Stuart F. Timerman, the Defense Spectrum Organization (DSO) director, provided an update on DoD’s spectrum efforts at the 2015 Military Radar Summit. He discussed the department’s priorities, spectrum strategy, initiatives, and way ahead. This is the information he shared:
• It is becoming extremely difficult to find underutilized spectrum in both the public and private sectors. Although the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) just completed the Advanced Wireless Services-3 (AWS-3) spectrum auction in January, auctions for commercial bidders to get exclusive use of spectrum may become a thing of the past. The need for spectrum in the development of current and future military capabilities makes it nearly impossible for such a paradigm to continue.
• The recent spectrum auction grossed $44.9 billion for the federal government. The AWS-3 auction included 1695-1710, 1755-1780, and 2155-2180 MHz bands. Most of the federal systems using the 1755-1780 MHz band will relocate out of the band, but the FCC’s rules provide for indefinite sharing with a limited number of federal systems, including those belonging to DoD. Per the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act, federal agencies that must relocate or share spectrum as a result of the auction will recover costs from the auction proceeds.
• Spectrum access systems (SAS) — which offer a database of processing utilization — can potentially help the government and commercial sectors with spectrum sharing. Commercial companies have developed SAS that give insight into what is being operated on specific frequencies, said Timerman. For example, a cell phone provider interested in operating on a particular frequency can gain an understanding of what else is being operated on that frequency. This visibility can provide insight into what types of interference users may get and even provide the option of shutting down a system to avoid interference.
• The DoD Electromagnetic Spectrum Strategy, released in 2013, had three calls to action for the DoD community. (1) Speed the development of spectrum-dependent systems (SDS) that include increased efficiency, flexibility, and adaptability; (2) Increase agility in operations; and (3) Sharpen responsiveness to ongoing spectrum regulatory and policy changes. According to Timerman, DoD must transform the way spectrum is managed while maintaining the current set of operations until there is a paradigm shift that allows systems to be developed in collaboration with other spectrum stakeholders.
• The National Advanced Spectrum and Communications Test Network (NASCTN), established last year, was conceptualized by then Deputy Secretary of Defense, Ashton B. Carter, to hasten the development of more effective spectrum sharing capabilities. Carter intended to form a coalition with the Department of Commerce to develop a network of U.S. laboratories to be used for spectrum sharing. NASCTN consists of federal, academic, and commercial test facilities that offer modeling and simulation (M&S) and laboratory capabilities to organizations that may not otherwise have access to these capabilities.
• DSO is synchronizing spectrum science and technology (S&T) programs in the DoD. To resolve the DoD spectrum issues of the future, especially spectrum sharing, DSO is examining all of the S&T programs in DoD to identify gaps, develop a spectrum S&T roadmap, and influence future S&T investments.
• Collaboration is critical to moving forward. DSO has worked with both government and industry entities to exchange information and gain an understanding of each sector’s needs and requirements. Timerman said collaborative analysis and testing efforts by DoD, the FCC, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and industry to address spectrum sharing proposals are critical.
Defense Information Systems Agency