The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has approved work to begin on two new “white space” standards.
The IEEE P1900 Standards Group was established in the first quarter 2005 jointly by the IEEE Communications Society and the IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society. The objective is to develop supporting standards dealing with new technologies and techniques being developed for next generation radio and advanced spectrum management. The IEEE 1900.4 Working Group is developing the standards to “further enhance the original 1900.4 standard by facilitating cost-effective and multi-vendor production of wireless access system.”
The first project, IEEE P1900.4a, an amendment to IEEE 1900.4, (pdf) will examine architecture and interfaces for dynamic spectrum access networks in white space frequency bands. The proposed standard would define new components (both entity(s) and interfaces) for operating in white space frequency bands in addition to IEEE 1900.4 entities and interfaces.
Paul Houze, Chair of the Working Group said, “It is very likely that white spaces usage may not be the same in each region or country, and several radio interfaces may be used for different use cases. It is also probable that regulation will vary from a region to another. However, we have the opportunity to standardize a common management system that we could use independently of the radio interfaces choice. In particular, the protection of broadcast systems should be absolutely reliable. Because 1900.4 is a dynamic policy-based system, it is very well suited to the changing and non-homogeneous white spaces context.”
The second new standards project, IEEE P1900.4.1 (pdf), “Standard for Interfaces and Protocols Enabling Distributed Decision Making for Optimized Radio Resource Usage in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks,” will provide detailed description of interfaces and service access points defined in the IEEE 1900.4 standard in order to ensure interoperability.
The standards are sponsored by the IEEE-SASB Coordinating Committees/SCC41 – Dynamic Spectrum Access Networks.
