FCC Considers Changing The Way We Measure Interference
Do Ultra Wideband radios interfere with conventional radio equipment, or just co-exist undetected by their older cousins. A lot of anti-regulation hobbyists say the former, and that current spectrum regulation is irrelevant for new technologies like UWB. These proponents of new radios say “let us use our UWB radios and show you that there is no interference”, but the existing spectrum holders (TV, Radio, Cellular, etc) say “no, your tests will hurt our service”. So how does the FCC allow the newcomers to test their radios and see if their claims are true? By allowing them to broadcast at very low power only, and by adopting a new way of measuring interference: Interference Temperature. By using this new metric, test of wideband radios can take place, and we can see whether they do or don’t interfere with existing radios. If they don’t, we can evaluate the next steps with better information. Looks to me like the FCC is moving towards the future, yet taking a cautious approach. That’s good and good.
