Wi-Fi on Steriods
Google’s Larry Page spoke at a recent New American Foundation event, calling for “Wi-Fi on steroids” for the TV White Spaces. Every time I hear this, I cannot help but think, “Oh great, a radio that is hyper-aggressive, muscle-bound, and impotent. Why would I want such a technology?!” All joking aside, I approve the sentiment, but a little more careful analysis is need.There is here a unique window of opportunity to allow new uses of the TV spectrum which is currently inefficiently used. For the past 9 decades, the FCC has regulated high power uses of the radio spectrum, such as broadcasting. The FCC has also for the past 7 decades permitted low power uses, with increasing success. The TV White Space presents the opportunity to permit medium power uses of the spectrum - something between Wi-Fi and TV. However, neither the high-power of low-power paradigms seems to fit. Licensed approaches typically allocate use to a single entity which makes decisions about use. As a result, much remains unused at any given time. The rules created are hard to change and do not afford much flexibility in terms of decisions regarding use by the licensee. In contrast, unlicensed approaches strictly limit the radio energy which a device can radiate into the ether. By controlling the emissions, the rules limit the possibility of harmful interference. These rules create a much more flexible set of permission, but due to the stringent power limitations ranges of the radio devices can be extremely short. What is needed is a new form of coordinating spectrum uses for medium power applications, which holds the benefits of both approaches while minimizing the potential downsides.
Insight: Fortunately, some of the FCC’s best and brightest have been working this issue. In a previous Cool Stuff, I wrote about my FCC Working Paper, which lays out ideas for the implementation of economic congestion etiquettes which would allocate spectrum use in real time to its highest monetary value uses. This approach could significantly improve the value society receives from the use of the radio spectrum, without the need for dangerous pharmaceuticals.
Tags: , Part 15, Spectrum, TV White Spaces, unlicensed, Wi-Fi