DRAFT: 7/26/2016
Contact:
Carl R. Stevenson, 802.22 Working Group Chair
+1 610-841-6180, wk3c@wk3c.com
or
Karen McCabe, IEEE Senior Marketing Manager
+1 732-562-3824, k.mccabe@ieee.org
IEEE 802.22™ WIRELESS REGIONAL AREA
NETWORK PROJECT PASSES MAJOR MILESTONE
Future Standard to Use Locally Unused TV Channels
to Extend Broadband Services to Rural Areas
PISCATAWAY, N.J., USA, __ March 2006 – The IEEE 802.22 Working Group has
passed a major milestone in the development of the IEEE P802.22™ standard, which
aims to use geographically unused TV channels to bridge the “digital divide” between
rural and outer-suburban areas and major urban centers. The milestone involves the
acceptance of a single, unified proposal derived from the ten proposals originally
submitted to the working group. The unified proposal will serve as a baseline for
developing the standard.
The future standard is intended to increase the efficiency of spectrum use by
enabling the deployment of wireless regional area networks in the "white space" between
the coverage areas of over-the-air broadcast VHF/UHF TV stations on a non-interfering
basis. This will facilitate the provision of fixed wireless broadband access services
within 40 km or more of a transmitter in locales that cannot be served economically by
more traditional wireline services, such as DSL and cable modem.
The formal title of the IEEE P802.22 project is "Wireless Regional Area
Networks (WRAN) - Specific requirements - Part 22: Cognitive Wireless RAN Medium
Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) specifications: Policies and procedures
for operation in the TV Bands." The unified proposal selected will undergo technical and
other changes within the working group before the standard is finalized.
“When complete, this standard should open a large broadband market and provide
significant economic and societal benefits, both in the U.S. and in developing countries,"
says Carl R. Stevenson, chair of the IEEE 802.22 Working Group. "It will be especially
applicable to sparsely populated areas where wireline service is economically infeasible
due to the distance between potential users.”
"I'm extremely pleased with the constructive and cooperative participation we’ve
had to date in the working group from the TV broadcast community and other
stakeholders," he continued. "Other stakeholders include producers of TV sets and
equipment such as wireless microphones that operate in the TV bands as low-power
licensed stations within the Broadcast Auxiliary Service.”
The creation of a unified proposal involved consolidating the 10 proposals
initially presented in November 2005 to two at the beginning of March 2006. The two
remaining proposal teams then agreed to merge their offerings into a unified proposal,
which now forms the baseline for further development of the IEEE P802.22 standard.
IEEE P802.22 is sponsored by the 802 Local and Metropolitan Standards
Committee of the IEEE Computer Society.
About the IEEE Standards Association
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industry together. These standards set specifications and procedures based on current
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