CBRS

Google filed a report card on lab certification testing done on its citizens broadband radio service spectrum access system by the Commerce Department’s Institute for Telecommunications Sciences. The filing posted Thursday in FCC docket 15-319 asked that all the data be treated as confidential. It "constitutes highly sensitive commercial information that falls within Exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act," Google said: "Certain portions of the confidential information also implicate operational security concerns for the U.S. Navy."

NTIA highlighted work to make open the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band, and wrapped up lab tests of spectrum access system vendors this week. It said the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences turns "to crafting test reports with a target of providing them to the vendors in June for their submission to the FCC.” This week, working with NTIA, the FCC cleared environmental sensing capability providers (see 1904300208). “These milestones give momentum to development of the 3.5 GHz band, which affords an excellent mix of capacity and coverage capabilities, defining characteristics of mid-band spectrum,” NTIA said Wednesday. Its Office of Spectrum Management and ITS worked together, the agency said: “From shrinking exclusion zones into smaller protection zones to designing the concept of dynamic protection areas to assisting the FCC in certifying the components of the spectrum sharing mechanism, it has been a long, complex process, but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.” Each radar detector had "to see thousands of low-power radar pulses successfully," blogged ITS Director Keith Gremban. "Detectors also had to keep functioning in the presence of high-power radar pulses that were equivalent to what you would see if you were just 6 miles from a radar transmitting a billion watts.”

Ruckus Wireless received special temporary authority from the Office of Engineering and Technology to test citizens broadband radio service technology “prior to full FCC certification.” The tests will be in Sunnyvale, California, through Nov. 1. Sony, which hopes to be a spectrum access system operator in the band, also got OET permission to do tests of its systems in San Jose through Nov. 30.

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said at a Citizens Broadband Radio Service Alliance meeting Tuesday the 3.5 GHz band will likely be the first mid-band spectrum to come online for 5G, next year. “Left on the Commission’s plate to get CBRS fully operational is concluding the review and approval of the Spectrum Access Systems, or SAS, and Environmental Sensing Capability systems, commonly referred to as the ESC,” O’Rielly said. “I have been working with the leadership of the CBRS Alliance to help make sure this process stays on track. While some steps experienced unfortunate delays and this process has taken far longer than anyone would have liked, it appears to be nearing the end.” The FCC this week approved the first ESCs, he said. “I must admit that I never expected it to leapfrog ahead of the SAS testing and development process,” he said: “Unfortunately, the SAS testing is still in progress.” Monday, staff OK'd environmental sensing capabilities of CommScope, Federated Wireless and Google in the 3550-3650 MHz portion of the 3550-3700 MHz band. "These ESCs may operate in areas covered by registered and approved ESC sensors subject to ... compliance obligations," said the public notice.

There has been “significant progress” in the 3.5 GHz citizen broadband radio service, Federated Wireless said in a meeting with FCC Public Safety Bureau staff. Commercial deployment is “imminent” with “full commercial activities to follow,” Federated said in docket 07-100. The company discussed “potential benefits for protection of incumbents, increased spectrum access, and reduced equipment costs that dynamic sharing could bring to the 4.9 GHz band,” Monday's filing said.

Charter Communications plans a series of citizens broadband radio service-based LTE fixed wireless access network tests around central North Carolina, according to an FCC Office of Engineering and Technology experimental license grant given Monday. Charter said it plans to evaluate such issues as throughput and capacity, data latency and customer acceptability for the upper C-band network using fixed locations and customer premise equipment installed at trial participant homes.

Verizon received special temporary authority from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology to test devices that use the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband service band in Utica, New York. The carrier said in an accompanying document it plans tests in various locations there. The authorization runs March 15-Sept. 14. “Field tests will be conducted in a production network, in a highly controlled field environment, in order to assist in the development of commercial products,” the company said. “The testing will benefit the public interest by enabling the pre-commercial testing of new products outside of a lab environment but in a controlled and managed manner.”

The CBRS Alliance and Small Cell Forum agreed to “cooperate closely” on the citizens broadband radio service band rollout, on a "variety of initiatives related to the wide-scale adoption of small cells, network densification, and the development, commercialization and adoption of OnGo-certified solutions,” they said Wednesday. Collaboration areas “include investigating multi-operator solutions in the 3.5 GHz band, defining indoor solution architectures for densification, and exploring the international opportunity for Spectrum Access System-coordinated shared spectrum.”

The Citizens Broadband Radio Service Alliance is adding members like the Wireless ISP Association, working with ATIS, and released a certification tool developed with Radisys, the CBRS alliance said Monday. “Now with more than 120 members, the Alliance is seeing a new set of organizations beginning to engage in the OnGo ecosystem,” it said. Cisco Wireless Chief Technology Officer Matthew MacPherson joined the alliance’s board, the group said.

The 3.5 GHz band citizens broadband radio service band potentially will give businesses a bigger role in shaping how wireless is used, said wireless adviser firm Senza Fili. The band could be the future of sharing, the report said. “Even heavily trafficked licensed cellular and unlicensed bands are not used at capacity throughout the footprint and throughout the day, especially as we move from high-density urban locations toward rural areas,” it said. “Even new technologies such as 5G and Wi-Fi 6 cannot keep up with the increase in traffic, from both human users and IoT applications, without access to new spectrum or better spectrum reuse. And this is where spectrum sharing and densification play a major role.” A Google panelist sought such sharing earlier this week (see 1901150043).