While the Federal Communications Commission moves ahead with planning for
the upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction, the White Space Coalition has
submitted a second prototype white space wireless broadband device to the
FCC for testing. White space devices could use the so-called white space in
the current analog television spectrum (2MHz to 698MHz) to deliver wireless
broadband service. Former FCC chief engineer Edmond Thomas (and current
technology policy advisor for the law firm of Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis,
which is representing the Coalition) told Ars that he believes white space
broadband could deliver download speeds of up to 80Mbps, which would make
it extremely competitive with fiber-to-the-premises solutions like
Verizon's FiOS networks.

The newest white space prototype is manufactured by Philips Electronics of
North America and consists of a TV tuner, a digital processing board, and a
PC which provides the UI, control, and signal processing. It's
proof-of-concept hardware intended to demonstrate that it's possible to
sense the presence of TV signals and transmit wireless IP data in a way
that does not interfere with TV. According to an FCC filing seen by Ars
Technica, the new prototype is capable of picking up analog and digital
television signals as well as wireless microphone signals (which operate in
the same part of the spectrum). It works similarly to the
Microsoft-manufactured spectrum sensing device submitted earlier this year.
Microsoft also submitted a transmission device to the FCC for testing which
will be used to show that white space broadband transmissions won't
interfere with TV signals.


There are a few screenshots in the FCC submission, one of which is
reproduced above. It's quite simple: the user selects a type of signal to
scan for, and the application shows the results. If the sensing module
picks up television transmission on a particular channel, then that part of
the spectrum will not be used for white spaces broadband in that particular
area.

The goal of the White Space Coalition is simple: take advantage of unused
television spectrum to provide wireless broadband. Although analog
television transmissions will cease in February 2009, digital TV signals
will continue to use the spectrum between 2MHz and 698MHz. That is a highly
desirable chunk of spectrum because the signals can easily pass through
walls and other solid objects, giving them a much greater reach than WiFi
or even WiMAX, both of which operate in higher frequency bands.

Television broadcasters have vigorously opposed the usage of the white
spaces, citing fears that wireless broadband will interfere with TV
signals. The current round of FCC testing is designed to ensure that the
prototype white space broadband devices don't cause any interference
problems at all. "Like the personal/portable prototype devices previously
submitted by Microsoft on the Coalition's behalf, the Philips prototype is
designed to demonstrate that operating parameters set forth by the
Coalition... will provide incumbent licensees in the television bands with
the interference protection to which they are entitled," reads the FCC
filing.

The White Space Coalition is comprised of Dell, EarthLink, Google, HP,
Intel, Microsoft, and Philips Electronics. The FCC should conclude its
testing of the white space broadband prototypes in July and the first rules
governing the use of the spectrum by wireless broadband devices should be
released in October 2007. Once that happens, the IEEE will likely begin the
work of standardizing the tech. If all goes as planned, white space
broadband service could begin in the US as soon as February 2009.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...ed-to-fcc.html