerations regarding location-based spectrum sharing standardisation

Considerations regarding location-based spectrum sharing standardisation .

I am interested in starting a discussion on the topic of location-based spectrum sharing, and more specifically the set of requirements that might enable a standardisation of location-based spectrum sharing. Such a standardisation is intended to be technology neutral, or at least the set of requirements encapsulated in the standard should fit multiple families of technologies, and such a set of requirements might be implemented in different types of radio devices.

I believe that the Interface and interconnection equipment group is the appropriate place for this discussion.

I am adding here the introduction of my presentation of the location-based spectrum sharing standardisation.

Fast-paced technological evolution, and global penetration of radio devices in a large number of activity domains create radio spectrum scarcity requiring innovative solutions to be applied on the same global scale. Spectrum sharing is such a solution, coming in many shapes and forms for its implementation.

Location-based spectrum sharing is one of the possible options being examined by the radio-communications stakeholder community.

Spectrum management regulatory bodies and authorities have a duty to protect the radio spectrum users from interference. Under certain circumstances, specific users and technologies might be in need of a level of protection that makes the sharing of spectrum with other users in the same geographical location very difficult.

Currently, national regulators in any of the EU Member State (may and do) restrict the use of a frequency band in the entire country to protect specific radio services (e.g. railway communications). Thereby, even though a radio device is legally placed on the EU single market, in compliance with all applicable EU legal requirements, it might not be able to be used in all of the EU Member States due to locally enforced restrictions.

Therefore, standardising location-based spectrum management, with features allowing automatic control of the radio interface transmit function, will enable the use of spectrum by more radio devices with different technologies. Allowing the use of a frequency band by specific technologies only, in a well defined geographic area where such technologies must be protected, the efficiency of the spectrum usage is increased in the entire country, or area under regulatory control.

Currently however, there is a lack of trust - especially from the authorities, in a location-based use of frequencies by radio devices with different technologies. A harmonised standard including such a feature would imply that the trust of the authorities may gain legal standing and verifiable means.

This feature may contribute to opening new markets where the IoT radio devices are not allowed to use specific frequency bands in a whole country, due to requirements of protection of existing technologies.