Spectrum Management

29 January 2014
Practical Application: 1005
Spectrum Management

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SpectrumManagement

Introduction
Militaryoperationsarecomplicatedbyincreasinglycomplexdemandsonthe
ElectromagneticSpectrum(EMS).AllmodernforcesdependontheEMS.The
EMSisaphysicalmediumthroughwhichjointforcesconductoperations.EMS
dependentdevicesareusedbybothcivilianandmilitaryorganizationsand
individualsforintelligence;communications;position,navigation,andtiming;
sensing;CommandandControl(C2);attack;ranging;Chemical,Biological,
Radiological,andNuclear(CBRN)sensordatacollection/transmission;Unmanned
AircraftSystems(UASs);civilinfrastructure;datatransmissionandinformation
storageandprocessing.TheimportanceoftheEMSanditsrelationshiptothe
operationalcapabilitiesisthekeyfocusofJointElectromagneticSpectrum
ManagementOperations(JEMSMO).JEMSMOisafunctionalareaultimately
responsibleforcoordinatingEMSaccessamongmultinationalpartners,
throughouttheoperationalenvironment.

TheEMSisaphysicsbasedmaneuverspaceessentialtocontroltheoperational
environmentduringallmilitaryoperations.Informationanddataexchange
betweenplatformsandcapabilitieswillatsomepointrelyontheEMSfor
transport.Thismaneuverspaceisconstrainedbybothmilitaryandcivilusesas
wellasadversaryattemptstodenytheuseoftheEMS,creatingacongestedand
contestedenvironment.Thisconstrainsfreedomofmaneuvertouseall
capabilitiesoffriendlyforcesthroughouttheoperationalenvironment.

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JointElectromagneticSpectrumManagement
Operations20March2012

DepictionofDoDOperationsinSpectrumBandsBelow40GHz

Problem
Asonecansee,theelectromagneticspectrumisavaluableresourcethat
supportsthebackboneofallphasesofmilitaryandcommercialoperations.Its
usemustbecarefullyplannedandcontrolledfortheconsequencescouldbe
severe.Interferencecandisrupteventhemostimportantmissionsoroperations.
Forthisreason,thespectrummustbecarefullymonitoredforbothunintended
andintentionalelectromagneticsignals.Notonlygovernmentapplicationscan
beaffected,butlocalcommercialservicescanbeshutdownorcausedtofunction
abnormally.Eventhelocalfastfooddrivethrucanbeimpacted.Theunintended
effectonemergencyservicescanbeverydamaging.
Onevaluabletoolinthemissiontomonitorandisolatepossibleinterferenceis
theQRCTechnologiesWBTrecorder/transmitter.Thisdualuserecordercan
visuallyexamineportionsofthespectrum,recordtheresultsandretransmitthe
dataforeitherlateranalysisortestingforeffect.

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1) TheQRCWBToperateslikeanarrowbandspectrumanalyzer.Theunit
willdisplayafrequencybandofupto50MHzortwochannelsof25MHz
orless.Thesmallerbandwidthsareavailableforlongerrecording
periods.Thisspectrummaythenberecordedforahistoricalorbaseline
performancerecord.Latermeasurementscanbecomparedtothis
recordforevidenceofdegradationorfrequency/bandwidthchanges.
Theunitcontainstwohotswappablediscdrives(960MB)thatareeasy
toremoveandstore.Thissingleboxselfcontainedunitcanbebattery
poweredfortrueportability.

2) Acomprehensivelibrarycanbecompiledtodocumentspectrum
performanceforfutureanalysis.Thiscanbedonenotonlyforthe
emitters,butforareasofthespectrumofconcern.Doyouhavealow
SNRsatellitelink?Checkinganddocumentingtheguardbandsmaybea
wisethingtodo.Werethereanyadjacentsignalsbefore?Checkthe
disk.Preventingcreepinginterferenceisasmartwaytopreventfuture
problems.

3) Theabilitytoretransmitprerecordedsignalsisanotherwaytogetthe
jumponpotentialproblems.Testsignalsmaybegeneratedtodetermine
anyinteractionsbeforetheinstallation.Thetestsignalmaybemovedto
anyfrequencywithintheWBTsrange.Theoutputlevelisadjustableand

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externalpoweramplifierscanboosttheleveltoanyrangedesired.This
capabilityisalsoexcellentforthetrainingrole.Theabilitytotransmit
recordedfilesletsfutureinterferencehuntersdeveloptheirskillset.

TheWBTcanbeavitaltoolfortheinterferencehunter.Itmaybeevenmore
importantforinterferenceprevention.Itisversatile,capableofmany
applications,andeasytooperate.Futureonboardapplicationswillimprove
capability.Thereisaplannedapplicationspacedesignedintotheunitfor
customerstoimplementtheirownapplications.Plannedfeaturesincludefull
bandsweepcapability,waterfalldisplayandthresholdtriggering.

Theneedtoreviewspectrumusage,toclearlyarticulaterequirementsand
identifyopportunitiesforsharingdoesnotfallupontheDoDandotherfederal
usersalone,butalsouponallusersofthespectrumintheUnitedStates.
Spectrumsharingisawaytosatisfythegrowingdemands,bothprivateand
government,forthisfiniteandincreasinglyimportantresource.(Fromthe
AD/DOD)Thispointstothefactthatspectrummonitoringisessential.Letus
help.

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WBTSpecifications

TechnicalData:WBT
Size(WxHxD) 18.7x12.4x3.1
Weight Under10.0Lbs
10.4LCD(ResistiveTouch) 700NITDisplay
CommunicationLinks GigabitEthernet
PowerConsumption 83WNominal
ExternalPowerInput 10.032.0VDC
OperatingTemperatureRange
0to+50C(+32to+122F)(Without
Condensation)
StorageTemperatureRange
20to+80C(4to+176F)(Without
Condensation)
FrequencyRange 50MHzto4.4GHz
SuppliedPowerAdapters AC120240VPowerBrick(20VDCregulated)
SuppliedPowerAdapter AutomobilePowerPlug(12VDCNominal)
ThermalManagement ForcedAir
FileFormat QVRT(VITA49StandardDerived)

TunerConfigurationOptions FrequencyRange
A 50MHzto2.2GHz
B 400MHzto4.4GHz

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voice: 540.446.2270
fax: 540.548.4080
www.qrctech.com
QRC Specializes in Active & Passive,
Fully Autonomous Survey Devices for
Cellular Communication Networks.
QRC Products Cover GSM, CDMA,
EVDO, WCDMA, WiMAX &
LTE Protocols.
Our Products Can Be Used for Network
Discovery, Competitive Analysis,
Interference Analysis,
Mission Preparation, Optimization, &
Critical Infrastructure Analysis.