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White House Pushes DARPA Spectrum-Sharing Initiative
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White
House operatives are ballyhooing a U.S. Defense Department initiative to fund
new spectrum-sharing technologies. Lawrence Strickling of the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration, and Tom Power with the White
House Office of Science and Technology Policy, say the effort will “boost” the
president’s goal to deploy high-speed wireless broadband across the country.
“Spectrum sharing can take a number of forms, some of which
are technologically mature and others of which are still developing,” they
co-wrote on the NTIA and the White House tech blog sites. “To stimulate
investment in more advanced forms of spectrum sharing, the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency is soliciting innovative research proposals aimed at
efficient and reliable sharing of spectrum between radar and communications
systems.”
DARPA published a presolicitation notice on
the program Feb. 21: “Proposed research should investigate innovative
approaches that enable revolutionary advances in science, devices, or systems.
Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary
improvements to the existing state of practice.”
Among
those on the “Interested Vendors List,” are Photonics Systems of Billerica,
Mass.; Shared Spectrum Co., of Vienna, Va.; Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University of Blacksburg, Va.; North Point Defense, of Rome, N.y.;
Tennessee Technical University of Cookeville, Tenn.; and Comsearch Government
Solutions of Ashburn, Va.
The program may fund
multi-year projects to either modify existing radar systems or come up with new
ones.
“Sharing is just one tool for promoting more
robust and efficient broadband networks; full maximization of spectrum may also
require broader policy and regulatory changes,” wrote Strickling and Power,
both of whom have been mentioned as potential candidates to take over
the Federal Communications Commission when Julius Genachowski steps down, which
as of yet remains conjecture.
— TV Technology
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