spectrum

LAS VEGAS--The message at yesterday's CES Tech Policy Summit was all about spectrum, and the looming crisis brought on by exploding demand for mobile broadband relying on limited frequencies. Speakers including FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and three of his four fellow commissioners all sounded the same theme: the FCC's top priority for the coming year will be to unleash more spectrum, before it's too late.

"Without action," Genachowski said yesterday, "demand for spectrum will soon outstrip supply."

No one in … Read more

AT&T took another step toward filling out its 4G wireless broadband strategy with the announcement yesterday that it plans to spend $1.9 billion to buy wireless spectrum from chipmaker Qualcomm.

The new spectrum will be used to help build the carrier's next generation LTE network. This is the same technology that Verizon Wireless is using to build its 4G network.

In some ways, AT&T may seem a little late to the 4G wireless party. Competitors Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile USA have already been touting their fourth generation networks.

Verizon just launched its service earlier this month. … Read more

The federal government has taken the first step in freeing up more spectrum for wireless broadband services in the United States.

On Monday, the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration issued a report identifying 115MHz of wireless spectrum that can be shared among federal agencies and commercial users.

The report proposes that the spectrum be reallocated for commercial wireless broadband use within five years. The report and the reallocation proposal are part of a broader effort by the Obama administration to free up 500MHz of wireless spectrum to be used for new emerging wireless services.

In June, President Obama … Read more

Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization tomorrow plans to unveil a breakthrough in wireless technology that will allow multiple users to upload content at the same time while maintaining a data transfer rate of 12 megabits per second (Mbps), all over their old analog TV aerial.

The technology, named Ngara, allows up to six users to occupy the equivalent spectrum space of one television channel (7 megahertz) and has a spectral efficiency of 20 bits per second per hertz. Ngara can handle up to three times that of similar technology and maintains a data rate more than 10 … Read more

The Federal Communications Commission is laying the groundwork for freeing up wireless spectrum.

Last week, the FCC held a workshop that examined the looming spectrum crisis. In a report published as part of the meeting, the FCC indicated that over the next five years, data usage will increase 35 times, compared to rates of today. While the wireless industry is working to make devices and network infrastructure equipment more efficient, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said last week at the meeting that it would not be enough to keep up with growth.

"Even if spectrum and device efficiency doubles, and … Read more

Qualcomm is suspending direct sales of devices that use its MediaFlo mobile TV service as the company prepares to pull the plug on its mobile broadcast TV service sometime next year, the company said Tuesday.

The company said in a statement that it will maintain the mobile broadcast TV network to ensure current customers can use the service until the spring of 2011. But after that, it appears the company will discontinue the service and refund customers. Qualcomm didn't say for sure what it plans to do with the valuable wireless spectrum it used to build the network and … Read more

The Federal Communications Commission today unanimously approved new rules for the use of unlicensed white space spectrum in a move that could pave the way for more unused wireless spectrum to be released in the future.

White space is unused spectrum that sits between TV channels. The 300MHz to 400MHz of unused spectrum is considered prime spectrum for offering wireless broadband services because it can travel long distances and penetrate through walls. The FCC unanimously agreed in November 2008 to open up this spectrum for unlicensed use. Even so, technical issues to allow device makers and service providers to use … Read more

The Federal Communications Commission is close to finalizing rules for the use of unlicensed white space spectrum, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper on Tuesday reported that top aides to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski have met with TV broadcasters and others in recent weeks to discuss how to get the spectrum freed for use by technology companies and wireless operators.

White space is unused spectrum that sits between TV channels. The 300MHz to 400MHz of unused spectrum is considered prime spectrum for offering wireless broadband services because it can travel long distances and penetrate through … Read more

In late 2009, we wrote about the Language Environment Analysis (LENA) system, which identifies autism in children as young as 18 months by labeling vocalizations from recordings and generating automatic acoustic analysis of those sounds.

At the time, LENA claimed its system was 91 percent accurate. Now, according to research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that number has dropped slightly to 86 percent.

The researchers analyzed more than 3 million child utterances from 1,486 all-day recordings of 232 children. Of the 12 acoustic parameters analyzed for vocal development, syllabification (producing well-formed syllables … Read more