Google says it has technology to help develop mobile consumer devices that would operate in the so-called white space, the unused channels in the DTV spectrum.
The search-and-ads giant has tested experimental devices it says can detect DTV signals both indoors and outdoors with an average sensitivity of -120 dBm. That exceeds the sensitivity level called for (down to -114 dBm) by the White Space Coalition, which includes Google.
Google showed its indoor and outdoor test results to engineers from the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology Dec. 4.
“[T]hese test results demonstrate that digital televisions (DTVs) and wireless microphones can be amply protected from harmful interference by unlicensed personal/portable devices, using reasonable power levels and sensing thresholds,” Google said in a filing related to the meeting.
Broadcasters maintain that unlicensed, mobile devices in the white space pose an unacceptable interference risk to DTV signals.
While engineers work on how to best detect, and thus avoid, used channels, the PR and lobbying people war on the issue continues. Tech-giant members of the White Space Coalition, along with public interest groups that support the development of mobile unlicensed white space, launched a new entity this week called the Wireless Innovation Alliance.
Six lawmakers wrote to the FCC in support of mobile white space devices, and NAB responded with their own lost of 70 lawmakers who have argued for caution in the rulemaking.
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