ITU pursues best practices for cognitive radio, TV white space

A study group within the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is slated to deliver a report by mid-year regarding best practices in spectrum management for cognitive radio systems, which will be key to opening up TV white space (TVWS) spectrum in markets worldwide.

ITU-R Study Group 1, responsible for spectrum management studies, will release the report. The group's progress was revealed by the ITU in an announcement following a workshop held last week in Geneva, which addressed international and national regulations as well as best practices for the development of TVWS using cognitive radio systems.

The workshop was attended by regulators, operators, manufacturers and research institutions. The ITU said it "supports the use of spectrum through sharing arrangements with existing services to promote more efficient use of spectrum while protecting other services." In addition to ITU-R Study Group 1, two other study groups--5 and 6--are working on best practices guidelines, upon which telecom regulators in each country will depend.

The development of cognitive radio systems, including TVWS, was left in the hands of national regulators after the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2012 (WRC-12) concluded that the current international regulatory framework can accommodate cognitive radio systems without being changed.

Workshop attendees said best practices should address coordination of geolocation databases in border areas; coexistence between licensed and unlicensed uses in the same spectrum; equipment type approval and market surveillance; and means of monitoring and resolving cases of harmful interference to licensed uses that could be caused by unlicensed ones.

"This workshop and future discussions on this issue in ITU will help in achieving a better understanding of what is to be expected for cognitive systems, such as those using TV white spaces, and assist ITU in studying and promoting best practices in this regard and enable cognitive radio systems to develop in a sustainable way, in harmony with other systems using the same spectrum," said Francois Rancy, director of the ITU's Radiocommunication Bureau.

For more:
- see this ITU release

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