US CBRS one step closer to launch

The Wireless Innovation Forum (WInnForum) has announced the delivery of the Spectrum Access System (SAS) certification test code for commercial operations within the 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band to the US National Telecommunication and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS).

ITS has been selected by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to perform testing for SAS certification.

“The test code release marks a major milestone for the CBRS ecosystem and is the culmination of the WInnForum Spectrum Sharing Committee’s baseline CBRS standards,” said Kurt Schaubach, of Federated Wireless and co-chair of the committee.

“NTIA-ITS can now conduct its preparations for formal lab testing of Spectrum Access Systems, which we expect will commence this [northern] summer.”

“This is an important step toward commercialisation of the CBRS,” added Preston Marshall, head of access for Google and co-chair of the committee. “Through this process, the FCC and its government partners can ensure commercial deployment within the calendar year.”

The test code was developed over the last two years in a collaborative effort by engineers representing multiple stakeholder organisations. It has been developed, verified and validated by the Forum’s Spectrum Sharing Committee (SSC) Test and Certification Working Group.

Through this effort, the engineers maximised the use of common industry testing processes as much as possible, preserving the openness of the system while allowing for innovation and development of the subsystems in a healthy competitive ecosystem.

The Forum’s SSC serves as a common industry standards body to support the development and advancement of spectrum sharing technologies based on the three-tier architecture detailed in 3.5 GHz CBRS Band rules defined by the FCC.

The Forum recently announced the completion of the full set of baseline specifications required for certification of CBRS equipment, enabling the finalisation of CBRS products already in various levels of testing and setting the stage for the rollout of commercial CBRS networks.

Established in 1996, The Wireless Innovation Forum is a US non-profit mutual benefit corporation dedicated to advocating for spectrum innovation and advancing radio technologies that support essential or critical communications worldwide.

The Forum’s members bring a broad base of experience in software-defined radio, cognitive radio and dynamic spectrum access technologies.

Forum projects are supported by platinum sponsors Motorola Solutions, Leonardo and Thales.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/janjutamas

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