Hiber wants a blanked license to operate up to 10,000 mobile earth station user terminals in conjunction with its planned 24-satellite non-voice non-geostationary constellation (see 1908160043). In an FCC International Bureau application Tuesday, it said the IoT user modems will be dormant 99 percent of the time, operating only when a satellite is overhead, and are designed to operate in the field for up to 10 years on a single battery. It said they will operate in the 399.9-400.05 MHz band for uplinks and the 400.15-401-MHz band for downlinks.
The FCC approved 5-0 an NPRM that proposes to reallocate the 5.9 GHz band for Wi-Fi and cellular vehicle to everything, while potentially preserving a sliver for dedicated short-range communications. All commissioners said DSRC has never lived up to its promise. None of the FCC officials mentioned a Transportation Department redline proposed edit of the draft notice, which Communications Daily first reported earlier last week. Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp said the FCC made no major changes to the draft and DOT concerns were addressed. The DOT letter wasn’t made part of the public record because it came as part of the interagency consultation process, he told us in Q&A. The Auto Alliance and Global Automakers slammed the NPRM, warning it "risks lives, slows innovation and runs counter to what the Commission has heard from safety and technical experts.” Wi-Fi is too congested, with more than 9 billion enabled devices in use, said Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. “Billions and billions of more devices are coming our way” with the IoT, she said. “We know that as much as 70 percent of 5G traffic will be offloaded to Wi-Fi.” Unlicensed spectrum is critical to 5G, said Commissioner Brendan Carr. “I am proud of the commission for getting ahead of this problem.” Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said better Wi-Fi is important for solving the digital divide. “As we continue to invest in and increase the performance of our gigabit broadband networks, the FCC’s decision to make the 5.9 GHz band available expeditiously will ensure that the Wi-Fi capacity our customers rely on will continue to match the capabilities of our world-class broadband networks,” said Tony Werner, Comcast Cable president-technology and product, Xperience. “By making a portion of this highly-valuable band available for unlicensed use after decades of under-utilization, today’s action sets the stage for innovations like ultra-fast, high capacity, multigigabit WiFi that will power connected classrooms, smart homes and remote healthcare,” said Charter Communications.
The increasing use of IoT technologies over the next few years creates new challenges for FCC oversight over RF measurement, Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp said during Wednesday's Practising Law Institute conference. Because the advanced technologies don't necessarily allow their batteries to be swapped out every few weeks as they run down, new RF safety issues must be addressed as IoT devices rely on wireless power transfer to recharge. It's very easy to track RF in cellphones through standardized measurements, he said. Newer IoT devices can focus energy into very small areas, "but you can't see it," so it's hard to know where to measure, Knapp told us. "If you can't see it, how many spots do you have to measure?" Knapp is retiring early next year (see 1911270055), and was heralded at the PLI conference Wednesday and with a standing ovation Tuesday at the FCBA Chairman's dinner (see 1912110042). An NPRM last week on RF has questions on wireless power transfer (see 1912040036), Knapp said. Advanced applications of wireless power transfer can provide charging from a transmitting unit to one or more receiving units at distances of a meter or more while the receiving unit is in motion, the NPRM said. It seeks comment on the proposed definition of wireless power transfer devices that transfer electromagnetic energy between a power transfer unit and receiving unit.
LG Electronics is working with innovation platform Plug and Play to bring innovative ideas to the internet of things, Plug and Play said Thursday. The goal is to help LG find global startups to facilitate testing and development of emerging technologies, it said.
Arrow Electronics said it’s supplying EnOcean’s energy-harvesting wireless technology worldwide with an initial focus on its own end-to-end IoT offering. The EnOcean portfolio enables self-powered wireless sensor technology for “maintenance-free” applications in smart homes, LED lighting control and other applications, said Arrow Thursday. The technology delivers data for IoT applications using energy harvested from motion, light or temperature differences to supply wireless sensor networks. EnOcean’s platform combines miniaturize energy converters, ultra-low-power electronics and radio technology using open standards; it has enabled more than a million projects globally, it said.
5G’s low latency will enable IoT uses requiring “near-instantaneous communications,” with the automotive market the largest consumer of IoT cellular modules by 2025, reported Strategy Analytics. 5G IoT module shipments will pass 4G’s in 2023, reaching 350 million annually by 2025, SA said Wednesday.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced a bill Monday to mandate Congress direct OMB “require cybersecurity training for federal employees.” The IoT Cybersecurity Training for Federal Employees Act would include training on risks of IoT devices, like appliances, smartwatches and cars.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology seeks comment by Nov. 1 on a draft document for IoT product security, said the agency Wednesday: “The report details open-source research, a hands-on review and a security features analysis of several commonly purchased IoT consumer home devices.”
BCE expanded reciprocal roaming with AT&T to give Canadian business customers access to AT&T's U.S. LTE-M network. “LTE-M supports low-power IoT applications with enhanced coverage, longer battery life and lower costs for IoT devices connecting to Bell's national network,” BCE said Thursday: “Bell LTE-M supports a broad range of large-scale IoT innovations, including asset tracking, fleet management, smart sensors, smart city applications.”
Silicon Labs and security company Allegion are working together on security-based IoT capabilities for smart homes and commercial buildings, they said Monday. Allegion is adding wireless capabilities based on Silicon Labs’ Wireless Gecko IoT portfolio to its locks, they said. Allegion worked with Silicon Labs to develop the Zigbee-certified Schlage Connect smart deadbolt, used to provide remote access for home deliveries via Key by Amazon and a compatible cloud-based camera system.