The Future of the
Electromagnetic
Spectrum in Aerospace
Testing
Darrell Ernst
10 February 2009
Presented at Aero India 2009
NIMHANS Convention Centre, Bangalore
Approved for public release, distribution unlimited
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
Agenda
■ Use of radio spectrum in aerospace testing
■ Responding to the threat
■ The future of the radio spectrum
■ Spectrum as a commodity
■ Summary and conclusions
Page 2
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
Agenda
■Use of radio spectrum in aerospace testing
■ Responding to the threat
■ The future of the radio spectrum
■ Spectrum as a commodity
■ Summary and conclusions
Page 3
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
The Fundamental Test Resources
■ Land space
■ Air (and/or Sea) space
■ People
■ Instrumentation
and
Page 4
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
Use of the Radio Spectrum
■ Radar
■ Telemetry
■ Time, space & position information (TSPI)
■ Test command & control
■ Range safety
■ Data relay
■ Radar cross section & radio reflectivity
■ Weather (rawinsonde)
Page 5
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
Demand for Spectrum
■Radio spectrum is fully allocated from 3
kHz to 300 GHz
–Addition of new radio services means that
existing users must share or decrease their
usage
■Demand for spectrum is direct result of
the Information Age
Page 6
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
The Exploding Information Age
1800 X 1018
Bytes
of stored
information
281 X 1018
180 X 1018
All printed
matter
5
2006
2007
2011
NOTE: 1 X 1018 bytes = 1 Exabyte. Total of all printed matter in world = 5 exabytes
Source: The Diverse and Exploding Digital Universe , www.idc.com. Study funded by EMC7
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
The Wireless Age is Upon Us
■ Military
■ Civil aviation
■ Medical
■ Emergency management & response
■ Commercial sector (banks, petrochemical, transportation)
■ Consumer services
– Cellular
– WiMax/4G
– Digital audio radio (AsiaStar/WorldSpace)
– Concierge
■ Science
– Radio astronomy
– Atmospheric research
Page 8
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
The Crowded Spectrum
The two laws of spectrum physics
1. The greater the data rate, the greater the bandwidth
2,500 bps
2,500,000 bps
2,500 Hertz bandwidth
2,500,000 Hertz bandwidth
2. The higher the frequency, the greater the difficulty
10,000,000 Hertz
10,000,000,000 Hertz
1 Rupee per mile
(12,000 miles)
1,000 Rupees per mile
(300 miles)
Page 9
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
Demand for Telemetry Spectrum
5
1 10
Data Rate (kbps)
4
1 10
r
i
vr
3
1 10
i
100
10
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
y
i
Year
Page 10
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
Demand for Telemetry Spectrum
Page 11
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
Agenda
■ Use of radio spectrum in aerospace testing
■Responding to the threat
■ The future of the radio spectrum
■ Spectrum as a commodity
■ Summary and conclusions
Page 12
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
Aerospace Test Organizations Respond
■ US aerospace organizations establish iNET
integrated Network Enhanced Telemetry
■ Airbus develops packet telemetry system using
commercial OFDM * Technology
■ International test organizations form ICTS
International Consortium for Telemetry Spectrum
■ International collaboration at 2007 WRC* results
in more spectrum for telemetry
– 59 MHz worldwide, 1.4 GHz in ITU Region II
Page 13
*OFDM=Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
WRC=World Radiocommunication
Conference
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
WRC Telemetry Item Outcome
Lyons
Summary
14
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
Agenda
■ Use of radio spectrum in aerospace testing
■ Responding to the threat
■The future of the radio spectrum
■ Spectrum as a commodity
■ Summary and conclusions
Page 15
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
The Regulated Radio Spectrum
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
The Threat
17
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More Threats
18
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
Agenda
■ Use of radio spectrum in aerospace testing
■ Responding to the threat
■ The future of the radio spectrum
■Spectrum as a commodity
■ Summary and conclusions
Page 19
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
The Spectrum as a Source of Wealth
■Most nations charge a fee for licenses or
allocations
■Many nations studying ways to increase
revenue from spectrum
– Spectrum auctions very popular in some
nations
All costs are passed on to the user!
■Test community may have to learn how to
charge range users
Page 20
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
Costing Strategies for Test Ranges
■ Amortized Costing
Fee = Hours used x [($NRE + $O&M)/(available hours)]
■ Usage Based Costing
Fee = Hours used x (X $/Hertz)
■ Composite Costing (Amortization + Usage)
Fee = Hours used x {(X $/Hertz) +
[($NRE + $O&M)/(available hours)]}
NRE= Non-Recurring Expenses
O&M= Operations and maintenance
21
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
Agenda
■ Use of radio spectrum in aerospace testing
■ Responding to the threat
■ The future of the radio spectrum
■ Spectrum as a commodity
■Summary and conclusions
Page 22
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
Summary
■Demand for radio spectrum will continue
to increase
■Test usage of spectrum will increase
■Threats to access will increase
■Access will require multiple strategies
■Economics of spectrum will probably lead
to fee system
23
© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.