Spectrum Usage Measurement and Deconfliction – An Update

Abstract

Department of Defense (DoD) test ranges are facing pressure to share parts of their telemetry allocation with commercial entities, while simultaneously coping with expanding needs for air-to- ground telemetry bandwidth. The Spectrum Usage Measurement System (SUMS) tracks real-time usage of spectrum over-the-air and correlates it with planning data, thereby creating a tool for spectrum defense. The Spectrum Access Manager (SAM) provides advanced features for de- conflicting planned FreqAssignments, thereby improving spectral efficiency and reuse. Both systems reside on the same platform. This paper provides a report on lessons learned from the SUMS/SAM Field Trial, which ran at Edwards Air Force Base. In addition, it provides a review of algorithms for a challenging new feature, Spatially-Aware Frequency Deconfliction. This feature is expected to realize a significant improvement in spectral efficiency, by enabling qualifying FreqAssignments that appear to be in conflict, in the time/frequency domains.