10-18-2006, 07:00 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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Phone Scoop: A Visual Guide to AWS (and US Wireless Spectrum in General)
"The U.S. government recently auctioned off a large, important band of radio spectrum called AWS. There's a lot of confusion about the new AWS band these days, so we've created this handy guide to explain all the nitty-gritty details. Although this article focuses primarily on AWS, it's hard to explain AWS without touching on some general radio spectrum topics and the other major cell-phone bands, so we'll cover some of that, too. The AWS auction was conducted by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission,) the arm of the government responsible for (among other things) regulating radio spectrum and the industries that use it. The auction took place August 9 - September 19, 2006."
Ever wonder how the FCC auctions or allocates wireless spectrum, and how it overlaps with Europe's? Or what are phones are actually doing when they're triband or quadband? Or why T-Mobile waited so very long until announcing their 3G network? If so, definitely read this article. It's one of the finest articles I've read on the subject in a very long time. I'd consider it a must-read for any non-RF-engineer who's interested in wireless technology, especially those in the US; Rich Brome does a wonderful job of explaining it all and making it accessible to the average technology enthusiast.  (And for those of you who want the full-sized image of the above US FCC spectrum allocation diagram, here's the original PDF. Yes, it's mind-blowingly complicated. 8O)
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10-18-2006, 09:10 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 60
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While the Frequency Allocation Chart published by the NTIA is normally a nice visual guide as to how the RF spectrum is managed, this particular revision dates back to 2003. The auctions that have taken place in recent months AND years, especially for AWS are not reflected in this chart.
Try this, find 1710MHz on the chart. You'll notice that it's still allocated to "Government Exclusive", namely the DOD, whereas most of us know that T-Mobile has recently acquired that spectrum for its 3G network.
A new chart is released every three years. The new one should be out sometime this month.
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10-18-2006, 11:10 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,341
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....I'm color blind.....
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Linear Mode
