ITU harmonizes 700 MHz for global mobile broadband
The International Telecommunications Union is wrapping up its month-long World Radiocommunications Conference in Geneva this week and has officially harmonized the use of 700 MHz spectrum for global mobile broadband use.
The ITU works on global spectrum issues and satellite orbits under the auspices of international treaty and has the world divided into three regions: Region 1 includes Africa, Europe, Russia and the former Soviet republics, and Arab states; Region 2 covers the Americas; and Region 3 is Asia-Pacific. The 694 MHz-790 MHz band had previously been allocated for mobile broadband in Regions 2 and 3 and is now officially set aside in Region 1 as well.
Some countries in Europe have already proceeded with the use of 700 MHz for mobile broadband, but ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao said in a statement the decision “represents a landmark in the development of broadband mobile on a worldwide scale, regardless of location, network or terminal used. It goes a long way in enabling bridging of the digital divide, while fully protecting the other services currently operated in the band.”
Those other services include some military radar systems and broadcast television.
The ITU also standardized the 79 GHz band for automotive radar and anti-collision driver assistance mechanisms, as well as making a new spectrum allocation for real-time global flight tracking for civilian aircraft in the wake of the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 in March 2014.
The WRC is held once every 3 or 4 years and will conclude on Friday with a press conference about the progress made during the meeting. While some industry observers hoped there would be some clarity on what high-band spectrum would be the most likely candidate for “5G” development, thereby giving researchers and mobile operators some guidance on what bands might have a global footprint, no official announcements have yet come out of WRC on that topic – which may not be settled formally until the next WRC meeting in 2018 or 2019. The ITU finalized its vision for 5G in September of this year, designating its 5G efforts as International Mobile Telecommunications 2020. Around 3,000 delegates from around the world have attended this month’s WRC meeting. See pictures of the event on Flickr.
In other test news this week:
–Anite is now supporting three-component carrier aggregation and Category 9 device testing, which involves speeds of up to 600 megabits per second in the downlink. Anite said it is supporting testing with the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5 in upcoming versions of its Nemo line of testing products, from its laptop-based Nemo Outdoor drive test tool to its Nemo Handy handheld tester.
“You can’t really talk about LTE these days without talking about carrier aggregation,” said Larry Smith, account director with Anite. Smith spoke with RCR Wireless News about the new capabilities at the recent LTE North America show, watch the full interview below:
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–GL Communications launched a comprehensive testing tool for 10G/1G Ethernet networks. PacketExpert 10 supports GL’s Wirespeed Record and Wirespeed Playback features that allow traffic capture at the full line rate, transfer of captured traffic for analysis and playback of traffic profiles so real-world conditions can be recreated.
–Cobham Wireless introduced a portable tester for GSM-R communications systems for railway transportation, designed to validate radio operation in the lab and the field. The Cobham Wireless 2201R replaces the company’s previous 4202 tester and can be used for voice, data and text messaging testing. Cobham has a video on the product here.
–Anritsu added a new option for E-band testing to its Shockline series of vector network analyzers, as well as 20-megahertz and 40-megahertz options, with an eye toward making E-band-related testing more affordable. Anritsu said the new options make its VNAs useful for “testing [millimeter-wave] passive components used in 5G small cell networks, driver assistance/collision avoidance radar, near- and far-field antenna and personal communication applications.”
-Test companies had a strong presence at LTE North America last week, and video interviews and sessions are available on the RCR Wireless News YouTube channel, from companies including Spirent, FalconSmart Technologies, P3 Communications (see below), CommScope and more.
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCZeCrwShAE[/embedyt]
