Thursday, February 9, 2012

LBA’s Chris Horne Moderates 4GWE Panel on Spectrum Issues Hear No RF Evil - See No RF Evil

LBA’s Chris Horne Moderates 4GWE Panel on Spectrum Issues Hear No RF Evil - See No RF Evil

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LBA’s Chris Horne Moderates 4GWE Panel on Spectrum Issues

Posted: 09 Feb 2012 07:13 AM PST

Chris Horne, chief technical officer of LBA Group, moderated an expert panel discussion earlier this month on the conundrum of squeezing more serviceable networking capacity from finite, congested spectrum. The discussion occurred at the 4G Wireless Evolution conference Feb. 1-3 in the Miami Convention Center.

Members of the three-person panel were Thomas Knippen, who is vice president and general manager at Benton Ridge Telephone Company and W.A.T.C.H. TV; Greg Williams, senior VP for corporate and business development at BelAir Networks; and Jeff Kohler, co-founder of JAB Wireless, Inc. and responsible for merger, acquisition and corporate development activities.

A technical examination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum was carried out before an audience of about 40 wireless operators, venture capitalists and technologists. The panelists weighed in on two corollary questions: how can wireless congestion be mitigated, and is the better answer in parsing available spectrum or creating new technology?

Their conclusion: a combination of technology and spectrum management is necessary.

"There was a consensus that unlicensed spectrum is here to stay," Horne says. "Both WiFi hotspots and small and large companies who deploy unlicensed networks will be a part of planning to improve the wireless experience."

One panelist observed that for a company to utilize "WiFi" does not always mean deploying it. Rather, a company might use unlicensed frequency bands for distributing and backhauling traffic for experimental work or partner with carriers to offload cell traffic.

The industry fully recognizes that wireless network congestion is a genuine problem to be addressed by development of new equipment and technology. To get by at the moment, AT&T is using carrier WiFi to offload traffic in the unlicensed spectrum. Heterogeneous Networks—HetNets—have a crucial role in enhancing capacity. Some fixed wireless operators are partnering with mobile wireless carriers to offer complementary off-loading and backhauling of internet traffic.

All internet service providers are reeling from the data explosion. Consequently, unlicensed ISPs and licensed ones are eying one another to meet their disparate needs. The time may be ripe for partnerships.

Management of the radio spectrum was viewed by panelists as two forces at play: regulation of spectrum versus the "market." It was noted that cloud services like Apple iCloud and Google music require even more bandwidth and high throughput. That led to the suggestion that a combination of regulated "white spaces" and unlicensed offload might be the best way to mitigate the capacity issue

Panelists also weighed in on the use and practicality of TV white spaces in rural areas where unlicensed space is not congested. Rural areas have better propagation conditions, one panelist noted, but the technology right now does not have any special performance incentives. Panelists talked of the various tradeoffs involved and concluded TV white spaces are an option but not a preeminent one.

Some current WiFi developments were touched on by the panel. It was noted that chip maker Broadcom announced plans for "gigabit WiFi" device, two and three times faster for the 5 GHz band. Unconfirmed reports surfaced about mobile equipment and services supplier Ericsson purchasing BelAir Networks, which provides strand-mounted picocell devices for the unlicensed bands for carrier offload. The Japanese operator KDDI claimed that its new free WiFi network with Android smartphones reaches 10,000 locations and will scale to 100,000 locations by March.

A specialist in wireless system engineering, Horne is a veteran of such discussions as this one. He was a panelist last fall at a 4G World conference in Chicago where splitting and rebranding spectrum was dissected for conference attendees.  Horne is leading another conference presentation in April at a Minnesota State Wireless Association event entitled "The Future of Wireless."

Panelists (from left) were Chris Horne, Tom Knippen, Greg Williams, and Jeff Kohler
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Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Microwave Path Study Sells Tower Approval Hear No RF Evil - See No RF Evil

Microwave Path Study Sells Tower Approval Hear No RF Evil - See No RF Evil

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Microwave Path Study Sells Tower Approval

Posted: 01 Feb 2012 08:55 AM PST

(What’s all this Fresnel Zone Stuff, Anyway?)

As wireless cell towers and antennas flourish, towns, cites and municipalities are challenged to adopt ordinances that let citizens receive the best telecommunications services available. Regulatory legislation hasn't helped. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was over 500 pages long; during debate, most legislators considered it to only be about deregulation. But buried inside the Act, in Section 704, lay a crafty clause about the siting of cell-phone towers that trips up planning and zoning groups.

For this and other reasons, zoning boards are challenged to approve high-quality wireless services. It doesn't help when they don't understand microwave propagation.

An appreciation of microwave propagation comes into play when carriers and network operators are faced with securing wireless transmission media (often a microwave link "backhaul") that relay the wireless traffic to the landline network or between towers. As more educational institutions offer additional classrooms in distance education and remote video conferencing, their needs also increase for wireless systems and backhaul.

 

Collocation Tower with Cellular and Backhaul Antennas

 

As a case in point, a town in Illinois accepted an application from SBA Towers to replace an aging tower on a college campus with a taller monopole structure to allow better backhaul of college networks and to support more wireless tenants. The existing short tower was structurally limited but was situated in adequate campus space to meet setback and other pertinent city requirements. The application was presented to the town by wireless zoning attorney Richard Connor Riley, supported by expert testimony from LBA's Chris Horne. Chris' work included a microwave path study of the existing and proposed college backhaul link.

This is where it gets interesting.

The study was performed for a proposed new digital transmission system serving four video conference classrooms and also transporting all internet traffic between the college and a remote teaching facility. The included digital microwave link would be a backup to an existing fiber network between the two campuses.

Controversy arose centered on a proposed antenna dish that was needed to support the data requirements of four video conference classrooms. It would replace an existing microwave dish that served only one classroom and was an outmoded analog link with limited performance and capacity compared to the proposed digital replacement.

When LBA evaluated the microwave installation, it confirmed that greater height was needed for the new dish to support the required performance of the system. It had not been obvious to zoning authorities that such an increase was necessary; the devil was in an "invisible" gremlin!

A close evaluation of the microwave path between the campus and a far terminal revealed that a tall hotel building under construction several miles away was rising exactly in the path of the beam. At its final height, the building would penetrate the microwave Fresnel zone and block the microwave signal. Based upon LBA's engineering evaluation, the town zoning board was persuaded to approve the SBA tower application, and clear the way for the higher microwave dish. The university learning network was saved!

So – just what is this mysterious microwave path Fresnel zone?

In order for radio waves emitted from a transmitting antenna to reach a receiver without attenuation of power, a certain amount of 3-dimensional space is required. The radio wave energy cannot reach the receiver via one straight line in space. Think of a hole the size of a needle in a concrete wall. If you shout across a pond to the wall, do you think all the sound penetrates only the hole?

The Fresnel zone or First Fresnel zone (0.6) is a three-dimensional elliptical space surrounding the line of sight path from the transmitter to the receiver. If a reflective object is placed anywhere on the edge of the ellipse, it will cause a reflected signal that, due to propagation delay, is delayed 180 degrees ("carrier phase shift") with the line of sight signal at the receiving antenna. Digital radio equipment is typically robust in the presence of propagation fades and other noise. However, if there is an obstruction between the antennas (ground, buildings, natural objects, etc.), the radio waves will be reflected, resulting in multipath interference and unacceptable bit error rates–think old TV "snowy pictures.

 

Depiction of a Fresnel Zone in urban environment

 

A 0.6 Fresnel zone clearance is normally desired for microwave paths. While "line of sight" (LOS) is important, it obviously is not always adequate. Even though the path may have clear LOS, when obstructions penetrate the Fresnel zone, unwanted signal attenuation results.

This is precisely what happened in this case; a building encroached upon the 0.6 Fresnel zone of the proposed college microwave link. Such obstacles can wreak havoc on wireless backhaul including transmission errors and signal reception issues.

The take away here is that next time you plan a microwave backhaul link, be sure to consider the Fresnel zone, LOS obstructions, and other antenna placement factors. Consider every detail of the traversed terrain, including vegetation, existing, and planned construction. A detailed path study will provide valuable input results for an efficient tower placement scheme that meets both coverage and transmission quality metrics. A not unimportant byproduct is that it also provides the basis for a credible defense of a tower proposal in an increasingly contentious zoning environment.

LBA can help with all of the above. LBA also offers RF Engineering services including expert testimony and system design. We offer extensive zoning technical support here. Other capabilities include microwave system design, path study, and RF engineering services here.
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Monday, January 23, 2012

Three Surveys Rank LBA Group High as a Top Minority-Owned Business in the United States Hear No RF Evil - See No RF Evil

Three Surveys Rank LBA Group High as a Top Minority-Owned Business in the United States Hear No RF Evil - See No RF Evil

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Three Surveys Rank LBA Group High as a Top Minority-Owned Business in the United States

Posted: 23 Jan 2012 12:48 PM PST

GREENVILLE, NC  January, 2012 – LBA Group Inc. has been singled out as a successful, privately owned business—not once, but three times. The Greenville telecommunications company ranks high in three separate surveys of American businesses in 2011.

"As one of the awardees from around the country, you have distinguished yourself as one of the leading entrepreneurs in the United States," said Kenton Clarke last week in announcing LBA Group's listing among 2,500 successful businesses in the U.S.  Clarke is CEO of DiversityBusiness, the nation's largest organization of minority-owned companies doing business with Fortune 1000 firms, government agencies and universities.

Besides the national recognition, LBA Group earned a spot in two significant state rankings by the same organization: Number 51 among top 100 minority businesses in North Carolina and an identical ranking among top 100 privately held companies in the state.

The three awards continue LBA's run as a recognized small business success story in an economy that tests the mettle of every company.

"LBA is particularly honored to be recognized for 2011," says Lawrence Behr, company founder and CEO. "It is gratifying because it comes at a time of international economic stress. We are succeeding because of the commitment and excellence of our diversified team."

Behr entered the industry in 1963 after becoming fascinated as a teenager by AM broadcast engineering. First hiring out his skills, the young Behr soon formed his own company.

Today, LBA Group, Inc is comprised of two units: LBA Technology, Inc. which markets such products as AM antenna systems, antenna test equipment,  EMF shielding, and RF safety monitors to wireless, commercial and military users; and consulting firm Lawrence Behr Associates, Inc., offering  professional services including cell tower zoning and RF safety compliance, RF safety training, EMF shield design and testing, RF interference resolution and distributed antenna system (DAS) services.

LBA Group is very much a global company. It has been deeply involved in telecommunications projects on every continent—from Europe to the Middle East and Africa and across the entire length of South America. A contract completed in January was for India's radio broadcast system.

LBA Group and other award-winners will be recognized at the organization's 12th annual National Business Awards Conference, held this year on April 25 at a resort in Mashantucket, Conn.
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Friday, January 6, 2012

FCC Spectrum Management Mistakes: The “Sweet Sixteen” List – Part 4 Summary and Reflections Hear No RF Evil - See No RF Evil

FCC Spectrum Management Mistakes: The “Sweet Sixteen” List – Part 4 Summary and Reflections Hear No RF Evil - See No RF Evil

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FCC Spectrum Management Mistakes: The “Sweet Sixteen” List – Part 4 Summary and Reflections

Posted: 06 Jan 2012 07:45 AM PST

We have now finished reviewing the dismal (partial) list of historic FCC spectrum management engineering mistakes, and in this final part of the series we'll look at some suggestions for how the FCC could, ideally, conduct this highly-important function.  The Commission would never adopt any of these proposals, of course, but "even engineers can dream!"

As detailed earlier in this series, too many times the FCC regulators have dipped their pinkies into technology and have tried to force 'regulated" spectrum management solutions which buck the well-known laws of physics.  Their regulatory development process (at a general level) seems to operate as follows:

 1. Especially under prodding from Congress and/or from specific entrepreneurs or regulated industries, promote development of a new spectrum-using technology by proposing an allocation of a slice of spectrum to accommodate the new systems.

2. After the public discussion and the submission of Comments has ended, ignore recommendations from well-qualified engineers and technical experts, both within the Commission and external to it, which are in full or partial opposition to the proposal as written.

3. Adopt the proposal by using administrative fiats that declare that the opposition's technical findings are "of no merit" or, alternatively, by issuing their own "administrative fixes" to circumvent any identified problems.

4. After operations of the new technology are implemented, begin receiving complaints from established spectrum licensees/users that their existing operations are becoming affected by the new activities.

5. Transfer the burden of proof that damages have indeed occurred entirely to the complaining parties, while retaining the option for the Commission administratively to dismiss the complaints because of "non-proof" of the claims (at least to the Commission's satisfaction!) or because of the demonstrated narrow "technical compliance" by the newly established systems with "existing Rules."  This then leaves the federal judicial system as the only remaining remedy for redress of damages, again at the injured licensees' own expense.

6. Finally, if matters cannot be resolved in any other easy way, propose an ad-hoc "administrative settlement" together with modified Rules which solve few of the FCC-created problems, leaves no party satisfied, but provides an easy way for the FCC to exit gracefully.

FCC Spectrum Management Universe

The FCC's historical record in spectrum management is one of repeated poor-to-disastrous engineering decisions, punctuated with occasional successes (for example, the Personal Communications Service [PCS]).  Too much at the FCC has gone too badly wrong for too long a period of time for this level of poor agency performance to be dismissed or to be labeled as "unimportant."  Their cumulative record is equivalent to leaving Apollo 11 motionless on the launch pad, rather than on its way to a first lunar landing.  At the bottom of it all, this record is one of failure!

The Curmudgeon is an informed citizen who is angry about the quality of regulation that has been historically provided by the FCC.  Not angry because the FCC is a governmental regulatory organization.  Angry, rather, because it has been government done poorly!  Angry because the FCC has always been an organization with grossly insufficient direction from both its own scientists and engineers and those in the outside professional community.  Angry because the people at its top who cannot possibly understand the spectrum management engineering arguments and their ramifications still make the final decisions.

It is generally not the case that the FCC is administered by uneducated bureaucratic dummies who are the "survivors" in the civil service.  (The Commissioners themselves are political appointees, so not much relief can be expected there.)  Their top staff people may well have advanced degrees from well-recognized universities in law, economics, public service, or business.  But they may also carry college academic transcripts that indicate they earned grades of C- or lower in their "introductory survey of physics for non-science majors" or "business calculus" courses, the last technical requirement courses they might ever take.  It would be fascinating to know!

Would you still believe that a solid background in a technical discipline isn't really a necessity for a successful top manager in that same discipline?  Then you ought to consider the prospects for a hospital surgery department managed by a Wall Street options trader.  Or an airline's Pilot Training and Certification Department administered by an (non-aviator) economist.  Or a nuclear power plant Reactor Operations department led by a divorce lawyer.  And, for that matter, a clinical psychological counseling group managed by an RF engineer!

There are few easy decisions to be made in the area of RF spectrum management, which, by its very nature, is a highly technical area.  Is it not perhaps reasonable and rational for the regulatory decision makers in spectrum management to be highly qualified in its physics and engineering disciplines?  Is it not reasonable for the regulators to accept, and even to actively seek, engineering advice from non-governmental technical experts?  Certainly lawyers can write the subsequent Rules, and economists can do the industry financial assessments.  But highly experienced engineers need to make the spectrum management decisions!  And by the way, in this new and enlightened era politicians and lobbyists would be nowhere to be seen around the FCC!

What a beautiful, satisfying dream-in-progress experience this was…..which dream was abruptly terminated in mid-course by the clamor of trash cans clanging in the alley behind The Portals in Washington, D. C.!  "And so another typical day at the FCC begins…….."

What do you think?

"Let's save the universe for RF!"

The Old RF Curmudgeon

Since 1963, LBA has been providing RF equipment and engineering consulting services for radio and television broadcast and wireless communications.

 
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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

LBA’s Chris Horne takes spectrum-sharing message to Miami as 4GWE panelist Hear No RF Evil - See No RF Evil

LBA’s Chris Horne takes spectrum-sharing message to Miami as 4GWE panelist Hear No RF Evil - See No RF Evil

Link to Hear No RF Evil - See No RF Evil

LBA’s Chris Horne takes spectrum-sharing message to Miami as 4GWE panelist

Posted: 28 Dec 2011 08:08 AM PST

Chris Horne, the chief technical officer of LBA Group Inc., will participate in another national forum highlighting the emerging issue of overloaded wireless spectrum. Horne is a panelist presenter Feb. 1-3 at the 4G Wireless Evolution conference in the Miami Convention Center.

The 4GWE conferences attract wireless carriers and industry stockholders who are keen to stay on top of swiftly changing technologies and applications. Anyone in the wireless industry knows the sweep of change involved these days, and one such phenomenon is the lowering of barriers between licensed and unlicensed wireless spectrum providers.

At the conference, Horne—a registered professional engineer with a doctorate in electrical engineering—will be one of five panelists in a discussion of "Breaking Down the Licensed-Unlicensed Wall."

Because the demand for more spectrum is blurring and fusing the worlds of licensed and unlicensed internet service providers, the panel will explore the possibility of more efficiently utilizing spectrum by blending it between the two ISP categories. This fuzzing of distinctions between licensed and unlicensed providers crosses the threshold into another brave new world of spectrum usage.

Another example of the movement toward parsing spectrum is the Federal Communications Commission's approval of sharing UHF and VHF television channels. The decision came after experimental trials of TV spectrum-sharing were conducted in several areas, including Wilmington, N.C.  KTS Wireless is a pioneer in this whitespace radio technology.

Horne is a veteran of such discussions as these. He was a panelist last fall at a 4G World conference in Chicago where splitting and rebranding spectrum was dissected for conference attendees.

For the Miami discussion, on the panel with Horne are Thomas Knippen, vice president of W.A.T.C.H. TV; Phillip Merrill, owner of Arizona ISP company, BeamSpeed;  Dr. Mohammad Shakouri, vice president of broadband solutions provider Alvarion; and Greg Williams, senior vice president of BelAir Networks.

Conference attendees can take part in the panel discussions, network with wireless world peers, and view new products and services of an expected 200 exhibitors on the convention center floor. To register for the conference, or for more information, the 4GWE contact person is wireless spectrum, overloaded wireless spectrum, 4G Wireless Evolution conference,4G Wireless Evolution conference,4G Wireless Evolution conference, 4GFrank Coppola at 203-852-6800 extension 131 or he can be e-mailed at fcoppola@tmcnet.com.

 
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Friday, December 16, 2011

A Holiday Message to All Our Friends… Hear No RF Evil - See No RF Evil

A Holiday Message to All Our Friends… Hear No RF Evil - See No RF Evil

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A Holiday Message to All Our Friends…

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 08:43 AM PST

Business in 2011 was a challenge for every company in America. Did you notice?

Here at LBA Group Inc., our team did a magnificent job of tuning out the static and vectoring in on solutions to customers' needs. Consequently, we are able to look back on the year with considerable satisfaction and to look forward to 2012 with genuine eagerness. We believe we are well-positioned to ably serve old and new customers and to grow our position in the market.

So… Happy Holidays from all of us at LBA Group Inc. May your New Year be replete with personal and professional success.
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