FCC Modifies PCS, AWS Power Limit Rules to Facilitate Broadband Wireless Technologies
March 28, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
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The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) modified the rules governing broadband Personal Communications Services (PCS) and Advanced Wireless Services (AWS-1) to permit the use of a power spectral density model (PSD) when measuring and calculating emissions and power limits.
The action is consistent with the FCC's April 2007 decision to allow a PSD model in the commercial services portions of the 700 MHz band, according to the FCC.
The rule changes are designed to offer greater flexibility to PCS and AWS-1 operators, are more technologically neutral and are touted as being better able to accommodate broadband technologies, claims the FCC.
The PSD model also has the potential to reduce network infrastructure costs thus enabling providers to offer enhanced wireless broadband services to consumers living in rural areas, said the FCC.
The existing PCS and AWS-1 rules measure radiated power in terms of watts per emission and limit power output regardless of bandwidth size.
In the PSD model, radiated power levels are calculated on a watts-per-MHz basis when operating with greater than one MHz of bandwidth, said the FCC.
In addition, under the existing rules, power levels are measured using peak values while under the new rules power levels may now be measured using average values, according to the FCC.
This is a more practical way to measure power levels and will accommodate new wireless technologies that produce emissions with sub-microsecond power spikes, according to the FCC. In order to prevent interference that may occur from measuring average power levels, the FCC adopted a peak-to-average ratio limit of 13 decibels (dB).
The FCC declined to adopt a proposal to double the base station effective isotropic radiated power limits for PCS and AWS-1 licensees. This proposal raised concerns regarding potential harmful interference to operators in adjacent spectrum bands, said the FCC.
The FCC also declined to change radiated power limit rules for other services besides PCS and AWS-1 at this time.
Source: U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).