Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Plan to Address LightSquared GPS Interference Issues Due June 15

Signal interference issues are not uncommon for any services using over-the-air spectrum. LightSquared, as part of its waiver to operate a hybrid satellite and terrestrial 4G network, has to work with other users of satellite spectrum that could face interference from the planned LightSquared network.

The Pentagon is among users concerned about LightSquared interference with GPS applications, for example.

The LightSquared L-Band terrestrial base stations broadcast on the adjacent frequency to the GPS satellites. The worry is that the much stronger signals from the earthbound LTE radios will stop terrestrial GPS receivers from locking on to the weaker signals from space. That is a well-founded concern.

By June 15, 2011, a working group report on such interference and how LightSquared will address the issues must be submitted. Typically, such interference issues are rectified using frequency filters or adjusting power levels or both. It might be difficult to reduce transmitting power from a terrestrial cell site enough to avoid interference with relatively-weak GPS signals, though. So filtering would seem to be the logical solution.

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