Long before this came up, Ed Thomas at OET told President Haynie and me about it, and said he sure hoped that ARRL could support this item. He didn't say anything about the high power part 15 devices in rural areas though.... more when we see the text....

73, Chris W3KD



Washington, D.C.

December 17, 2003


In light of the ever increasing demand for radio spectrum, and to facilitate
new technologies and services and permit more intensive and efficient
spectrum use, the Federal Communications Commission today adopted a Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice) and Order -- FCC 03-322 -- that sets forth
proposals and seeks comment on the use and applications for cognitive
“smart” radio systems.  The Commission’s proposals would provide additional
technical and operational flexibility for service providers, particularly in
rural and underserved areas, and also offer the potential for facilitating
increased interoperability for public safety first responders.  As a result,
consumers may benefit from new and enhanced services.

Smart radios have the technical capability to adapt their use of spectrum in
response to information external to the radio.  For instance, a system could
use geolocation information to determine whether certain transmissions are
permissible.  Alternatively, such radios could sense their operating or
radiofrequency (RF) environment and use this information to determine the
optimal frequencies and transmit powers to use, while avoiding harmful
interference.  Many smart radios also can interpret and transmit signals in
different formats or modulation schemes.  Because of their technical and
operational flexibility, they also make it possible to use vacant spectrum
channels – that is, spectrum that may be available in a particular
geographic location or during a particular period of time – spectrum that
would otherwise go unused.

Certain smart radio capabilities are employed to some extent today in
applications such as commercial mobile wireless services and wireless local
area networks (WLANs).  Further advancements in the technology promise
greater future benefits.

The Notice seeks comment on the ways in which the Commission can encourage
and remove regulatory impediments to continued development and deployment of
smart radio technologies, including, for example, facilitating the ability
of licensed spectrum users to deploy them for their own use to increase
spectrum efficiency, and to facilitate secondary markets, allowing licensees
to lease their spectrum access to third parties using such technologies.
The Notice also seeks comment on ways in which smart radios can facilitate
opportunistic use of the spectrum by unlicensed devices, while protecting
incumbents from harmful interference.

In addition, the Notice seeks comment on rules permitting additional
technical flexibility, including allowing unlicensed devices in limited
bands to use higher transmit powers in rural and underserved areas.  This
would potentially reduce network infrastructure costs, facilitating
broadband and other services in these areas.  The Notice also seeks comment
on a specific technical approach that would provide licensees with the
ability to retain real-time access to spectrum they lease to third parties,
such as public safety entities, if the Commission decides to permit such
leasing.  Also, the Notice seeks comment on how smart radios could
facilitate public safety interoperability.  Specifically, because of their
frequency agility, smart radios may potentially be used as a communications
bridge between two different radio services – effectively translating the
signals from one service into the format and frequency of another.  This
could enhance the ability of different public safety entities to communicate
with one another in the event of an emergency.

The Notice also seeks comment on specific applications for smart radios,
such as mesh networks and real-time frequency coordination between NGSO
satellite and other services.  Further, the Notice proposes changes to the
Commission’s equipment authorization processes to better accommodate
software-defined radios and smart radio systems.

Action by the Commission December 17, 2003, by Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
and Order (FCC 03-322).  Chairman Powell, Commissioners Abernathy, Copps,
Martin, and Adelstein, with separate statements issued by Chairman Powell,
Commissioners Copps, Martin, and Adelstein.

Office of Engineering and Technology contact:  Mr. Hugh L. Van Tuyl, (202)
418-7506, e-mail Hugh.VanTuyl@fcc.gov or Mr. James Miller, (202) 418-7351,
e-mail James.Miller@fcc.gov.