FCC Reported Close on 6 GHz AFC Notice but Complicated Issues Remain
The FCC appears close to releasing a public notice on testing and public trials prior to certifying automated frequency coordination providers in the 6 GHz band, industry officials said. The PN is reportedly in Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s office, though it could be sent back to the Office of Engineering and Technology for further work. A decision on rules for very-low-power devices in the 6 GHz band appears further off.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
A Wi-Fi advocate said release of the AFC notice appears imminent: “However, I’ve heard that before, and we never know if it might be sent back to OET for additional changes.” The FCC didn’t comment Monday. Experts said the FCC has to work through some complicated issues, including security, before it can release a PN.
“We’re excited to hear about the upcoming public notice on testing,” said Richard Bernhardt, Wireless ISP Association national spectrum adviser, who has been active in the proceeding. “We want it to be consistent with the needs for supporting the [2020] report and order, but the industry is eager to have online standard outdoor systems and tested AFCs,” he told us Monday.
Peter Rysavy of Rysavy Research said it’s no surprise that work on the PN is difficult. “Spectrum sharing, while appealing on the surface, has always proven extremely challenging,” he said: “Efficient medium access control is difficult enough to implement for one system, as demonstrated by the thousands of pages of 802.11 and 3GPP specifications. Implementing it across disparate systems in the same bands in the same place at the same time makes it exponentially more difficult.”
“The actions the commission has taken so far in the 6 GHz proceeding enabled a vibrant Wi-Fi ecosystem, which is already delivering a remarkable array of benefits,” emailed Alex Roytblat, Wi-Fi Alliance vice president-worldwide regulatory affairs: “That is why our industry and the American people are eagerly anticipating the pending decision to expand the 6 GHz Wi-Fi connectivity.”
In December, 14 companies or organizations sought FCC certification to be an AFC system operator (see 2112010002). AT&T, the Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition, the Utilities Technology Council and the Edison Electric Institute were among those to raise questions when the FCC sought comment (see 2112220070).
In a filing last week, the latest in docket 21-352, the Wi-Fi Alliance submitted to the FCC a test plan and test vectors for evaluating unlicensed standard-power device compliance with commission rules. Representatives of the alliance presented the plan to acting Chief Ron Repasi and other OET staff. “Wi-Fi Alliance is offering to conduct on-site/off-site training session(s) for FCC/OET staff to assist them in familiarizing with the test plan, test methodology, test equipment, and automation harness,” the filing said.
In July the alliance said the U.S. is falling behind other countries as it delays a decision on very-low power (VLP) devices without coordination (see 2207260069). “Despite the Commission trailblazing the use of the 6 GHz band for unlicensed operations, regulators in other countries have rapidly advanced beyond the Commission’s initial decision, allowing more complete use of the band for very low power and additional low power indoor use,” the alliance said then: “6 GHz incumbents in those other countries are no different than in the U.S. -- with extensive fixed microwave and satellite services deployments in the band.”
Wi-Fi advocates note the E.U. and U.K. already authorized VLP operations at 14 dBm in the band, the same level proposed in an FCC Further NPRM, approved by commissioners in April 2020 (see 2004230059).
The work on AFC is important beyond the 6 GHz band, said Joe Kane, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation director-broadband and spectrum policy. The 6 GHz AFC regime “is the latest thing in spectrum sharing,” he said: “It will be an important data point in evaluating the feasibility of productive spectrum sharing and the state of technology available to policymakers right now. There are already proposals to extend an AFC-style framework to other bands, so it's important that the FCC and the database operators are on the same page and able to deliver on the promise of this band.”