A Florida resident has been issued a monetary forfeiture order for $22,000 by the FCC, for operating an unlicensed radio station out of her home and refusing to allow it’s inspection by field officers.
Read the monetary forfeiture at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-11-1266A1.pdf
Friday, August 5, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Spectrum Sharing agreements with Canada and Mexico, announced by the FCC
The FCC reached agreements with Canada and Mexico for sharing commercial wireless broadband spectrum in the 700MHz band along the respective boarders, additionally, an arrangement has been made with Canada for sharing spectrum in the 800MHz band.
The goal of these arrangements is to further the deployment of commercial wireless broadband services near the boarder, with an aim to providing consumers additional options for 4G high speed mobile broadband access in these areas.
The arrangements made with respect to the 800MHz band on the northern boarder are inline with the 800MHz rebanding efforts by U.S. public safety and ESMR (Enhanced Specialized Mobile Radio) i.e. Nextel. Specifically the allotment of channels between the US and Canada, technical operational parameters within 87 miles of the boarder, and setting the schedule for transitioning facilities from US channels to complete the rebanding along the U.S.-Canadian border.
Read the FCC Press release at http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0801/DOC-308822A1.pdf
By: J Klinger
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Microsoft is designated a TV bands database admin, follows Google
Microsoft Corporation received conditional designation by the FCC as a TV bands database administrator. Microsoft joins Google and 8 others, Comsearch, Frequency Finder Inc., KB Enterprises LLC and LS Telcom, Key Bridge Global LLC, Neustar Inc., Spectrum Bridge Inc., Telcordia Technologies, and WSdb LLC. This brings the list of available administrators to 10 in total.
The TV bands, or television “white spaces” are the unused portions of the broadcast television spectrum, freed by the transition to digital TV. Availability within the spectrum varies with geographical location; the TV bands database is used as a control and coordination measure for the bands. It is required that devices that would use this unlicensed spectrum would include a geo-location capability and access to the database, containing frequencies off limits for use in that area, enabling devices to communicate without interfering with incumbent users.
Manufacturers of devices are free to choose which database to use in their devices. Database administrators may charge fees for access to the database. In lieu of geo-location and database access, devices can employ hardware that listens to the band, called spectrum sensing, this requires approval by the FCC first, each application must be placed on public notice, and the FCC will conduct tests to evaluate performance prior to approval, which could result in a far more costly product.
Each approved database administrator must make their database available for a 5 year term. At this time all administrators are conditional and pending, the FCC will announce when and if any particular administrator is available for public use.
By: J Klinger
By: J Klinger
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Power Line Communication Limits and methods of measurement draft Part 1
Draft standard EN 50561-1 Power line communication apparatus used in low voltage installations up for public inquiry. The following links point to further information on this upcoming test specification.
---Correction 7/21/11
The standard has a +6 month date of announcement, a +12 month date of publication, and a +36 month date of withdrawal . The +36 month dow is subject to change during voting.
---
By: J Klinger
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Radio interference from LED lighting
Many regions have, or are adopting, rules aimed at reducing waste from lighting products, from toxic substances such as mercury, as well as overall power consumption reduction of lighting products. A growing trend around the globe is the general phase-out of incandescent bulbs.
While CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) are far more efficient in terms of power consumption than traditional incandescent lighting, like all fluorescent lights, they contain mercury, a toxic substance, thus complicating disposal and presenting an environmental hazard.
An alternative to CFL is LED lighting, or Light Emitting Diode. Newer LED technology has the benefit of much lower power consumption compared to traditional lighting, as well as the reduced environmental impact, and, compared to several years ago; they are becoming increasingly more affordable. It has been stated that more than 50% of our electricity consumption for lighting would be saved if the efficacy reached 200 lm/W (lumen per Watt). LED efficacy reached 100 lm/W in 2010, and continuing the trend, they will easily hit the 200 lm/W mark by 2020 as predicted. Some companies claim that they have already attained this level of efficacy.
However, although today’s LEDs are capable of long life, and delivering high light output levels with very little power consumption, most need to be paired with a drive circuit to provide constant current sourcing to operate in our homes and offices, and that’s where the problem comes in. These switching drive circuits operate at increasingly higher frequencies, and in order to maintain the highest efficiency, and highest LED longevity possible, they also need to maintain very high slew rates. These factors contribute to the overall unwanted emissions from each individual lighting element, increasing the Electromagnetic background noise.
Electromagnetic Interference or EMI mitigation inevitably increases the overall cost of products by adding additional components to a design, or requiring a more complicated and expensive design and layout, and for low price consumer electronics, with very small profit margins, every penny counts. As EMI mitigation is considered by some as an unnecessary expense, it is often overlooked or simply disregarded. Proper operation and safety concerns also make engineering a quiet design more difficult and expensive. So the cheaper LED lighting will potentially be the most problematic in terms of interference, but they will also be the preferred choice for the average consumer, and therefore the most prevalent.
Couple the added costs with the lack of regulatory enforcement and oversight governing the EMI of these devices and you can see the potential problem this poses. Most of the interference may be caused by very high frequency emissions, typically in the 30 – 300 MHz range, and possibly higher.
In the US, most products capable of causing interference that may be used in the home and office fall under FCC Part 15 rules governing the amount of unwanted electromagnetic energy that products can produce, both conducted on the power lines, and radiated from the products themselves, to prevent interference to radio receivers and for the overall protection of the radio spectrum. For most products, compliance with these rules however is primarily based on the honor system, and requires that manufacturers be knowledgeable in the application of the rules and proper test methods. Common misinterpretation of the rules, may lead manufacturers of LED lighting to address only the lower frequency conducted disturbance, or possibly to consider themselves exempt from the rules altogether. This may only be addressed by the FCC when problem reports become widespread.
Europe has addressed, and continues to monitor, some of these issues, with the amendment of standards covering lighting product emissions, such as EN 55015:2006, adding emission measurement requirements from 30-300MHz. Confusion may still exist on the proper application of the harmonized standards, possibly leading to improper evaluation of electromagnetic emissions, and it’s questionable if the frequency range is high enough to cover some products found on the market today.
In New Zealand, a report issued in the summer of 2010 warns of the potential interference that LED lighting products could pose, and urges reports of any interference problems to the Radio Spectrum Management.
As LED lighting products enjoy mass adoption, it is possible that mysterious failures of everyday things we have come to depend upon such as remote controllers, baby monitors, radio receivers, garage door openers, security systems, just to name a few, may be just around the corner. This doesn’t need to be the case however, as the problems are preventable with careful consideration and a desire to do so.
By: J Klinger
Friday, May 27, 2011
Do you mind turning off your RF device please?
According to a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) report issued May 6, 2011, “waiting for high level scientific and clinical proof that electromagnetic fields emanating from high frequency sources such as radar, telecommunications and mobile phones may lead to very high health and economic costs”.
PACE will be meeting in Kyiv on May 27th, and hold a debate, and intends to adopt a resolution on the issues raised in the report.
The report invokes heath concerns, in particular using examples of asbestos, lead, and tobacco, as mistakes made in the past when dealing with unknown health risks. The report also likens the potential consequences on the environment by electromagnetic fields with licensing of medication, chemicals, pesticides, heavy metals and genetically modified organisms.
The report recommends that an “as low as reasonably achievable” approach be adopted when setting standards or threshold values for emissions of electromagnetic fields of all types and frequencies. The report urges that particular attention should be given to protecting children, and “electrosensitive” persons suffering from a syndrome of intolerance to EM fields with a call to protect them from the unknown effects of electromagnetic waves by the creation of “Wave-free” areas not covered by wireless networks.
Mobile phones, DECT phones, WiFi, WLAN and WIMAX come under focus in the reports, with the call for microwave long-term exposure thresholds of not to exceed 0.6 v/m and in the medium term reduced to 0.2 v/m. The report also makes recommendations to; undertake risk-assessments prior to licensing new types of devices, calls for additional labeling and indications of health risks, produce warnings and recommendations to use a wired alternative due to the “unknown” dangers of electromagnetic fields..
The report proposes the ban of all mobile phones and wireless networking devices from schools and classrooms.
By: J Klinger
PACE will be meeting in Kyiv on May 27th, and hold a debate, and intends to adopt a resolution on the issues raised in the report.
The report invokes heath concerns, in particular using examples of asbestos, lead, and tobacco, as mistakes made in the past when dealing with unknown health risks. The report also likens the potential consequences on the environment by electromagnetic fields with licensing of medication, chemicals, pesticides, heavy metals and genetically modified organisms.
The report recommends that an “as low as reasonably achievable” approach be adopted when setting standards or threshold values for emissions of electromagnetic fields of all types and frequencies. The report urges that particular attention should be given to protecting children, and “electrosensitive” persons suffering from a syndrome of intolerance to EM fields with a call to protect them from the unknown effects of electromagnetic waves by the creation of “Wave-free” areas not covered by wireless networks.
Mobile phones, DECT phones, WiFi, WLAN and WIMAX come under focus in the reports, with the call for microwave long-term exposure thresholds of not to exceed 0.6 v/m and in the medium term reduced to 0.2 v/m. The report also makes recommendations to; undertake risk-assessments prior to licensing new types of devices, calls for additional labeling and indications of health risks, produce warnings and recommendations to use a wired alternative due to the “unknown” dangers of electromagnetic fields..
The report proposes the ban of all mobile phones and wireless networking devices from schools and classrooms.
By: J Klinger
US Mexico MRA
Image via Wikipedia
A new US-Mexico Telecom MRA was signed May 26th 2011, indicated in a press release from the United States Trade Representative.
The agreement is for the recognition of testing laboratories and acceptance of test reports. Mexico will only recognize 3rd party labs. The agreement does not cover recognition of certification bodies. The agreement includes a transition period. Seven accepted technical regulations (NOMS) are listed in Annex I of the MRA text.
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