Spectrum Sharing: An Emerging Success

Spectrum sharing is working, and we now have a larger toolbox of techniques to employ as we move toward repurposing the 3450-3550 MHz band — as well as exploring potential repurposing within 3100-3450 MHz. The current auction of Priority Access Licenses (PALs) in the Citizens Broadband Radio Service band (CBRS) could not have happened without spectrum sharing in coastal areas where military mobile radars operate. NTIA research resulted in the creation of “dynamic protection areas” in which commercial equipment can sense the presence of federal radar signals. A Spectrum Access System (SAS) responds by altering the permitted commercial operations (curbing power, switching to different channels, etc.) to head off interference. The result is a seamless, automated, and flexible sharing system that both protects the military radars and makes nationwide CBRS possible.