Spectrum Management Metrics Development

Abstract

There is a lot of talk about there not being enough spectrum available for use by either government or industry. One would thus suppose that there are clear answers to the questions, "How much spectrum is being used?" and "How much spectrum would be used if it was available?" Unfortunately, clear answers do not exist. In fact, even if you collected data, analyzed it, and generated charts, there is likely to be (and, in fact, have been) long debates about the meaning of those charts. A fundamental problem is that there are no standard metrics for reporting spectrum usage. A well-defined and documented set of metrics would aid in any analysis and discussion of spectrum usage. The Range Commander's Council (RCC) Frequency Management Group (FMG) has initiated a formal Task, FM-37, to develop and standardize a set of spectrum management metrics. These metrics will go beyond simple usage and provide metrics for analysis of spectrum management in general, such as spectrum usage requirements, scheduling efficiencies, and prediction of impacts to spectrum availability. This paper overviews an initial draft of the document being developed under Task FM-37.