TAC Gets Drone, Phone Theft, 5G, Other Updates, Seeks to Hone Proposals to FCC
The FCC Technological Advisory Council continued its 2016 march, hearing updates from TAC's six work groups Tuesday on their efforts to develop new recommendations for agency consideration. The TAC plans to meet Dec. 7 to adopt recommendations that will be "actionable," said Chairman Dennis Roberson, Illinois Institute of Technology vice provost and research professor, at the end of a lengthy meeting. He said the group doesn't want to just give the FCC a long list of 40 or so recommendations, as it did last year, but wants to refine the list to a "top 10" with a laser focus on the best ideas. "That will be a very good outcome," he said.
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Drones generated much discussion in the presentation of a work group on the implications for mass deployment of aeronautical/space transmitters. Steve Lanning, ViaSat vice president-operations broadband, said the group tried to identify unmanned aircraft system (UAS) issues for resolution by the FCC, the Federal Aviation Administration and NASA, but decided not everything could be put neatly into "buckets." Instead, he said, the group identified the "swim lanes" for each, with the FCC focused on spectrum management, the FAA on "saving lives" and NASA on UAS traffic management. Lanning nevertheless discussed various detailed distinctions among recreational, commercial and mixed UAS uses.
Julius Knapp, chief of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, lauded the group for highlighting the differences among UAS activities. He said he's appreciative the group wasn't simply asking for more spectrum, given all the parties lining up with such requests. "It's just not feasible," he said. Noting the possibility the group may recommend an FCC study, he said the commission may or may not have the resources, but before the agency "dives in," he urged the group to think hard about the specific UAS use applications and the "real issues" they raise. He said many government and industry parties have a piece of drone issues, and they're all trying to make sense of them. Dale Hatfield, executive director of a Silicon Flatirons Center at the University of Colorado, warned drones are vulnerable to "jamming and spoofing."
The mobile device theft prevention work group is looking at next-generation anti-theft measures and developing a common framework for centralized data collection, said Brian Daly, AT&T chief technology officer-strategic standards. He said the group is also focused on filling in "gaps" from previous anti-theft recommendations. He said many mobile phone operators in the Americas and parts of Europe were engaged in "blacklisting" of lost or stolen phones and in sharing data, but not in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The group plans to recommend the FCC work with the State Department to improve the collaborative efforts internationally, he said.
A cybersecurity work group is focused on security of 5G networks, software configurable radios and software defined networks, said Paul Steinberg, Motorola Solutions chief technology officer. The group is trying to "get in front of" the 5G standardization process with cybersecurity concepts, he said. The group developed a list of draft recommendations in a white paper that the TAC approved to be published on its webpage. The group also plans to work with the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions on possible refinements.
A future game changing technology work group is focused on 5G networks and programmable networks, said Adam Drobot, OpenTechWorks chairman. He said 5G isn't a single technology but a basket of technologies that will drive performance improvements and new functionality. He said the "softwarization" of networks is rapidly evolving. Programmable networks are developing in the "tangle" between the communications world and the cloud world, he said, creating more capabilities but more complications for the FCC. He said the group is focusing draft recommendations on helping the FCC to understand what's going on, reassess its efforts and influence the market.
An NG internet services work group is pushing development of meaningful metrics, including for quality of service of broadband internet access services, said Russ Gyurek, Cisco leader-global technology team, Office of the Chief Technology Officer. He said video offerings are continuing to drive Internet traffic growth, the market continues to develop solutions, and in-home networks have a huge impact on service quality. The group wants the Measuring Broadband America program to be expanded to include testing of content delivery networks and "interconnection health," he said. It also believes the FCC should issue a public notice on in-home networks and their contribution to quality of service and quality of experience.
A spectrum and receiver performance work group is recommending the FCC create a comprehensive and unified database of past interference enforcement activities, said Lynn Claudy, NAB senior vice president-science and technology. The work group also is looking to develop recommendations from an FCC inquiry on the "noise floor," and would like the FCC to extend a comment period to Oct. 21. Knapp voiced some skepticism about the feasibility of that suggestion, but said the group should directly contact key players to solicit further input, which could "get to the same place."