FCC lobbied for 27MHz Allocation...

mjgolli writes "The 27MHz band, or 27MHz of bandwidth. The article is unclear...



Coalition Lobbies FCC For 'TDD' Spectrum Allocation 06/25/01





SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A. 2001 JUN 25 (NB) --
By Michael Bartlett, Newsbytes.


The U.S. risks falling behind the rest of the world in the telecommunications technology race, according to a recently formed coalition of companies devoted to the development of time division duplex (TDD) technology.




ArrayComm Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based wireless communications company, helped found the "TDD Coalition" about three months ago. ArrayComm's CEO, Martin Cooper, earned the nickname "father of the cellular phone" while at Motorola during the 1970s when he led the team that invented the device.



Other founding members of the TDD Coalition include Aperto Networks, BeamReach Networks, CALY Networks, Clearwire, Harris Corp., IPWireless, LinkAir, Malibu Networks, Radiant Networks, Raze Technologies and Wavion. The goal of the coalition is to lobby the FCC to allocate spectrum for use by TDD networks.



According to the TDD Coalition, the Federal Communications Commission currently auctions spectrum for use with the frequency duplex division (FDD) protocol for use with conventional cellular telephone systems. FDD features a pair of transmitters, one that transmits on one frequency band, and another that receives on another frequency band. These bands must be "paired" about 40 to 50 megahertz apart in order to work correctly.



TDD, on the other hand, transmits and receives signals over the same frequency band.



Dr. Nitin Shah, ArrayComm's executive vice president, said FDD is ideal for voice, but TDD is better suited for data or packet data services such as browsing the Internet via a mobile phone.



"FDD needs two different bands not far apart from each other," Shah said. "If one band is available and the other is not, it is more difficult. Unpaired bands are simpler to find and allocate because you do not need a natural pair nearby."



If you try to browse the Internet using an FDD phone, the receiving bandwidth is taken up, but the transmission bandwidth hardly is used, Shah said.



"With TDD, it allows traffic to go up and down from the network like a game of ping-pong," he said. "In the case of downloading data from the Internet, there would be more ping than pong, but you can adjust the traffic in each direction."



Shah said Asia, Europe and Australia are ahead of the U.S. because allocation of spectrum suited to TDD has already been allocated and auctioned to providers. He said this has not yet happened in the U.S.



"We believe the FCC recognizes the benefits of TDD systems. Certainly now is the time to take the opportunity to allocate spectrum in the U.S. that is analogous in format to the rest of the world," he said. "It is important to make sure this innovative technology is deployed in the U.S., not just in other areas."



According to Shah, Australia has allocated 20 megahertz to TDD in the last six months, and many countries in Asia have TDD systems already in commercial service. In Europe, he said, allocation varies by country. But almost every country with global system for mobile communications standards has allocated spectrum for next-generation mobile devices, including spectrum with TDD characteristics.



"In the U.S., no spectrum has been allocated for TDD," Shah added.



Shah said an allocation of 27 megahertz in the U.S. is under consideration by the FCC. He said ArrayComm has made a formal request to the FCC that some of this spectrum be allocated for the TDD format.



Shah recently was named to the FCC's Technological Advisory Council, a Federal Advisory Committee comprised of technologists and chaired by Dr. Robert Lucky, corporate vice president, Telcordia Technologies.



In an effort to advance its cause, the TDD Coalition named Ambassador Bradley Holmes treasurer of the group and opened an office in Washington, D.C. Shah praised Holmes, who served at the FCC under the previous Bush administration, as someone who, "understands the telecom industry as a whole, throughout the world."



The TDD Coalition said that the FCC must change the auction rules to include both FDD and TDD if it means to bring the widest range of technologies to the market.



"We want to evangelize allocation of spectrum. We are advocating the FCC to give TDD at least an equal role on future spectrum allocation," he said.



More information on the TDD Coalition is available on the Web at http://www.tddcoalition.org .



ArrayComm is at http://www.arraycomm.com.<BR Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com"