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STTR Phase I: Technical, Economic, and Regulatory Evaluation and Demonstration of Policy-based Dynamic Spectrum Access-Enabled Broadband Wireless Communications Networks

Award Information
Agency: National Science Foundation
Branch: N/A
Contract: 1216186
Agency Tracking Number: 1216186
Amount: $149,884.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: STTR
Solicitation Topic Code: ES
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2012
Award Year: 2012
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2012-07-01
Award End Date (Contract End Date): 2013-06-30
Small Business Information
1593 Spring Hill Road Suite 700
Vienna, VA -
United States
DUNS: 029992497
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Mark McHenry
 (703) 761-2818
 mmchenry@sharedspectrum.com
Business Contact
 Mark McHenry
Phone: (703) 761-2818
Email: mmchenry@sharedspectrum.com
Research Institution
 University of Pittsburgh
 Martin Weiss
 
4200 Fifth Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-
United States

 () -
 Nonprofit College or University
Abstract

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will demonstrate the technical and commercial feasibility of the near-term innovative Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) technology to efficiently share spectrum resources with legacy Federal systems. Increasing spectrum demand along with years of growing regulatory support for innovative wireless technologies like DSA presents a unique opportunity to show how spectrum sharing approaches and technologies can wring abundance from scarcity by finding ways to use spectrum more efficiently. The objectives of this research are to quantify the cost/benefit tradeoffs and validate the regulatory and system requirements for sensing-based, geo-location and hybrid broadband systems that can coexist with Federal users. The project will consist of technical and economic modeling and simulations of several policy-based, DSA-enabled system configurations under a wide range of scenarios in selected Federal bands currently under regulatory review for potential reallocation. It will create detailed spectrum sharing system design documents that include comprehensive entrant and incumbent user requirements, architectures and costs (including initial testing, validation and transaction costs, incremental capital costs, implementation costs and recurring operational costs). It will culminate with a demonstration plan to field test the most cost-effective sharing approaches. This broader impact of this project will be in the multiple benefits resulting from improving spectrum efficiency, lowering costs and fostering American innovation. Enabling spectrum sharing accelerates by 5 to 10 years the transition process through proven approaches that allow co-existence of new and incumbent systems. DSA-enabled spectrum sharing on both a geographic and temporal basis greatly increases the overall capacity of broadband wireless systems. This technology also facilitates band clearing in Federal bands, where appropriate, and maximizes spectrum access where relocation of Federal incumbents would be too costly or infeasible. This avoids having to redirect funds from auction proceeds to cover Federal government efforts in planning, redesigning and moving every existing system. It also relieves the pressure to auction more exclusive use spectrum licenses by enabling innovative unlicensed, light licensing and other models. When Federal systems must be relocated, DSA allows them to gain equivalent or improved spectrum access in other bands. This project will greatly improve the understanding of DSA-enabled spectrum sharing by identifying stakeholder requirements and cost effective solutions. It will prove that these capabilities are feasible and benefits real by producing cost data for different DSA approaches, allowing operators, regulators and incumbents to understand whether costs align with bandwidth gains.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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