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	<title>Communications Insights: Trends and Cool Stuff &#187; unlicensed wireless devices</title>
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	<description>The Musings of an Expatriate in European Communications</description>
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		<title>Twenty-Five Years of Unlicensed Spread Spectrum</title>
		<link>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/05/twenty-five-years-of-unlicensed-spread-spectrum/</link>
		<comments>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/05/twenty-five-years-of-unlicensed-spread-spectrum/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 May 2010 19:33:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kenneth Carter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cool Stuff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Optimal Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wireless Communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FCC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Part 15]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spectrum policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unlicensed wireless devices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wi-Fi]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/?p=176</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today, the Wi-Fi Alliance and the Wireless Gigabit Alliance announced  an enhancement the current suite of 802.11 standards (Wi-Fi) which promises multi-gigabit wireless networking, in the 60 GHz frequency band.  However, I am not sure if the Wi-Fi Alliance or the Wireless Gigabit Alliance realize the auspiciousness of the occasion of their announcement.  The announcement comes twenty-five years and one day after the FCC adopted rules which permitted the operation of spread spectrum systems in the ISM bands (902-928 MHz, 2.4-2.48 GHz and 5.725-5.85 GHz).  This rule change enabled the commercial rise of Wi-Fi, as well as so many other products and technologies take for granted today, such as Bluetooth, cordless phones, and baby monitors.

The FCC took this decision on its own initiative, rather than relying on requests for rule changes from the industries it regulates.  In fact, many of the companies which initially opposed the rule change now earn millions of dollars of revenue from selling products that operate in these bands.  It never ceases to amaze me that a well-made decision can have exponential implications down the line.  Relying on the industry to tell the regulator can be helpful; however, this approach does not always serve the public interest.  In all instances, the regulator should exercise independent judgment.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/05/twenty-five-years-of-unlicensed-spread-spectrum/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Uncommon Unlicensed – A Licensed Commons</title>
		<link>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/03/the-uncommon-unlicensed-%e2%80%93-a-licensed-commons/</link>
		<comments>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/03/the-uncommon-unlicensed-%e2%80%93-a-licensed-commons/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kenneth Carter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Optimal Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TV White Spaces]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wireless Communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FCC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kevin Werbach]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Optimal level of regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Part 15]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spectrum policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unlicensed wireless devices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wi-Fi]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/?p=139</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There is a significant challenge to the successful opening up of the TV white spaces. Under the White Spaces order, any unlicensed device which will operate in the band has to query a database and obtain permission before it can start transmitting.  When a white spaces device has to query a database and obtain permission before it can operate, it is, by definition, no longer an unlicensed device.  Rather, the regime is a licensed commons.  This grant of permission is in fact a form of a license, albeit a light one.  

This fact is one of the reasons the unlicensed PCS was never successful.  For unlicensed PCS, the FCC created a regime under which unlicensed users had to get permission from a non-profit firm called UTAM before they could start using their unlicensed PCS devices.  In doing so, the FCC inadvertently delegated to UTAM the power to grant licenses.  

In order for the White Spaces Order to be successful must offer device manufacturer and device users more benefit than they could achieve by using the existing Part 15 rules.  Device manufacturers can make devices to operate under the less restrictive parts of the Part 15 rules (the U-NII and spread spectrum rules).  So, they never made any successful products for U-PCS.   The same will be true for the White Space rules.  In order for the White Space database system to work, it will have to offer greater flexibility, more power, wider tuning ranges, more suitable frequency bands, etc. than the current Part 15 rules allow.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>9</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Wi-Fi? Wi-Not?</title>
		<link>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/02/wi-fi-wi-not/</link>
		<comments>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2010/02/wi-fi-wi-not/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:59:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kenneth Carter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Broadband]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cool Stuff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wireless Communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FCC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Part 15]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spectrum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TV White Spaces]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unlicensed wireless devices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wi-Fi]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/?p=135</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the past several weeks, there have been several news articles and blog posts about congested mobile wireless networks and using Wi-Fi to alleviate that congestion.  This is a good idea; however, it is not a new one.  At a conference nearly eight years ago, I suggested that wireless carriers consider incorporating Wi-Fi into their networks.  Complementing existing 3G networks with Wi-Fi would increase carrier profitability. ]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Next Generation Spectrum Regulation</title>
		<link>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2009/12/next-generation-spectrum-regulation/</link>
		<comments>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2009/12/next-generation-spectrum-regulation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:03:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kenneth Carter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Broadband]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cool Stuff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wireless Communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[next generation spectrum policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Optimal level of regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Really Cool Stuff!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spectrum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spectrum policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unlicensed wireless devices]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/?p=122</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I have just completed a major study on next generation spectrum regulation which can serve as the basis for removing certain barriers to spectrum access, allowing more effective sharing and efficient allocations.  I can think of no reason why a properly designed auction could not determine not only who gets the spectrum rights, but what those rights are.

You cannot see, touch, taste, smell, or hear radio spectrum.  Spectrum is not a thing; it is an idea – a legal and engineering construct that explains a physical phenomenon and helps us arrange our behavior accordingly.  That fundamental physical phenomenon is the fact that when electromagnetic waves are: (1) harmonic in frequency; (2) incident in time; and (3) alight on the same reception device, the ability of those waves to be used as information carriers is degraded.  This deleterious effect is known to us as interference.  Without some form of intervention, it is impossible to exclude or limit the use of a common resource such as spectrum. Without exclusion, users consume the spectrum without regard to fact that their usage causes the deleterious effect of interference for other would-be users.  Policies which help to mitigate inference with the least amount of effort will be the most socially beneficial.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>TV White Spaces and the Tragedy of the Commons</title>
		<link>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2008/07/tv-white-spaces-and-the-tragedy-of-the-commons/</link>
		<comments>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2008/07/tv-white-spaces-and-the-tragedy-of-the-commons/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:34:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kenneth Carter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Broadband]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cool Stuff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TV White Spaces]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wireless Communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FCC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spectrum policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unlicensed wireless devices]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2008/07/tv-white-spaces-and-the-tragedy-of-the-commons/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For more than nine decades, lawyers, engineers, and economists have argued that radio spectrum regulation is needed due to the fact that without some form of intervention, it is impossible to exclude or limit the use of a common resource such as spectrum.  Without exclusion, users consume the spectrum without regard to their usage&#8217;s impact [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2008/07/tv-white-spaces-and-the-tragedy-of-the-commons/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>White Space and Gray Matter</title>
		<link>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2008/02/white-space-and-gray-matter/</link>
		<comments>http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/2008/02/white-space-and-gray-matter/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:06:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kenneth Carter</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Broadband]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TV White Spaces]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wireless Communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congressman Jerrold Nadler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FCC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Part 15]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spectrum policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unlicensed wireless devices]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kennethrcarter.com/CoolStuff/?p=8</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Congressman Jerrold Nadler recently published an Op-Ed in the New York Times. His analysis is so off-the-mark, I felt compelled to respond. I want to begin with some terminology. He describes the White Spaces as being the &#8220;intervals between television channel frequencies.&#8221; This could mean the geographic separation between grade contours, the guard bands, or [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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