Radio Spectrum Management

Policies, Regulations and Techniques

Haim Mazar (Madjar)

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781118511794
• eBook ISBN: 9781119120858
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Waves & Wave Mechanics

This book presents the fundamentals of wireless communications and services, explaining in detail what RF spectrum management is, why it is important, which are the authorities regulating the use of spectrum, and how is it managed and enforced at the international, regional and national levels. The book offers insights to the engineering, regulatory, economic, legal, management policy-making aspects involved. Real-world case studies are presented to depict the various approaches in different countries, and valuable lessons are drawn. The topics are addressed by engineers, advocates and economists employed by national and international spectrum regulators. The book is a tool that will allow the international regional and national regulators to better manage the RF spectrum, and will help operators and suppliers of wireless communications to better understand their regulators.

1
The Radio Frequency Spectrum and Wireless Communications

1.1 Historical Overview

Between 1864 and 1873, James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1894), a Scottish theoretical physicist, demonstrated that four relatively simple equations could fully describe electric and magnetic fields and their interaction. He described how charges and currents can produce an electromagnetic radio wave. In 1887, in the research laboratory of a young German physicist, Heinrich Hertz, the first radio transmitter began working briefly over a range of just a few meters. Alexander Popov (1859–1906) demonstrated his instrument for the detection and recording of electrical oscillations on May 7, 1895. In the spring of the same year, Guglielmo Marconi (1874–1937) took his wireless experiments outdoors and soon discovered that an intervening hill was no barrier to the reception of electromagnetic waves. According to the ITU Statistics (ITU 2015), in December 2014, there are more than 7 Billion mobile‐cellular telephone subscriptions in the 228 ITU Member States; this is equivalent to 100% of the world’s population.

The Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum is a natural resource; however, it is commonly agreed that wireless telecommunications need regulation at national, regional and global levels. The first sentence of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Constitution (ITU 2011) fully recognizes “the sovereign right of each State to regulate its telecommunication.” The sovereign right of states to act independently within their territory is enshrined in general international law. RF is a national limited resource, much like water, land, gas, and minerals. Like these, it is scarce; however, the RF is renewable and not nearing exhaustion. It requires optimal use; if we do not use the RF spectrum in real time, this is an economic waste of a national resource. The RF is an ethereal medium, carrying wireless e‐communications: a networked service of general economic interest (similar to transport, gas, and electricity). RF regulation is nationally important in theory, policy, and practice. Technological advances, innovation, penetration of new technologies, economic and military power are all directly connected to wireless regulation. The radio frequencies serve as a lever to raise the economic and social conditions of society.

The RF ether is not related to any cultural factor per se: history, tradition, language, religion, or legal origin. RF is perceived as a technical rather than a cultural factor, in contrast to currency, legislation, taxes or left‐hand driving issues. In RF allocation, the common denominator among countries may be the dominant factor. For this reason the RF standards can be harmonized more easily (unlike, e.g., foreign affairs), and the national RF allocation chart can be copied without alteration, from country to country (if these countries are located in the same ITU region). Lessons, ideas, and technologies cross the ocean easily, as RF is the same worldwide, it exists everywhere, it serves all nations, and it deserves to be used rationally, for worthwhile applications, such as saving lives, emergencies, navigation, smart sustainable cities, multicultural broadcasting, health, education, agriculture, science, research, meteorology, astronomy, the environment, urban and rural planning, and basic human welfare.

The RF spectrum is located in the public domain of a nation, so the State authority must manage it efficiently, for the greatest benefit of the entire population. RF spectrum management takes place within a regulatory framework comprised of engineering, and the main departments in the government regulating the economy and legislation. Authorized spectrum users enjoy the benefits of the RF license and its associated obligations to access the spectrum.

1.2 A General Communication Channel

The definition of telecommunication given in the ITU Constitution is: “any transmission, emission or reception of signs, signals, writings, images and sounds or intelligence of any nature by wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic systems.” Figure 1.1 schematically depicts a general communication channel (Shannon, 1949, p. 2). There are two kinds of media: wired (the transmitter is linked to the receiver via a cable) or wireless (the transmitter is linked to the receiver via electromagnetic waves). This book discusses the wireless medium. Most vital industry and military sectors are based on access to radio frequencies: mobile communications, audio and television broadcasting, satellites, radiolocation, transportation, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Figure 1.1 Shannon’s schematic diagram of a general communication

1.3 Radio Frequency Bands

Based on ITU Radio Regulations (ITU 2012), No. 2.1 (Article 2, provision 1), Table 1.1 specifies the symbols of the radio frequency bands.

Table 1.1 RF spectrum frequency bands

Band number	Symbols	Frequency range	Metric subdivision
4	VLF	3–30 kHz	Myriametric waves...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• About the Author
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Acronyms and Abbreviations
• 1 The Radio Frequency Spectrum and Wireless Communications
• 2 The Main Regulated Radio Services
• 3 Short Range Devices and the License‐Exempt RF Spectrum
• 4 Policies, Legal and Economic Frameworks to Manage the RF Spectrum
• 5 RF Engineering and the Link Budget
• 6 International RF Spectrum Management and Standardization
• 7 Regional RF Spectrum Management
• 8 National Spectrum Management
• 9 Limitations to Radio Frequency Human Exposure
• Index
• End User License Agreement