Interference-The Problem

 
Interference-The Problem
Since 1927, interference protection has always been at the core of federal regulators' spectrum mission.
The Radio Act of 1927 empowered the Federal Radio Commission to address interference concerns.
Although interference protection remains essential to the mission, interference rules that are too strict
limit users' ability to offer new services; on the other hand, rules that are too lax may harm existing
services. I believe the Commission should continuously examine whether there are market or
technological solutions that can-in the long run-replace or supplement pure regulatory solutions to
interference.
The FCC's current interference rules were typically developed based on the expected nature of a single
service's technical characteristics in a given band. The rules for most services include limits on power
and emissions from transmitters. Each time the old service needs to evolve with the demands of its
users, the licensee has to come back to the Commission for relief from the original rules. This process is
not only inefficient, but it can also stymie innovation.
Due to the complexity of interference issues and the RF environment, interference protection solutions
may be largely technology driven. Interference is not solely caused by transmitters, which is the usual
assumption on which the regulations are almost exclusively based. Instead, interference is often more a
product of receivers; that is, receivers are too dumb, too sensitive, or too cheap to filter out unwanted
signals. However, the FCC's decades-old rules have generally ignored receivers. Emerging
communications technologies are becoming more tolerant of interference through sensory and adaptive
capabilities in receivers. That is, receivers can sense what type of noise, interference, or other signals are
operating on a given channel and then adapt so that they transmit on a clear channel that allows them to
be heard.
Both the complexity of the interference task-and the remarkable ability of technology (rather than
regulation) to respond to it-are most clearly demonstrated by the recent success of unlicensed
operations. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, a complex variety of unlicensed devices
is already in common use, including garage and car door openers, baby monitors, family radios, wireless
headphones, and millions of wireless Internet access devices using Wi-Fi technologies. Yet despite the
sheer volume of devices and their disparate uses, manufacturers have developed technology that allows
receivers to sift through the noise to find the desired signal.