Dynamic Spectrum Access & TV White Spaces TATT ICT Open Forum, Trinidad & Tobago, February 2017 Keith Sinclair DSA Member
Who is the DSA?
Addressing the world s biggest connectivity challenges Most of the world s population is unconnected 100M Persons Number of intelligent connected devices is likely to exceed 50 billion by 2020 Exponential growth in broadband traffic volume driven by Video Developing World Lack of availability & affordability 25-fold increase in the number of users but 625-fold increase in the number of possible connections R.Thanki
Key Challenge: Most spectrum is unused in most places most of the time must change 4
TV White Spaces unused radio waves in TV spectrum Definition in layman s terms: White spaces refer to geographical areas where the radio spectrum is not used by the licensee. Example: High power TV broadcasts using the same frequency need to leave spaces between their coverage areas to avoid interference. White space spectrum can be potentially accessed by users other than the licensee, resulting in increased overall spectrum efficiency. innovative new services, e.g Broadband. Protection of the incumbent licensee(s) is paramount. TV white spaces are already used UNCONTROVERSIALLY by two licensed services: PMSE and local TV. These frequencies can be used in the white spaces in between by lower-power devices.
TV Whitespaces-based Fixed Wireless Internet is Vital for connecting the unconnected 6
Dynamic Spectrum Access Frequency agile radios dynamically operate across entire TVWS band Spectrum Database Locations Internet Available Channels TVWS Base TVWS Client
Sub-GHz TV White Space Spectrum Ideal for Fixed Wireless Broadband TVWS Base Great Penetration Non-Line-of-Sight Long-Range 6 mi / 10 km TVWS Client(s)
TVWS for Fixed Wireless Access Sector Antenna Directional Antenna TVWS Client TVWS Base 9
TVWS for Municipal Applications 10
Better Indoor WiFi TVWS AP Internet 11
TV White Space Product Evolution $ (Device Cost) $1000 Last Mile Broadband # of Units 100Ms Municipal / Campus WiFi M2M / IoT (Ag, Oil & Gas) $10 In-Building 2015 5 Years 1Ks High Performance Wide Area Applications Low Cost High Volume Applications
Global TVWS Status Africa: Multiple pre-regulation trials & pilots Regulation Complete Regulation In-Progress Trials & Pilots
Residential Broadband Maine, USA Close to 100 radio deployed to date Closing the digital divide in rural Maine 1 st commercial user to use channel expansion to increase capacity in installed network Remote rural communities Heavy trees and foliage Microsoft Affordable Access Grant Recipient
Community Broadband Virginia, USA Closing the homework gap in rural Virginia with largest US TV White Space project Deployed ACRS2-HP Base to extend network coverage and improve signal quality
Community Broadband - Kenya Solar powered TV White Space network used to deliver broadband access to schools and cyber cafe.
IoT Broadband Oxford, UK Partnership project with TVWS backhaul for remote water-level sensing application adaptrum oxford.jpg
Spectrum is too precious to waste: technology increasingly exists to prevent underutilization Dynamic Spectrum Access answers a need to enabling economic value from unused spectrum capacity White spaces, using DSA, are proving key to affordable connectivity for people & things Regulatory progress has encouraged significant investment in TVWS technology < 20 Mbps ~100 Mbps 1 4 channel channels IEEE 802.11af + IEEE 802.22 2012 2017
Come to Cape Town: 9 th to 11 May 2017 DSA Global Summit 2017