Creating a 2 GHz Transition Plan

1
Creating a 2 GHz Transition Plan

• Karl VossArizona Frequency Coordination
  Committee2/29/04

2
Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanArizona
Frequency Coordination Committee

• Creating the Phoenix Transition Plan
• Market Overview
• Challenges during the planning process
• Solutions to the above challenges
• COFDM 101 results of Phoenix market testing
• How to create your plan
• Additional things to consider in your planning
• The Future of 2 GHz

3
Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanMarket Overview

• Started planning in June, 2000
• Phoenix
• Nielsen Market 15
• Includes entire area enclosed in red outline
• 7 stations do ENG
• 5 stations have helicopters
• 4 major receive sites in Phoenix
• 1 receive site in Flagstaff
• Tucson
• Nielsen Market 71
• Southern Arizona except Yuma/El Centro
• 5 stations do ENG
• 3 major receive sites

4
Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanChallenges

• Not an easy project
• Creating plan is difficult
• Adopting plan is even harder
• Embrace the technical, operational and
  political realities
• Use this opportunity to solve as many issues as
  possible!
• General
• Motivation the ostrich syndrome
• Why change what works?
• Transition WILL happen!
• Channels 1 2 (1990 2025 MHz) have been
  reassigned from Broadcast Auxiliary (BAS) to
  Advanced Wireless Service (AWS) and Mobile
  Satellite Service (MSS)
• Station Management
• Easy to get Engineers to Agree
• Get News and Station Management involved early on

5
Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanChallenges

• Live Truck Drivers
• One Man Bands
• Must follow control point instructions
• Control Point Operators
• Explain why these changes are necessary
• Microwave Black Magic
• Training Luncheons for operators from ALL
  stations in market!
• Dont assume knowledge!
• Markets bigger (1-30) vs. smaller (31)
• 2 different bandplans for several years
• Sharing of facilities between markets
• Priority of use incompatible FCC rules!
• 17 MHz users are secondary to 12 MHz users
• Itinerant users are secondary to local users

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Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanENG 101

• Users are used to 17 MHz channel spacing
• Place good operational procedures in service
  BEFORE narrowing to 12 MHz channels
• Start NOW and include these changes in your plan
• Procedures are MARKET SPECIFIC
• What works in 1 market may not work in another!
• Polarity plan works in Phoenix but may not work
  in Chicago
• Offsets work in Los Angeles but not in Phoenix
• This document describes the Phoenix DMA
  transition plan

7
Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanSuggested
Operational Procedures

• Create/Refine Home Channel Plan
• Users get a single home channel
• Create pool of extra (shared) channels
• Airborne operations are restricted to a stations
  home channel
• Offsets if necessary and market usage allows
• Setup Priority of use of shared channels
• Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Users per channel
• Speeds up coordination process to use a shared
  channel
• Control point hotlines
• Open line of communications between users
• Automatic Approval if hotline is not answered
• Phones, 2-ways, Nextel talkgroup, whatever
  works!

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Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanSuggested
Operational Procedures

• Desired/Undesired (D/U) Ratios can make or break
  ENG Operations
• Engineers understand D/U
• News Operations may not understand D/U
• Default to Low Power operations
• Receiver Bandwidth selection
• Run as narrow as practical
• Run audio subcarriers below 5.8 MHz
• LNAs
• more signal is NOT ALWAYS better!
• Take advantage of antenna selectivity if possible
• Consider antenna standards and site selection

9
Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanSuggested
Operational Procedures

• Antenna Selectivity
• Antenna Types
• Directional
• Omni specific uses OK but NOT day to day
• Polarity plans
• Market specific based on RX sites and standard
  types of live shots bounce shots tend to
  destroy polarities
• Polarity selectivity is typically 15 db Linear to
  Linear or Circular to Circular
• Polarity selectivity is typically 2 3 db Linear
  to Circular
• If used, the market must decide Circular or
  Linear Polarity
• TX antennas should follow polarity plan whenever
  possible
• even if the RX antenna cant!
• Use high power BEFORE abandoning the TX polarity
  plan!

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Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanCOFDM 101

• No experience with Digital ENG (DENG) operations
• Phoenix operational testing was done in August
  2002
• Goals Education NOT Manufacturer shoot out
• Local Stations supplied RX sites, trucks staff
• ENG Mobile Systems, MRC and Nucomm supplied
  trucks and COFDM equipment
• Tested on 2 GHz channels 1 2
• Looked at Spread Spectrum Interference vs. DENG

11
Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanCOFDM
Operational Testing Results

• Carefully controlled circumstances resulted in
  amazing results
• Tested on 17 MHz channel spacing!
• Manufacturers Reps, Engineers and test gear at
  receive site
• Worst case scenario 2 TX at same location to
  same RX on adjacent channels with PCS
  interference
• 2 cross-polarity signals on same channel
• Analog and digital operations co-existed using
  offsets
• Incompatible settings between vendors
• Manufacturers vs. Station vs. Market
• Pool feeds
• Inter-market operations

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Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanCOFDM
Operational Testing Results

• Digital Cliff Effect
• Signal is perfect or non-existent
• Spectrum monitors at receive site(s)
• Receiver bit error rates signal quality
• State of the art RX antennas are critical
• Dealing with high power PCS interference means
  filtering before LNA
• Polarity Selectable even if the market does NOT
  adopt polarity standards remember D/U!
• Be certain you can bypass the antennas LNA
• We found we could rotate antenna 360 degrees and
  not lose digital shot with LNA active
• 99 of DENG shots were done with LNA bypassed!

13
Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanCOFDM
Operational Testing Results

• Learned a lot BUT ran out of time.
• Additional things to test consider
• No airborne testing
• Tested only on 17 MHz channels
• Did NOT test audio but assumed audio quality
  would follow video quality!
• Phoenix still has no day to day experience!
• May need to tweak the plan after we gain some
  experience with digital ENG

14
Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanCreating The Plan

• Create Implement good operational procedures
• Going from 17 MHz wide channels to 12 MHz with
  corresponding increase in interference if not
  planned for in advance
• Stations must inventory equipment
• Transmitters
• Receivers
• Antennas, both transmit and receive
• Filtering
• Remote control gear
• Stations meet and create/adopt transition plan
• Adopt good operational procedures at same time
• Market must decide on common digital parameters
  for pool feeds
• Market should decide if polarity plan makes sense
• Linear vs. Circular polarity
• Fixed 2 GHz links also need to move to digital
  operations or another band (7, 13 or 18 GHz)

15
Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanCreating The Plan

• Negotiate with MSS/AWS entity for funding of
  transition
• Dont forget antennas, licensing, tower rigger
  expenses, etc.
• Purchase replacement equipment
• Install and test replacement system
• Individual station schedules update of receive
  sites and modification of ENG trucks based on
  internal schedule
• Stations operate digitally using 12 MHz channel
  bandwidth on 17 MHz channels
• With huge guardbands, interference should all but
  disappear at this point
• MAKE SURE YOU ARE ALREADY FOLLOWING GOOD
  OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES

16
Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanCreating The Plan

• After entire market has installed and tested
  replacement narrowband COFDM systems then all
  stations convert to 12 MHz channel spacing at
  same time.
• Solve any remaining problems
• Market is cutover and the old channels 1 2
  (1990-2025 MHz) is no longer available for use

17
Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanAdditional
Considerations

• COFDM digital delay and IFBs
• Tower riggers may need certification to work on
  rented towers
• New PCS/AWS/MSS LNA filters would be designed
  to filter out 1990-2025 MHz. This means they
  would need to be installed AFTER the cutover to
  12 MHz wide channels or bypassed.
• Adding CODFM capability to leased helicopters may
  need to involve the leasing company.
• Dont forget the remote control system
• Remote spectrum monitoring
• Receiver or decoder signal quality metering

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Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanAdditional
Considerations

• Multi-band transmitters and receivers need to be
  able to deal with multiple bandwidths
• 12 MHz in 2 GHz
• 25 MHz in 6.5/7/13 GHz
• Dont forget about fixed 2 GHz links
• Replacing ENG truck antennas could require
  replacing Nycoil on truck!

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Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanThe Future Data
Return Links

• New ENG band 85 MHz wide (2025 2110 MHz)
• FCC 85 MHz / 7 channels 12.14 MHz each
• Problem current frequency synthesizers wont
  work on 12.14 MHz channel spacing
• SBE 7 channels 12 MHz 84 MHz
• Existing frequency synthesizers can be used!
• Use last 1 MHz of spectrum as Guard Band
• 500 KHz above and below new channels 1 and 7
• SBE proposed each guard band be split into twenty
  25 KHz channels and used as data return links
• Auto channel selection(polite protocol)
• Users on upper channels (5-7) would use a lower
  DRL channel
• Users on lower channels (1-4) would use an upper
  DRL channel

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Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanThe Future Data
Return Links

• Possible uses for Data Return Links
• Receive site control of ENG Transmitter
• Automated Power Control of transmitter
• Remote control of digital modulation parameters
• great links - less error correction and better
  throughput
• marginal links more error correction and
  slower bitrate
• rotten links change to analog with a single
  audio
• Act as a beacon to auto-point ENG antennas
• Remote Control of Live Trucks
• Stations ENG operator could control ENG trucks
  transmitter (on/off/standby/channel/polarity,
  etc.)
• Additional IFB link to solve digital delay
• Itinerant users camera telemetry

21
Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanArizona
Frequency Coordination Committee

• Creating the Phoenix Transition Plan
• Market Overview
• Challenges during the planning process
• Solutions to the above challenges
• COFDM 101 results of Phoenix market testing
• How to create your plan
• Additional things to consider in your planning
• The Future of 2 GHz

22
Creating a 2 GHz Transition PlanTHANK YOU FOR
YOUR TIME

• This presentation and other helpful documents are
  available for downloading at the following WEB
  sitehttp//www.az-frequency.com/afcc/TechPapers
  
• Contact the Author at
• Karl VossArizona Frequency Coordination
  Committee602-261-6191 voicekvoss_at_kpnx.com
• Updated 3/3/04