Robert L. Hinkle

Abstract: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in the Department of Commerce undertook a detailed program to investigate the feasibility of deploying the Limited Surveillance Radars (LSR) in the 2.7-2.9 GHz band in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. The LSR is a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic control radar planned for use at general aviation airports with high traffic density that do not qualify for the longer range Airport Surveillance Radars (ASR). This investigation was the third in a series of tasks undertaken by NTIA as part of a spectrum resource assessment of the 2.7-2.9 GHz band. The overall objective of the spectrum resource assessment was to assess the degree of congestion in the band in designated areas in the United States, and to promote more effective utilization of the band. The new investigation showed that the 2.7-2.9 GHz band is congested in both the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. Major factors contributing to congestion are the Military height-finding radars and the occurrence of ducting (superrefraction) propagation conditions. However, the LSR radars can be accommodated in the present environment at the proposed sites in these areas, but it was necessary to conduct a detailed frequency assignment investigation. Due to the high degree of congestion in these areas, it may be necessary, in order to accommodate all the proposed LSR deployments, to retrofit a few existing radars in the environment with waveguide filters or receiver signal processing techniques to suppress asynchronous pulsed interference.

Keywords: electromagnetic compatibility (EMC); limited surveillance radar; deployment; frequency assignment

Disclaimer: Certain commercial equipment, components, and software may be identified in this report to specify adequately the technical aspects of the reported results. In no case does such identification imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, nor does it imply that the equipment or software identified is necessarily the best available for the particular application or uses.

For questions or information on this or any other NTIA scientific publication, contact the ITS Publications Office at ITSinfo@ntia.gov or 303-497-3572.

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