Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Wi-Fi spectrum battle pits antiterrorism

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 1 Jan 2003 1:06:12 -0500

Wi-Fi spectrum battle pits antiterrorism
efforts against commercial growth

By Bob Brewin
DECEMBER 31, 2002

The U.S. Defense Department has
played the antiterrorist and rogue state
card in its attempts to restrict the use of
wireless LANs, including those already
operating in the lower portion of the
5-GHz band, according to engineers and
analysts.

The Pentagon is concerned about the
ability of military radar to detect terrorist
vehicles as well as stealth aircraft or
missiles operated by foreign powers in
the face of WLAN interference, the
analysts added.

Portions of the 5-GHz band have already
been assigned for unlicensed WLAN
use in the U.S., Europe and Japan with
more than 50 OEMs making products
that operate in these bands.

At a meeting Nov. 11 in Geneva of the the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the United
Nations body that oversees spectrum allocations worldwide, the U.S. said it wants the 5-GHz band
protected for the use of radars that can "pick out smaller and less reflective targets out of background
clutter," and therefore cannot afford any interference from WLANs, according to the official U.S. draft
position paper submitted to the ITU and obtained by Computerworld.
John Pike, a defense analyst at GlobalSecurity.org in Washington, said the references to "small
targets and background clutter" pertain to small boats or planes that terrorists could use to attack
U.S. forces. He added that the Defense Department is also concerned about the ability of its radars to
pick up "stealth" aircraft. Pike said China is capable of developing stealth technology of the kind used
in the U.S. B2 bomber, which allows the aircraft to hide its presence from most conventional radars.
Will Strauss, a former radar engineer and analyst at Forward Concepts Co. in Tempe, Ariz., agreed
with Pike, saying that it would be a "small task" for a country such as China to develop its own stealth
aircraft.
The U.S. wants to protect these radars by sharply restricting the use of Wi-Fi gear in portions of the
5-GHz band (5.150-5.350) already opened up for use in the U.S., Japan and Europe.
The U.S. position paper, submitted to the ITU at its November meeting in preparation for the ITU's
World Radio Conference (WRC) in June, which will make the spectrum decisions, endorses a global
allocation for WLANs in the 5.150-5.350 band as long as radars are protected by a technique know as
Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS), which shuts down WLAN transmissions when a radar signal is
detected.
Bill Calder, a spokesman for Intel Corp., which has bold plans to incorporate WLAN chips into its
next-generation mobile computing technology, said that the industry views the Pentagon's DFS
restrictions, which he did not specify, as too conservative. He added the company is working to reach
a compromise with the Pentagon before the June WRC meeting.
"We do not want to see that low band [5.150-5.350] unduly restricted. This is a big issue for Intel as
we move toward a wireless world," where spectrum is an essential raw material, Calder said.
Rich Redelfs, president and CEO of Atheros Communications Inc., a Sunnyvale, Calif., developer of
WLAN 5-GHz chip sets, views the Pentagon's position on restricting WLANs as akin "to trying to put
the genie back in the bottle." Atheros already has more than 50 OEM customers for its 5-GHz chip
sets, Redelfs said, making it difficult to change the rules.
Craig Mathias, an analyst at Farpoint Group in Ashland, Mass., agreed, saying that while national
security is a key concern today, it "would take an extraordinary set of circumstances" for the Defense
Department position to prevail, considering the growth potential of WLANs.
Clyde Ensslin, a spokesman for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a
division of the Commerce Department, which administers all federal spectrum, said the document
represents the positions of all federal agencies including the Pentagon and the Federal
Communications Commission, but it is still a draft until the final U.S. position is prepared for the June
WRC meeting.
Ensslin added the radar section pertains to both military and commercial radars, such as advanced
systems that could be used by commercial pilots to detect small planes. Pentagon spokesmen did
not return calls for comment by deadline.

http://computerworld.com/printthis/2002/0,4814,77168,00.html

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