Two of the areas of work come as ”CEPT Reports”, prepared in response to mandates from the European Commission. This means that the technical conclusions reached are likely to be used within binding measures made for EU member states.
The first is to increase the technical options available for mobile services in bands around 2 GHz. Services in these frequencies presently use the ’3G’ technology, which was introduced in the 1990s and 3G networks are still being extended. Newer technologies are foreseen. This CEPT Report 39 is a milestone in enabling them to be used. This involves the use of least restrictive technical conditions, rather than more detailed ones designed around a specific technology. Nevertheless, the specifications take some account of the types of systems which will use them, in order to achieve the best balance of efficiency through technical flexibility, and efficiency through technical optimisation. However, in the context of the review of the current ECC regulatory framework in these bands (ECC Decision(06)01) and based on responses to a questionnaire on 2GHz TDD bands, ECC launched activities in order to implement WAPECS approach in the 2 GHz band and is investigating additional steps for harmonisation. ECC will keep EC informed of progress, noting that this work is not within the scope of the Mandate and will provide to EC any further information.
On a similar theme, a set of three Reports CEPT Reports 40 to 42 was agreed as drafts to be sent to the Commission, and sent for Public Consultation before final approval in November. These deal with extending the range of technologies to LTE and WiMAX systems which can be used in the frequencies used by today’s GSM (or ’2G’) system, which is still the backbone of today’s mobile services used by the general public (CEPT Reports 40 and 41). A third report CEPT Report 42 investigates compatibility between UMTS 900 and areonautical systems above 960MHz: DME which are currently in use and and future AM(R)S systems under development by ICAO. ECC provided its preliminary conclusions to the EC which are likely to be used within update of binding measures made for EU member states.
Saving money and greening mobile radio. Thirdly, the ECC approved an ECC Report 146 on Multi Carrier Base Transceiver Stations (MCBTS). These are GSM base stations which pass multiple carrier signals, instead of just one, through common components such as amplifiers, filters, etc.. This saves costs, which enables better coverage to be provided and reduces energy consumption, but MCBTS systems are in principle less easy to engineer compatibly with other services on adjacent frequencies. The new ECC Report 146 examines how the lower spectrum performance of MCBTS impacts on other services. The planning and implementation guidance of the report shows that the extra impact of MCBTS is for most cases negligible compared with conventional systems.
Avoiding road collisions
On-car anti-collision radar (SRR) is in its infancy, but may bring significant safety benefits. There are very few cars equipped so far, but as its use becomes more widespread the temporary frequencies which the early systems use would eventually cause unacceptable levels of interference to other services, notably scientific services and fixed links. Therefore the relevant ECC Decision cuts off the use of the present 24 GHz frequency from 2013. A new band at 79 GHz is open for SRR and the technology to use it is under development.
A pair of CEPT Reports 36 & 37 prepared for the Commission and now finally approved review the state of technology development at 79 GHz and the implications of extending the tenure of SRR at 24 GHz, as well as the technical possibilities for an alternative band at 26 GHz. The report sets out the limited opportunities and significant constraints for both 24 GHz and 26 GHz, and confirms the state of technology development at 79 GHz. The ECC is advising the Commission to continue to focus efforts for SRR on the 79 GHz frequency. Based on the analysis presented in CEPT Report 37 and on the views expressed during the meeting, ECC decided that the 26 GHz UWB SRR systems should not be allowed in Europe and informed the EC accordingly.
New SE Chairman
The Chairman of WG SE, Christoph Wöste (Germany) completed his maximum six year term at this meeting. This has seen a period where the ECC’s expertise in compatibility analysis has been used intensively. The increasing demand for spectrum has required more emphasis on spectrum sharing, and the need to accommodate the requirement for technological neutrality for some services. Mr. Wöste will be succeeded by Mr. Bruno Espinosa (France).
New Working Group on Numbering and Networks
The ECC agreed the terms of reference of a new working group NaN (Numbering and Networks). This replaces WG NNA (Numbering Naming and Addressing) and the previous project team PT2 (’TRIS’ , dealing with network issues).
