CINCINNATI—GatesAir will bring its 5G passthrough demo to IBC audiences once again as interest in the technology’s value for broadcast-to-mobile delivery grows. Debuted at IBC2024, the technology employs 5G modulation within its Maxiva XTE exciter to send live TV content to a smartphone across the 5G waveform.

The “5G passthrough” to mobile devices is achieved over UHF channels, effectively opening the door for broadcast’s highly efficient one-to-many model to make a difference with mobile TV delivery. Adopting the UHF frequency allows broadcasters to avoid using valuable mobile spectrum, while consumers can receive, decode and view content on the same mobile devices that they already use.

GatesAir’s provision of 5G delivery across the UHF channels not only guarantees 5G exclusivity for voice and mobile cellular use, but also gives broadcasters the ability to adopt 5G delivery without needing to replace their existing transmitters, the company said. The new modulation technique can be applied to GatesAir’s Maxiva ULXTE, UAXTE and OP Series of liquid-cooled and air-cooled UHF transmitters. Maxiva transmission products are built for standards-agnostic transmission, with the software-defined XTE exciter able to support all current digital and analog TV standards.

“Visitors to our booth last year were actively assessing the possibility that offloading broadcast content to UHF frequencies may become a reality within the next 5-10 years,” said Raymond Miklius, Vice President of Technology, GatesAir. “With more trials on the horizon, our purpose this year is to show broadcasters that we are actively prepared to assist when that time arrives, especially in Europe and parts of the Asia-Pacific region that are pursuing trials.”

GatesAir representatives will be available to discuss 5G as well as traditional terrestrial waveforms on stand 8.B75 at IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam.

TULSA, Okla.—KTUL, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s television station in Tulsa, has announced the completion of a major two-year project to upgrade its transmitter so that it can move the station’s broadcast signal from VHF to UHF.

These upgrades increased the signal power to a full one megawatt transmission, the maximum allowed by the FCC for UHF stations. With one of the strongest signals in the Tulsa DMA, NewsChannel 8 now has the ability to reach more local communities with its stronger over-the-air signal, Sinclair reported. 

“The upgrades, and the switch from VHF to UHF transmission, allows KTUL to broadcast with a stronger signal, allowing us to reach more of the Tulsa community who rely on over-the-air broadcasts for their news, content and emergency information,” David Shaffer, KTUL’s chief engineer explained. “The project, which took nearly two-years to complete, is one of the most significant upgrades we have made at the station, and we are excited to rollout reception and picture quality like never before.”

Former FCC Chairman Newton Minow, who became one of television’s earliest critics by calling the medium “a vast wasteland” more than 60 years ago, died May 6 at the age of 97. 

Minow expressed his opinions of the state of television programming in the early days of his chairmanship during the Kennedy administration in front of a gathering of the National Association of Broadcasters. 

“Stay there without a book, magazine, newspaper, profit-and-loss sheet or rating book to distract you, and keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off,” Mr. Minow said on May 9, 1961. “I can assure you that you will observe a vast wasteland. You will see a procession of game shows, violence, audience participation shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, Western bad men, Western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence and cartoons. And endlessly, commercials — many screaming, cajoling and offending. And most of all, boredom.”

“If you think I exaggerate, try it,” he added.

And while broadcasters were taken aback by Newton’s candidness, his criticisms struck a nerve, and for a period of time afterwards, TV violence did diminish somewhat and more options became available for educational programming and news programming did become more relevant. However that did not stop the industry from continuing to push Westerns and promote low-brow sitcoms, including “Gilligan’s Island,” which satirized Minow’s commentary by dubbing its shipwrecked boat the “SS Minnow.”

(Read also: Minow Assesses the State of TV 60 Years After ‘Vast Wasteland’ Remarks)

Prior to being appointed chairman of the commission (among the youngest in the agency’s history), Minow had been a law clerk to Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Vinson as well as assistant counsel to Illinois Gov. Adlai E. Stevenson during Stevenson's two Democratic presidential campaigns.

Although Minow was best known for his vast wasteland remarks, he also instituted several changes that advanced TV technology during the rest of the 1960’s. Under his leadership, the commission pushed for legislation that resulted in the All-Channel Receiver Act of 1962, which mandated that TV sets be designed to receive the (at the time), little used UHF band, bringing forth dual dials that became a fixture in American households during the decade and opened up additional channel options for viewers.  

But perhaps his proudest achievement was promoting legislation that led to the birth of the satellite communications industry, which paralleled the nation’s burgeoning space program in the early ‘60’s, resulting in a boom in instantaneous live coverage and greatly expanded programming distribution.

“I went to the White House and told President Kennedy that these communications satellites were more important than sending men into space, because they would send ideas into space, and ideas last longer than people,” he told the New York Times in 2019. “I testified 13 times in Congress for the legislation to create the corporations and the funding. I think this is more important than anything else I’ve ever done, for its impact on the future of the world.”

Up until his death, Minow had been senior counsel at Sidley and Austin, a Chicago-based law firm for more than five decades. "A modern-day Renaissance man, Newt occupied a unique place in firm history. During his more than 50 years with the firm," the firm said of its first and only managing partner.

Minow was also a mentor to former President Barack Obama, recruiting the former president to his law firm in the late 1980’s. Obama awarded Minow the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 and remembered him over the weekend. 

“Newt Minow was a dear friend, mentor and early supporter of mine. He also embodied the ideal of public service—helping launch the satellites that made nationwide broadcasts possible, cementing presidential debates as a national institution, helping usher in public television, and reminding the media of its obligation to foster a well-informed citizenry,” Obama said. “I will always owe a great debt to Newt, most of all because he helped introduce me to Michelle when we were both young lawyers in Chicago. We will miss him dearly, just as we miss his beloved wife, Jo, who passed away last year, and send our love and thoughts to their family.”

Years after his infamous commentary, Newton was still surprised at the reaction which he said was “astonishing.” 

“Particularly astonishing was the importance the press placed upon two words—vast wasteland—which I didn’t think were that important,” he told the Federal Communications Law Journal. “But somehow that stuck in the public mind. I had two different words in mind: public interest.”

MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL—WUCW-DT, the CW affiliate here, has gone on air with a new Dielectric UHF antenna that employs an end-fed pylon system and reimagines the design of a traditional stacked antenna array, Dielectric said.

The challenging E-Type antenna design addresses current tower code requirements for exposed transmission line and was delivered in a modular configuration that simplified the antenna replacement project for Tower King II, which managed all site preparation and installation work. The system also retained the existing Dielectric repack antenna on the top position without requiring extensive tower modifications, it said.

Several broadcast antennas are located on the south tower at Telefarm Towers, a two-tier transmission site for TV and FM radio broadcasters. 

To optimize tower real estate and provide true omnidirectional performance, WUCW and ABC affiliate KSTP-DT have long transmitted from a top-mounted broadband stacked antenna system. The original system included a Dielectric TU Series Deltastar panel antenna on the lower position of the stacked array, it said.

The existing antenna, configured as a “five-around panel antenna,” was supported by a wide, robust mast.  As replacement loomed, Dielectric recognized the project would prove to be one of the most challenging it has ever faced, Dielectric said. 

“WUCW engineers first considered making an adapter for the top antenna and the existing support system, but changed course toward preferring a modernized stacked array that was simpler and provided enhanced long-term reliability over the panel system,” said James Butts, a mechanical engineer at, Dielectric.

“While that was indeed the result, the work required to get there made this one of the most mechanically unique UHF antennas we have manufactured," he continued. "This WUCW antenna is a very large variant of our E-Type antenna design that was carefully engineered to meet the customer’s unique design needs.”

One big challenge was finding the best way to run the transmission line to the top KSTP antenna. Previous revisions of design codes allowed Dielectric to run the line up the side of an antenna mast, exposed to the elements without increasing the mast drag coefficient, the company said. 

“The latest code revisions required by Telefarm impose mast designs with exposed appurtenances such as transmission line with higher drag coefficients, which greatly increase wind loads,” said Butts. “We had to come up with an antenna feed system design that would obscure the transmission line without increasing the windload on the bottom antenna. That meant routing the feed to the top KSTP antenna under the radome of the bottom WUCW antenna,” said Butts.

Dielectric designed a two-piece mast for WUCW that measures 20 inches in diameter and is two inches thick. The antenna employed innovative technology to verify WUCW maintained an omnidirectional azimuth pattern in both the horizontal and vertical patterns. Typically, the azimuth patterns are distorted on the bottom of a stack antenna due to the transmission line to feed the top. This, along with the mechanical stoutness of the antenna, makes the deployment an innovative achievement, the company said.

To make installation easier, Dielectric split the new bottom antenna into two pieces, adding a flange in the middle, making it possible for the tower crew to raise the antenna and split the lifting load on the tower and ginpole. Total weight without the split would have been close to 30,000 pounds, but the design made it possible to connect the two pieces with the flange, it said. 

“The biggest challenge mechanically was to keep the weight of those two sections low enough for a potential helicopter lift or a reasonably sized ginpole,” said Butts.

Splitting the load in half gave the Tower King II crew more installation options.  “We set the first section and then the second section, and then connected the bottom and top antennas with the transmission line,” said Tower King II owner and President Kevin Barber. “In the end, the thought that Dielectric put into the design and the modularity made the installation very clean and easily achieved.”

More information is available on the Dielectric website.

CHICAGO—Shure Inc. has filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission asking the agency to reverse its decision and guarantee at least one 6 MHz UHF channel in each market is reserved for wireless mic use.

The FCC recently terminated its Vacant Channels rulemaking initiated during the TV spectrum incentive auction. The rulemaking considered dedicating a UHF TV channel for wireless mic use.

The company told the FCC that now more than ever wireless mic users need clear spectrum. On one hand, reallocation of 600 MHz spectrum for mobile phones and the repack of stations into 500 MHz spectrum has reduced available spectrum. On the other, continued growth of broadcast, performance and sports production is requiring more wireless mic channels than ever, Shure said.

While the FCC identified 900 MHz, 1.4 GHz and 7 GHz as alternatives in 2017, Shure says these bands fall short of addressing the needs of wireless mic users because they don’t offer the same characteristics and flexibility as UHF frequencies.

Use by other industries licensed to operate in these bands means their use for wireless mics is conditioned on requests to share, which may or may not be granted, it said.

The 600 MHz duplex gap and VHF frequencies are helpful but are not alternatives to a dedicated UHF channel and the certainty that offers, Shure said, adding that a designated channel is also important for other applications, such as intercom, IFB and other wireless uses.

Without clear spectrum for wireless mic use, the integrity of a variety of productions, ranging from professional sports and concerts to live TV and theater, will suffer, Shure said.

“The amount of available UHF spectrum for wireless microphone use continues to shrink,” said Ahren Hartman, Shure vice president, Corporate Quality. “With the loss of 700 MHz, 600 MHz, and the DTV repack into 500 MHz, we are at an all-time low for access to UHF spectrum. However, the need for open and clear wireless microphone spectrum is higher than ever before.”

More information is available on the Shure website. 

WASHINGTON—The FCC is inclined to allow KGW-TV Portland, Ore., to change from a VHF to a UHF, but is seeking input on that inclination.

It has given commenters until 25 days after publication of Wednesday's (Oct. 14) petition for rulemaking in the Federal Register, which usually takes a couple of weeks.

There has been a freeze on such changes for almost a decade, dating from when the FCC first started to prepare for the 2016 broadcast incentive auction.

KGW-TV is seeking a waiver of that freeze so it can move from channel 8 to channel 26 and thus from VHF to UHF and better serve its viewers given that UHF is the stronger signal in digital, as VHF was in analog.

KGW-TV licensee Sander Operating Co. said that ever since the 2009 digital switch, it has gotten "a steady stream of complaints from viewers unable to receive the station’s over-the-air signal, despite being able to receive signals from other local stations.”

Sander said it has determined that its move to a UHF channel, including the equipment vendors involved, will not impede any repack-related efforts by other stations in its market.

In response to the request, the FCC said: "We believe that a waiver of the channel substitution freeze would serve the public interest." One thing arguing in favor of the waiver, the FCC suggested, would be that relatively few viewers would be adversely impacted. "[T]he Commission has found that population loss of less than 500 persons is de minimis,18 and the predicted population loss is only 417 persons who would not otherwise be well-served," it said.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.—ION Media today announced its purchase of KMCC-TV in Las Vegas from Entravision Communications Corp. Financial details of the acquisition were not immediately available.

The move adds about 1 million TV households to the broadcaster’s nationwide footprint. The acquisition takes the number of ION Media’s total of full-power stations to 71 in the 62 biggest U.S. markets and means it has 41 owned-and-operated stations in the top 50 markets.

“ION is committed to investing in broadcast television and offering affordable high-quality content to all American households,” said Brandon Burgess, chairman and CEO of ION Media.

“Over-the-air broadcasting has grown to be the primary source of live linear television for nearly a quarter of the U.S. population. We serve this demand by offering ION content via over-the-air broadcast spectrum in high-growth markets like Las Vegas.”

With the purchase, ION’s full-power UHF station holdings cover 1.2 billion MHz-pops and 231 million people across the company, ION Media said.

More information is available on the ION Media website.

WASHINGTON—The FCC has released its status report on the post-broadcast incentive auction TV station repack, which involves most of 1,000 full powers and 2,000 low powers in a 10-phase plan, and as FCC Chairman Ajit Pai signaled last week, the commission is ahead of schedule. It is also freeing up more money for the TV station transition.

"We are pleased to report that the transition is off to a very strong start on all counts, and that the Transition Scheduling Plan and the Commission’s rules, procedures, and systems are operating as designed and anticipated," the Incentive Auction Task Force and Media Bureau said. "[T]he transition is ahead of schedule both in terms of the number of stations that have already vacated their pre-auction channels and the amount of 600 MHz spectrum that has been cleared and therefore made available for use by wireless auction winners.

The FCC said that among the wireless carriers, T-Mobile, the auction's biggest winner, said it has already launched service using its broadcast spectrum in more than 1,500 cities in 37 states and Puerto Rico.

The auction closed April 13, 2017, with 84 MHz of spectrum raising almost $20 billion, including $7 billion for deficit reduction. The stations being repacked into new channels so the 84 MHz can be used by wireless carriers have until July 3, 2020, to make the move.

Only 175 stations agreed to give up spectrum, but another 987 stations had to be reassigned to new channels to free up that 84 MHz spectrum.

Those 175 stations have already been paid over $10 billion, the FCC said.

Of the 175, only 41 went off the air, with 30 changing from UHF to VHF licenses and the other 104 striking deals to share channels with another station.

Phase one of the 10-phase transition ended Nov. 30, 2018, with all stations meeting their deadline, except those granted extensions or moves to other phases. Even so, some other stations in other phases moved early, so that 172 stations have made the move, or 17% of the total 987 repacked stations vacating their pre-auction channel.

The FCC announced that it would be allocating an additional $68.1 million to 316 full power and Class A stations from the incentive auction repack fund created by Congress, boosting the total allocated so far to $1,808,722,301.

For all the latest news and insight on the repack, visit our repack silo.

AMSTERDAM--At the 2018 IBC Show, German broadcast transmitter provider Rohde & Schwarz will debut the R&S TMU9evo UHF transmitter, a new version of its popular TMU9 transmitter line with improved energy efficiency and reliability. According to the company, the R&S TMU9evo delivers maximum energy savings even during channel changes or when adjusting the output power. The intelligent R&S Efficiency Optimization feature automatically provides the most economical operation possible for every operating scenario, Rohde says, adding that the R&S TMU9evo is the only transmitter in its power class that can be optionally equipped with an integrated exciter backup battery, enabling it to dependably bridge power interruptions of up to 10 seconds. This reduces off-air time to a minimum and eliminates the need for an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).

The R&S Efficiency Optimization feature minimizes energy costs for all types of operating scenarios which is especially important when adjusting output power or during channel changes. An intelligent algorithm, deployed at the press of a button or adaptively, optimizes amplifier parameters so that the transmitter achieves maximum energy efficiency at all times.

Improvements to R&S Multiband Doherty technology in the R&S PMU905 medium-power amplifier in the TMU9evo provides maximum efficiency, combined with the capability to operate across the entire UHF range without any modifications. This technology ensures that network operators are optimally prepared for 700 MHz spectrum clearance and reallocation, according to the company.

The R&S TMU9evo retains the successful and proven R&S MultiTX concept along with the R&S Tx9 generation’s intuitive GUI, which is closely aligned with user requirements and work habits. The R&S TMU9evo air-cooled UHF medium-power transmitter delivers output powers from 400 W to 3.0 kW for COFDM and ATSC.

The new transmitter will be available in November 2018.

Rohde & Schwarz will be in Stand 7.21. The IBC Show takes place at the RAI Amsterdam, Sept. 14-18.

WASHINGTON--The FCC, with an assist from a bunch of broadcasters including Sinclair and Tribune, have teamed up to tell a federal court that the groups challenging the FCC's return of the UHF discount did not have standing the bring the suit.

That came in comments to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

After judges in oral argument suggested Free Press et. al had not provided the requisite documentation of harmed members, the group supplied testimonials to that effect.

But in a brief filed with the court Wednesday (May 16) in response to Free Press' supplement, the FCC said that the Supreme Court had long made clear that for an organization to establish standing, it must identify specific members "who had suffered cognizable, traceable, and redressable injuries," and that the court's signal that it would allow Free Press to provide that after the fact if Free Press could show that it "reasonably, but mistakenly, believed" its original filing "had sufficiently demonstrated standing."

The FCC said the petitioners had not done that. For one, it said, since petitioners did not identify any specific members, let alone what their injury might be, it "could not have reasonably thought it had demonstrated standing."

The FCC pointed out it had challenged standing, as had the broadcasters, Free Press et al. had failed to remedy that deficiency in reply briefs or oral argument.

And trying to use Free Press' supplement against it, the FCC said that its "belated submission of hundreds of pages of declarations, following a court order, demonstrates it was unreasonable for petitioners to have previously believed their standing was obvious."

As to Free Press' citation of the potential harms of a Sinclair-Tribune merger in their supplement, the FCC said that was simply "speculation about the effects of proposed broadcast acquisitions that are still awaiting Commission action." To be fair, Free Press also cited the impact of Sinclair-Bonten deal, which was approved last year.

Given that Free Press did not establish standing "at the time of the suit," or so the FCC argues, the court should dismiss the petition to review and reverse the UHF discount decision on the basis of lack of standing.

In their brief, Sinclair, Tribune, Fox, Univision, Trinity, ION and Nexstar, second-chaired the FCC's argument, summing it up this way:

"The Supreme Court and this Court long ago held that parties relying on the associational-standing doctrine must 'establis[h] that at least one identified member' has standing. It is likewise well-established that petitioners 'must produce actual evidence, not mere allegations, of facts that support [their] standing.' Petitioners failed to meet these clear requirements and had no reasonable basis for believing that the requirements did not apply."

They also agreed that the Sinclair-Tribune deal is "insufficiently certain or imminent to establish standing."

The insufficiently imminent point is because the FCC has yet to even restart its shot clock on the deal, after which it will put the latest deal out for several weeks of public comment before rendering a decision.

They also point out that the Bonten deal was not opposed by Free Press et al. "Petitioners cannot establish standing based on a transaction they did not oppose and cannot seek to undo because any alleged harm to Petitioners would be traceable to that transaction, not the FCC’s separate Reconsideration Order," they said. "Additionally, the FCC had not approved the Sinclair-Bonten transaction when Petitioners instituted this action, the “critical time for Article III standing analysis.” 

TORONTO, CANADA—A collection of international broadcasting organizations are hailing a recent decision by the governing body of global spectrum treaties, which voted to preserve UHF spectrum for over-the-air television distribution. Members of the World Broadcast Union welcomed the vote held at last month’s World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, which reserved 470-694 MHz (U.S. Chs. 14-51) for broadcasting. (See “ITU Affirms UHF for Broadcasting.”)

“The decision for a global No Change in the 470-694/698MHz band... ensures a harmonized use of the band for terrestrial broadcasting and creates favorable conditions for the continuous development of digital terrestrial television,” the WBU said in a statement.

The WBU noted that the vote gives European broadcasters the confidence to invest in “releasing the 700 MHz band and repacking the lower UHF band in order to accommodate the existing TV services. Furthermore, this will facilitate the transition to new technologies like DVB-T2 and the introduction of a wider range of high-definition programs and innovative services like interactive hybrid broadcast-broadband services.“

Further, it said that in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle-East and Asia, broadcasters will be able to invest in the rollout of digital over-the-air TV and complete their digital transitions.

“Common action concerted between all broadcasting unions at WRC was aimed to preserve the fundamental interests and universal values of the public and national broadcasters based on what make the distinctiveness of the public service: accessibility, inclusion, respect and tolerance” said Tewfik Khelladi, president of the AUB at the opening of that union’s General Assembly. “What we have achieved together at WRC will allow us to protect broadcasting services until at least 2023, making it finally possible to deploy the DTT services all around Africa within these coming years.”

Regarding North America, the WBU said “the decision to maintain the globally harmonized primary allocation to broadcasting only, broadcasters can return their focus to the unprecedented incentive auction proceeding, currently scheduled to begin in the spring of 2016. At this point in time, no one knows if the incentive auction will fail or succeed in repurposing spectrum for mobile services. Either way, the result will be driven by economics, not by speculation. With the successful outcome of WRC-15, broadcasters now have confidence to continue to invest in their future by developing, implementing, and transitioning to advanced DTT technologies.”

“Broadcasters’ cooperation and coordination before and during WRC-15 was essential for securing continued access to the UHF spectrum for over-the-air TV,” the WBU said. “They have successfully demonstrated the universal importance of terrestrial broadcasting and supported the national administrations throughout the WRC-15 negotiations.”

“With the regulatory certainty in the use of the UHF spectrum resulting from this WRC-15, the continuing cooperation will enable broadcasters from all over the world to share their knowledge and best practices to establish and further develop DTT as an essential broadcasting platform for the foreseeable future.”

WBU member, the International Association of Broadcasting, said the vote was a “remarkable acknowledgment to broadcasting for its transcendental role as an instrument for freedom of expression and information, social cohesion, dissemination of culture, entertainment and for its contribution to distribute information in case of natural emergencies.”

Michael McEwen, director general of the North American Broadcasters Association said, “Despite some pre - emptive efforts from the wireless industry to spin the facts, only a handful of countries actually support reallocation. In contrast, and despite relentless pressure from the wireless industry to reallocate ever - increasing amount s of spectrum for paid services, a much larger group of nations is opposed to such reallocation. This is in recognition of the import ance of over-the-air television, including its spectrum efficiency, its prospects of continued technological advancement, and its delivery of new services.”

The Arab States Broadcasting Union and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union also released statements of support for the World Radiotelecommunications Conference, an ad hoc body of the International Telecommunications Union.

Also see Radio World’s “Q&A: Robert Weller at WRC-15.”

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND—The international body governing global spectrum treaties has affirmed the reservation of UHF channels for broadcasting across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Russia and neighboring nations. In making way for mobile broadband, the World Radiocommunication Conference last week voted to reserve 470-694 MHz (U.S. Chs. 14-51) for broadcasting.

“Representatives reached a consensus that this spectrum, currently used by broadcast services such as digital terrestrial TV and radio microphones, is too important to be allocated to mobile services,” said a statement from the European Broadcasting Union in Geneva, Switzerland.

The World Radiocommunication Conference is an ad hoc body of the International Telecommunications Union that meets every three to four years to review regulations covering radio frequency spectrum and satellite orbits, and revise them when necessary. Around 3,300 participants from 162 of the ITU’s 193 member states attended the four week conference, which concluded Nov. 27. More than 40 items involving spectrum allocation for mobile broadband, ham radio, emergency communications, satellite transmissions, maritime and aeronautical radio and more were discussed.

Revisions were made to allow mobile broadband services in L-band (1,427-1,518 MHz) and C-band (3.4-3.6 Ghz) spectrum, with studies to be done to identify frequencies at 6 GHz and above that would be suitable for wireless broadband.

Further revisions opened up the spectrum between 694 and 790 MHz (U.S. Chs. 52-67) to mobile broadband, with “full protection… [for] television broadcasting as well as to the aeronautical radionavigation systems operating in this frequency band,” according to the WRC’s summary of the meeting’s outcome. (In the United States, these channels were redesignated for mobile broadband and auctioned off in 2008.)

Other revisions included a new allocation for amateur radio in the 5 GHz band, more frequencies between 694-894 MHz for emergency communications, and greater protections for search-and-rescue operations on 406-406.1 MHz. New allocations also were made for earth observation satellites, wireless avionics, gobal flight tracking for civilian aviation, automotive radar and earth stations in motion.

Members also agreed to review coordinated universal time for a report to be considered at the 2023 WRC.

It was the EBU that made clear that WRC members agreed to reserve 470-694 MHz for broadcasting in the 118 countries comprising ITU Region 1. EBU said WRC members “agreed that there would be no change to the allocation in the 470-694 MHz band either now, or at WRC-19 in four years’ time. Instead there will be a review of the spectrum use in the entire UHF band—470-960 MHz—at the WRC in 2023. Only then will it be decided whether to make further changes to the Radio Regulations. This added security will enable many countries in ITU Region 1 to continue with their digital switchover programs without the risk of an impending change in use of the spectrum.”

The National Association of Broadcasters in Washington, D.C., also hailed the decision.

“NAB was pleased by the global unity demonstrated at WRC-15 for the importance of a vibrant system of over-the-air broadcasting,” the NAB’s Dennis Wharton said in a statement. “Of the 162 nations attending the conference, more than 140 countries rejected the wireless broadband industry’s anti-broadcasting UHF spectrum grab and recognized that frequency band is harmonized to provide television services on a worldwide scale. This broad consensus should send a strong message that while wireless broadband services are important for those who can afford the fees, that service should not come at the expense of a ubiquitous over-the air TV service that is available to all for free.”

Joe Snelson

SEATTLE—A Federal Communications Commission request for comment on a proposal to reserve one vacant UHF TV channel in each geographic area of the U.S. for use by unlicensed white space devices and wireless mics has unleashed criticism from an array of television industry organizations.

Joe Snelson, president of the Society of Broadcast Engineers noted that just a few years ago, the commission had issued plans to assign two dedicated channels—in most markets on each side of UHF channel 37—for wireless microphone use. “The ground rules have changed several times from the original two channels,” he said, “and it seems like it keeps moving.”

(As this story went to press for the July issue of TV Technology, SBE had not yet provided formal comments to the NPRM. However, the FCC did suspend the comment period deadline, originally set for Aug. 3.)

In its response to the NPRM (15-146), the Radio Television Digital News Association said that, in television markets where a broadcast station is located on that previously dedicated wireless microphone spectrum, “news operations in that market would be left without assurances that they could cover breaking news to the extent possible in other local markets.

“This approach would run counter to the commission’s [previous] finding that some exclusive 600 MHz spectrum is necessary for licensed wireless microphone operations,” the association continued. “Having already slashed its allocation for wireless microphones by two-thirds down to 4 MHz, the commission cannot feasibly reduce it any further.”

The proposed sharing of spectrum with WSDs has been a particular sticking point in the commission’s proposal. “White space” refers to channels in the television band that are not licensed to broadcasters in a particular television market, but are licensed to broadcasters in other markets. A WSD would determine whether it could operate without interfering with a broadcaster in any particular market by accessing a database detailing which channels are open to WSD use.

A broad coalition of industry associations representing broadcasters and advocates for users of unlicensed wireless WSDs has asked the FCC to reconsider its proposal to prevent the relocation of TV stations to areas of the broadcast spectrum used by such unlicensed devices and wireless microphones. The National Association of Broadcasters is among that group, and has also filed its own comments to the NPRM.

“We’re not against the concept of white spaces,” said Dennis Wharton, executive vice president for communications for NAB. But he pointed to flaws in the WSD database that render it ineffective.

There are fewer than a thousand WSDs that have been sold and are in use at this point. Purchasers of WSDs are not required to obtain licenses to operate them, but must register them with information such as name and address, email address and device location information.

Any review of these submissions quickly turns up intentionally errant submissions. One registrant gave the latitude and longitude a WSD of a spot in the Atlantic Ocean, about 500 miles off the shore of Cameroon. Because there are no TV band licensed broadcasters at that location, the WSD would determine it could operate on any channel, likely causing interference with licensed users. Bogus WSD user information such as John Q. Public, a frequently used 123 Jump Street address and phony email addresses would hinder the ability to contact the owner of an interfering WSD.

“Having geo-location attached to those devices seems to make sense to us,” said Wharton, who also suggested using some system of query and response via email during the WSD registration process.

MULTIPLE DATABASES
Fig. 1: Example of KAET studios wireless microphone protection filing as translated to a point-radius (circle) pattern. On the right is a much smaller resultant protected area. (Demonstration)
The WSD database is actually a group of databases, supplied by multiple vendors, which are required to be synced every 24 hours, at a minimum. Referring to this multiple databased system, Karl Voss, chief engineer at Phoenix public station KAET-TV, said “the biggest thing is they never decided to have one vendor do the database.”

He detailed differences in the way the databases are put together, noting an example that one vendor does not allow describing a licensed user’s WSB protection area as a polygon, even though the FCC’s rules require that polygons be allowed (Figs. 1 and 2). When he entered the information as a polygon, after syncing, “in one database it showed up as a circle.” The circle description would have afforded much less actual protected area when seen by a WSD.

Voss, who is also a frequency coordinator for the National Football League, described another problem with the multiple databases and their need to sync every 24 hours. In the worst case, information entered into database A could take 24 hours to reach database B, and since WSDs are only required to query a database every 24 hours, the combination of the two delays could mean a database entry could take 48 hours to reach a particular WSD.

Fig. 2: Example of KAET studios wireless mic protection filing submitted as a polygon. On the right is the resultant protected area. (Demonstration)
He said in practical terms, in the week before an NFL game “I have been blocking out every frequency known to man at any event that I’m doing, just so the white-space devices are absolutely shut down.”

Such a broad brush approach is necessitated by the last-minute nature of frequency coordination at such events.

“I don’t have any idea until the last moment what wireless microphone or IFB frequency is going to be used by the host broadcaster,” he said. “We may coordinate things a week in advance and then I find out that the vendor shipped different equipment, and then we have to throw away our coordination plan and start all over again with different frequency blocks.”

With all this doom and gloom, it should be noted that white space technology offers “if you can’t beat them, join them” opportunities. “We have been looking at providing WSD equipment that will work in those channels,” said John Payne, chief technology officer at microwave equipment manufacturer IMT. “From the ENG vendor side, for applications like wireless cameras, it gives us opportunities to provide solutions to broadcasters.”

HOUSTON—Rice University engineers say they have demonstrated a system that enables wireless data transmissions over UHF channels during active TV broadcasts. The technology “could significantly expand the reach of so-called ‘super Wi-Fi’ networks in urban areas,” the university said.

Edward Knightly, professor and department chair of electrical and computer engineering and director of the Rice Wireless Network Group, noted that the 400-700 MHz UHF spectrum is coveted for its signal propagation characteristics. He said that UHF could carry Wi-Fi signals much farther than the higher frequencies typically used.

The Federal Communications Commission allows secondary users to transmit wireless data on unlicensed UHF channels—aka “white spaces”—provided that the transmissions do not interfere with TV broadcasts in any part of the UHF spectrum.

“Unfortunately, in the most densely populated areas of the country, where the need for additional wireless data services is the greatest, the amount of available white space is extremely limited,” Knightly said. “In our most recent tests in Houston, one channel is open in parts of the city and none are available in others. This is fairly typical of a large U.S. urban area.”

Knightly, pictured left, and Rice graduate student Xu Zhang developed a technology called “Wi-Fi in Active TV Channels,” or WATCH, and received FCC approval to test it at the Rice campus in 2014.

WATCH requires no coordination with or changes to legacy TV transmitters, the university said. TV signals are broadcast as normal and the WATCH system actively monitors whenever a nearby TV is tuned to a channel to avoid interfering with reception. One aspect of WATCH monitors TV broadcasts on a channel and uses signal-canceling techniques to insert wireless data transmissions into the same channel, which eliminates TV broadcasts from interfering with the super Wi-Fi data signals being sent to computer users, Knightly said.

The other aspect of WATCH is dedicated to making certain that data transmissions do not interfere with TV reception. This part of the technology would require TVs to report when they are being tuned to a UHF channel, Knightly said. In practice, this could be accomplished with either smart TV remotes or next-generation TV sets. In the tests at Rice, Zhang constructed a smart-remote app that reported whenever a test television in the lab was tuned to a UHF channel. When that happened, the WATCH system automatically shifted its data transmissions to another part of the UHF spectrum that wasn’t being used.

“Our tests showed that WATCH could provide at least six times more wireless data compared with situations where we were limited only to the traditionally available white-space spectrum,” Knightly said. With WATCH in use, Knightly said it took a fraction of a second longer than normal to tune in a UHF TV broadcast on the test television—less than a 5 percent increase.

Zhang and Knightly’s report on the research, titled “WATCH: Wi-Fi in Active TV Channels,” won best-paper honors last month at Association of Computing Machinery’s MobiHoc 2015 conference in Hangzhou, China.

The research is supported by the National Science Foundation, Cisco Systems and the Keck Foundation. Zhang and Knightley’s paper on WATCH is available here. Also see Doug Lung’s coverage of Rice’s white-space MIMO experiements.

Story images by Jeff Fitlow of Rice University. Cover image provided by Rice.