U.S. Dept. of Defense
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DoD Pursues Spectrum Sharing

Sept. 28, 2022
For industry to use frequencies from 3,100 to 3,450 MHz, they must be shared with the military radar systems of the U.S. Department of Defense.

Frequency spectrum is limited and invaluable for communications and other applications. For that reason, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) openly endorses spectrum sharing with industrial and other users. While the DoD may be the country’s biggest user of frequency spectrum, it must share spectrum to maintain a healthy economic environment in the country.

Speaking recently at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Spectrum Policy Symposium, the DoD’s chief information officer (CIO), John Sherman, said, “We absolutely get it at the DoD that we need to balance our economic advantage by maximizing spectrum, as well as being able to preserve our national security responsibilities.”

Regarding China, he mentioned their steady advances. “They’re challenging us in many spaces—not just with defense and military, but in economic, technology, spectrum, and otherwise. We all better be able to rise to the challenge of what they’re presenting; finding the spectrum way ahead is critical to our nation.”

Sherman noted that the DoD is working with partners, including the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), on sharing the portion of the spectrum from 3,100 to 3,450 MHz. This effort, known as Emerging Mid-Band Radar Spectrum Sharing (EMBRSS), is based on successful earlier spectrum-sharing activities.

Because the DoD is so highly dependent on this portion of frequency spectrum for radar, vacating those frequencies would not be economically feasible and requires an intelligent sharing of spectrum space with industry. So far, the DoD has held 10 meetings as part of the Partnering on Advanced and Holistic Spectrum Solution (PATHSS) to join the DoD with inter-agency partners, industry, and academic contributors to find practical ways to share frequency spectrum from 3,100 to 3,450 MHz.

About the Author

Jack Browne | Technical Contributor

Jack Browne, Technical Contributor, has worked in technical publishing for over 30 years. He managed the content and production of three technical journals while at the American Institute of Physics, including Medical Physics and the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology. He has been a Publisher and Editor for Penton Media, started the firm’s Wireless Symposium & Exhibition trade show in 1993, and currently serves as Technical Contributor for that company's Microwaves & RF magazine. Browne, who holds a BS in Mathematics from City College of New York and BA degrees in English and Philosophy from Fordham University, is a member of the IEEE.

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