Institute for Telecommunication Sciences

This year’s International Symposium on Advanced Radio Technology (ISART) conference will take place Aug. 11-13 in Boulder, Colorado. The conference will focus on what a “zero trust” network environment means from a 5G perspective. The symposium, which is co-sponsored by NTIA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, will include panel discussions, presentations, tutorials, and demonstrations from subject matter experts from U.S. and international organizations. Visit the ISART website for more information.

Every initiative to expand spectrum use and efficiency relies on predictions of how far a wireless signal will travel, or propagate, before interfering with another user or fading away. Unlocking the full potential of spectrum resources requires a deep understanding of radio wave behavior, and accurate propagation models, so that systems can be designed to coexist in a crowded environment.

High-precision measurements are key to creating and validating radio propagation models. NTIA’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) and its predecessors have been collecting measurement data for more than a century, creating a unique expertise in measurement science and techniques. Last year, NTIA released a technical memorandum on “Best Practices for Radio Propagation Measurements.”

On Thursday, NTIA’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) released final test reports to commercial entities that participated in spectrum sharing testing on a model that would allow commercial and military use in the 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band. The completed tests will drive progress toward initial commercial deployments in the band, prized for its excellent mix of capacity and coverage capabilities. With 4G LTE technology for the band available today, industry has already begun to develop specifications to support 5G deployments.

NTIA’s ITS oversaw rigorous testing, which included using a wide variety of scenarios and situations to test a Spectrum Access System’s (SAS) ability to manage CBRS devices while protecting incumbent federal and commercial operations in the 3.5 GHz band. The Federal Communications Commission anticipates relying on the test reports to certify that a SAS is complying with its rules.

Last year, ITS conducted the certification testing on Environmental Sensing Capability sensors for the CBRS band. The ESC sensors are intended to work with the SASs to enable dynamic sharing and were certified by the FCC in late April 2019. The completion of both the SAS and the ESC testing continues a 100-year tradition of ITS performing independent research and engineering in telecommunications to advance efficient spectrum use.