NTIA Says FCC Should Look More Closely at Receiver Standards

The FCC should look closely at receiver standards as part of its notice of inquiry investigating dynamic spectrum access technologies, NTIA said in a letter to FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp. The letter was sent to the FCC in early March and was published by the commission Friday.

During a March 15 panel discussion, Knapp and former OET Chief Dale Hatfield discussed the potential benefits of receiver standards (CED March 16 p4). NAB flagged the comments in a letter to key lawmakers last week. The FCC last examined receiver standards in a notice of inquiry in 2003, which asked whether the agency should encourage or mandate receiver performance requirements. The proceeding was eventually terminated by the commission “without prejudice.”

NTIA urged an examination of interference protection criteria (IPC) in the letter to OET. “IPC is often a confusing, time-consuming process with no single reference from which to draw,” the agency said. “The FCC should seek comment on how the IPC values should be specified for incumbent receivers, and the specific IPC values to be used.” The FCC should ask questions including under what conditions it’s appropriate to model the interference from a dynamic spectrum access transmitter as appearing noiselike in an incumbent receiver, NTIA said. “Comments should also be sought on statistical approaches that are being developed to take into account interference from dynamic spectrum access devices that is not static, but varies in time (e.g., depending on the duration of time it takes the dynamic spectrum access device to detect the incumbent signals and evacuate the channel)."

The FCC should also examine interference scenarios, looking at the “interaction between potential source(s) of interference and a receiver,” NTIA said. NTIA encouraged the FCC to examine the best way to quantify interference. “There are benefits to employing statistical or Monte Carlo analysis techniques when assessing interference,” the letter said. “However, in bands where the safety-of-life or public safety systems operate, a more conservative deterministic approach must be employed.” The letter was signed by Karl Nebbia, NTIA

associate administrator.