RSGB responds to UWB
The Radio Society of Great Britain, the UK Microwave Group and
Amsat-UK have published a joint response to European plans to allocate
spectrum space to Ultra Wide Band (UWB), a wireless version of the
popular USB technology that is used to connect devices such as mice
and keyboards to computers.
UWB is unlike other radio technologies in that it generates short
pulses made up of lots of frequencies, rather than modulating a
signal on a particular carrier frequency. This approach, known as
carrier-free radio, allows massive amounts of information to be
transferred quickly.
However, there are serious concerns that the technology could threaten
the amateur microwave bands, especially if it were used outdoors
as an alternative to wireless network technologies like Wi-Fi.
In the response, the RSGB and its partners wrote:
“We recognise that UWB short-range links will have a useful
role and observe that UWB vendors are exerting considerable pressure
for UWB's adoption. We stress that UWB must fully comply with the
International Radio Regulations and that all such devices must operate
on a non-protected, non-interference basis.”
Under a draft ECC Decision, the European Union suggested that UWB
transmissions would principally be in the 3.1-10.6GHz range. This
range encompasses a number of amateur radio and amateur satellite
service bands, creating the possibility of interference.
The RSGB and its partners are therefore calling for the technology
to include masking to protect the amateur bands. “In order
to protect our services (notably in the 3.40-3.41GHz band) we urge
the adoption of the mask proposals without due concession to UWB
proponents,” they wrote in their response.
The RSGB and its partners are also worried that the ECC Draft Decision
has underestimated the amount of outdoor UWB usage that will take
place and have urged that “to avoid harmful interference,
it is important to minimise the outdoor activity of UWB”.
Despite such concerns, the RGSB, the UK Microwave Group and Amsat-UK
are largely supportive of the draft ECC Decision. “In general,
we applaud the draft decision and would urge its adoption subject
to reservations we have at 3.4GHz and outdoor usage
Source: GB2RS News - Courtesy of the
RSGB
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