Michael G. Cotton et al.

Abstract:

These are the proceedings for the 2011 International Symposium on Advanced Radio Technologies hosted by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences in Boulder, Colorado. The conference focused on radar spectrum usage and management. It included radar tutorials; spectrum inventory briefings; and moderated discussions about radar policy, spectrum management, research and technology, and regulatory issues related to sharing radar spectrum. Overall, ISART 2011 successfully brought together the radar and communications communities to identify spectrum issues and discuss ways to make radar systems and spectrum more efficient. Conclusions drawn at this year’s conference were that better spectrum management in radar bands is a multi-faceted problem spanning economic, regulatory, and technical issues. Technical concepts and solutions were identified that could improve radar spectrum efficiency. Examples include radar transmitter upgrades to improve out-of-band emissions; using adaptive and cognitive antennas and signal processing to avoid, mitigate, and prevent interference; and consolidation of multiple radar systems, functions, and/or operational bands into a single platform. In regards to sharing radar spectrum as a means to increase spectrum utilization, radar usage models that offer whitespace opportunities were identified. Radar spectrum improvement projects, however, have technical challenges and tend to be large and expensive. Further, current funding models do not support wide scale development for the sake of spectrum efficiency. The path forward involves the development of a cohesive long-term radar spectrum strategy that reduces large radar projects into incremental and manageable steps with limited risk. Similarly, incremental regulatory reform is needed to enable spectrum sharing rules to be implemented in manageable increments with a “crawl-walk-run” approach.

Keywords: spectrum efficiency; signal processing; spectrum management; adaptive radio; RF interference; adaptive radar; cognitive radar; cognitive radio; International Symposium on Advanced Radio Technologies™ (ISART™); radar policy; radar spectrum management; radar spectrum usage; spectrum inventory

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