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FCC to fight wireless devices that receive signals from the wrong frequencies
The Federal Communications Commission unanimously voted to launch an inquiry into poorly designed wireless devices that receive transmissions from outside their allotted frequencies. The Notice of Inquiry (NOI) approved Thursday could result in new receiver regulations and is the first major step in the FCC's quest to prevent future conflicts like the high-profile battle between the aviation and cellular industries, in which a 5G rollout was delayed because airplane altimeters receive… (arstechnica.com) Mehr...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
What I don't understand is why band specific receivers don't have the same restrictions as enforced by Part 15. Which is that receivers have to ignore signals from out of band. I don't think we need new laws, we just need to enforce the ones already on the books.
It’s about time.
I hope the FCC will also scrutinize out of band emissions of the 5G radios, both the base stations/towers, and the consumer client devices - That's billions of radios that can wreak havoc and disable or confuse avionics.
Why not require all device manufacturers to take steps on reducing out of band reception if that will cause failure of the device? We require the transmission to be on frequency. Why not say receivers need to be on frequency if it will cause themselves interference.
Part of the problem is that the FAA and ICAO operate with a "live in the past" mindset when it comes to electronic technology. Businesses like 5G telecoms use the latest. Even hollywood predicted most of today's radio gadgets, but aviation refused to look ahead. Manufacturers don't warrant nor expect their gear to be used as long as actually is and in the past there was little C band interference to worry about.I suppose the FCC was acting in concordance with FAA's system outlooks and culture. Examples: COM is 1930s voice technology, mode C, S, and ADSB haven't advanced the radio signalling past 1950s IFF technology. To be fair, GPS/WAAS is modern as is UAT.
I disagree with your analysis. Bandpass filters in this frequency range are small, think millimeters, at 4.2 to 4.4GHZ. When the altimeters were originally designed, a long time ago the spectrum in this frequency range was not being used very heavily. My thought is that the engineers doing the design were not concerned with keeping the pass band tight. They got away with it because no one challenged them. Times change, now the GHz bands are being used extensively, for example your 5G WiFi is at 5Ghz. I suggest that part of the problem is the antiquated way the FAA does certifications. Once a part is certified the manufacturer has no incentive to makes updates, since that requires a time consuming and expensive re-certification. There is only so much spectrum available. We need to be able to make efficient use of it with up to date design methodology.