Sixth Meeting of the BFWA Technical Sub Group held at Wyndham House - 2 August 2000

Those present:

1.Apologies
Peter Williams (Convergence)

2.Agenda
Mr Nixon added a document BFWAtg(00)34rev1 to "Matters Arising", item number 2 on the agenda.

3.1 Matters Arising

3G Approach to Guard Bands for mobile operators was an ongoing action, and Mr Lewis is awaiting a response from the 3G team.

Adjacent Region Co-ordination : Mr Lewis had updated the co-ordination flowchart in BFWAtg(00)32 , which was circulated as Addendum 1 to doc. 32. Action Closed.

Mr Nixon circulated the revised BFWAtg(00)34rev1. The paper examined further the issue of P-P links being deployed to the same co-ordination constraints as any MP system. It considered the effect of the reduction in EIRP brought about by the use of ATPC. A BFWAtg member supported the possibility of P-P link deployment. He could see no reason why P-P links should be excluded as long as they can co-exist. Mr Lewis welcomed any further input from the group.

The action relating to Mr Lewis checking with the ITU on recommended limits under Effect of an I/N of -6 dB, was outstanding.

Mr Lewis said the final AEGIS report on the extended work on inter-operator co-ordination considering other antenna downtilts and I/N=-6dB, would be available on the Agency’s website next week. Action: Place report on the Web Site.

Mr Lewis still has to provide information to the group on the UK position on the use of FSS(E ->s) in 42.5 to 43.5 GHz. Action outstanding.

Mr Lewis said that BFWAtg(00)43 gives the complete text of WRC resolutions COM5/27 and COM5/28. The study work on FSD/FSS sharing will be carried out in WP 4-9S, and SE19 are the lead group within CEPT.

1. Paragraphs 2.3 and 2.7 of the draft IR appear to contradict each other.
2. The draft IR contains nothing on deployment if spectrum efficiency is to be the issue.
3. Again, referring to paragraphs 2.3 and 2.7, the group asked whether "licensing" and "R&TTE directive" issues were being mixed up?
4. The ETSI standards referred to in the IR are specifically aimed at Point to Multipoint systems and FDD systems. Can the IR refer to multipoint and TDD systems?
5. Should passive devices such as antennas be included in IR?
6. Had other European countries issued IR’s with a format that could be followed to aid consistency? ?

The RA agreed to take away the issues above to seek advice as appropriate on the content of the draft IR. Action RA

It was highlighted that the draft IR limited the channel bandwidth options to 28MHz maximum which is consistent with work carried out to address co-existence issues by other bodies. There was no comment from the Technical Group on this proposal.

5. Inter-Operator Co-ordination

5.1 CEPT SE19 work BFWAtg(00)05rev7

The above document is the SE19 updated interim report on FWA Co-existence at 26/28GHz which will now go to WG-SE for final approval as an ERC report. Mr Lewis highlighted the conclusions which refer to guard band estimates and separation distances for co-frequency or co-located FWA systems. This report supports the draft ERC Recommendation on FWA in the 26GHz band and it was pointed out that SE19 is starting to address a similar Recommendation for the 28GHz band. Action: Members should familiar themselves with the report which will be important reference for the development of co-existence guidelines for the UK.

5.2 IEEE 802.16.2 BFWAtg(00)41

The above document reported on developments within the 802.16.2 group dealing with BFWA Co-existence. Mr Lewis highlighted the current proposals for the draft recommended practice document under development which detailed rules for co-existence based upon a multiple interference limit derived by aggregating all the interference from a neighbouring region. The feeling of the members was sought on this issue as the Agency felt that this was a particularly onerous approach to the issue of inter-operator co-ordination. Generally the group agreed with this and A BFWAtg member, said that it was impossible to expect operators to simulate their whole network in advance of deployment. A BFWAtg member asked f it only applied to spare spectrum. A BFWAtg member said, assuming the level won’t be exceeded is RA confidant that the level can be calculated. Action: Mr Lewis said that he would continue in his approach by providing alternative input to the 802.16.2 work.

6. Frequency Plans for 40 GHz Band BFWAtg(00)14rev2

Mr Lewis presented the above working document which had been updated at the last SE19 meeting. An interim SE19 meeting has been planned for the 17 and 18 October to look at associated topics. It is hoped that a stable draft document can be produced for the next main SE19 meeting, on 14 – 16 November. The document is presented to stimulate debate on the key issues and solicit input to the SE19 process from interested parties.

Mr Lewis briefly ran through the content highlighting areas that required more work or that were reasonably stable within the drafting group. The "recommendation" part of the document is in draft and doesn’t yet reflect the updates in the Annexes.

Annex 1 provides guidance notes for administrations who wish to develop a frequency plan in the band.

Annex 2 The 1MHz slot method had been accepted within the SE19 drafting group as the basic granularity for band assignments.

Annex 3 Refers to duplex arrangements, asymmetric, symmetric continguous block spectrum assignments. The annex illustrates how spectrum blocks can be arranged based on an overall "macro-grid" which helps to bring some order to the band planning. The plan is not FDD or TDD specific, but it should be flexible enough to cover all cases including situations arising from inter-service sharing issues.

Annex 4 Block-edge mask suitability varies depending on the channel size chosen. This will cause a problem on the selection of a suitable block-edge mask. A BFWAtg member asked if a rule could be created for block edges. Mr Lewis highlighted that this was a major part of the document that requires input and that it is strongly linked with the work of ETSI-TM4 in developing a standard for MWS in the 40GHz band.

Annex 5 Refers to adjacent co-ordination areas, there was no change to the text at the last SE19 meeting.

Annex 6 Provides information on the range of technologies that could find application in the 40GHz band. Inputs from ETSI BRAN and related to DVB had been incorporated at the last SE19 meeting.

Mr Lewis asked for comments on the paper by the interim SE19 meeting which would focus on this band. Action: Members to raise any issues and provide input to resolve the outstanding matters.

7. AOB

Mr Nixon announced that RA had started a project under the auspices of the Technical Forum to examine at Radio Astronomy sharing issues in part of the 40GHz band. The project is due for completion by the end of October 2000.

8. Date Of Next Meeting.

The seventh meeting will be held at 10.30am on Wednesday 6th September 2000 at Wyndham House, which will focus on the Interface Requirement issues.

Annex A

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