London hosted last 7-9 September the 68th meeting of the working group on Short Range Devices/Maintenance Group (SRD/MG). The gathering was chaired by Thomas Weber and attended by 57 participants from various administrations and bodies, including the European Commission (EC), European Communications Office (ECO) and industry.
SRD/MG handles issues concerning short range devices and is responsible, among other matters, for updating Recommendation ERC/REC 70-03, responding to the permanent EC mandate on short range devices with a view to updating the Commission decision on SRD (Decision 2006/771/EC of 9 November, amended by Decisions 2008/432/EC of 23 May, 2009/381/EC of 3 May, 2010/368/EU of 30 June, 2011/829/EU of 8 December and 2013/752/EU of 11 December), issues associated to ultra-wideband technology and the identification of new spectrum opportunities for SRD introduction.
At the 85th meeting of the Frequency Management working group (WG FM) in May 2016, the following proposed revisions for annexes 1 and 10 of Recommendation 70-03 were approved for public consultation by 1 August 2016:
- revision of annex 1 (non-specific SRD). Following the development of CEPT Report 52 - Report from CEPT to the European Commission in response to the Mandate - To undertake studies on the harmonised technical conditions for the 1900-1920 MHz and 2010-2025 MHz frequency bands (Unpaired terrestrial 2 GHz bands) in the EU, one of the proposals is inclusion of SRD/DECT in the 1900-1920 MHz band subject to the general authorisation regime. CEPT Report 52 does not propose exclusive use of the band by SRD/DECT, while CEPT Report 59, with a view to the sixth update of the Commission Decision on SRD, envisages that CEPT should continue to investigate use of the 1900-1920 MHz band for SRD/DECT applications. Nevertheless, and in order to allow a first European-level harmonisation, two new entries were introduced in annex 1 of Recommendation 70-03 (non-specific) to accommodate SRD and DECT applications;
- revision of annex 10 (radio microphone applications including assistive listening devices, wireless audio and multimedia streaming systems). Following the approval and publication of ECC Report 245 on Compatibility studies between PMSE and other systems/services in the band 1350-1400 MHz, the 1350-1400 MHz frequency band was included in annex 10 of Recommendation 70-03, for radio microphones. One proposed mitigation technique is the spectrum scanning procedure, which was also included in other annex 10 frequency bands, to provide new spectrum sharing opportunities for industry and which results from the requisites identified in ECC Report 245. The meeting also considered and accepted an additional proposal to join entries c1 and c2 (169.4-169.475 Mhz with effective radiated power (e.r.p.) of 500 mW and 10 mW) of annex 10 of Recommendation 70-03, as well as c3 and c4 (169.4875-169.5875 MHz with e.p.r. of 500 mW and 10 mW), in accordance with the regulatory solution already implemented by Decision 2013/752/EU
There was no consensus about the proposed revision of annex 1, so WG FM should decide at its next meeting in October 2016 whether or not to maintain those new entries. The proposed revision of annex 10 was accepted and will be submitted to the next WG FM meeting for final approval and publication.
WG FM decided that instead revising Decision ECC (04)03 (the frequency band 77-81 GHz to be designated for the use of Automotive Short Range Radars), as proposed by SRD/MG in previous meetings and without ECC agreement, SRD/MG should rather develop a solution based on a new informative annex in Recommendation 70-03 so that there is no need to revise ECC Decision (04)03. A new annex 13 was therefore produced for Recommendation 70-03, containing applications permitted by the general authorisation regime and radio-licence exempt, implying that it is not possible to offer protection to operational stations. They may nevertheless have regulatory status under the Radio Regulations, as they can be operating in the scope of a radiocommunication service (e.g. ULP-AMI applications operate in the scope of secondary mobile service in the 401-406 MHz band), as set out in the respective ECC decisions. This new informative annex 13 will be submitted to the 86th WG FM meeting (October 2016) for public consultation.
In response to the permanent EC mandate on SRD, SRD/MG produced CEPT Report 59 with a view to the sixth update of the EC Decision on SRD, approved in June 2016 by the ECC. In addition, and as decided by the ECC in March 2016, SRD/MG began work on an addendum to CEPT Report 59, envisaging a possible harmonisation of the 870-876 MHz/915-921 MHz bands at European Union level, even partially, in the wake of the ECC’s decision at its March 2016 meeting. Work on the document continued at this meeting; it will be completed by correspondence and at one more in-person meeting so it can be submitted to the 86th WG FM meeting for public consultation. Note that in the discussions, and given new developments affecting the 862-870 MHz band, specifically ongoing compatibility studies to include new SRDs, this frequency band will also be included in the addendum to CEPT Report 59.
Decision ECC (07)01 on specific Material Sensing devices using Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology was editorially revised to reflect the new harmonised standard ETSI EN 302 065-4 for such applications in the scope of the Radio Directive (RE-D), as well as the text concerning RE-D and R&TTE. This proposed editorial revision will be submitted to the 86th WG FM meeting.
Decision ECC (16)01 on the harmonised frequency band 76-77 GHz, technical characteristics, exemption from individual licensing and free carriage and use of obstacle detection radars for rotorcraft use, approved in March 2016, was editorially revised to make clear that it does not apply to drones. This proposed editorial revision will be submitted to the 86th WG RM meeting (October 2016).
At its 82nd meeting (February 2015), WG FM decided to ask SRD/MG to investigate whether radio local area networks (RLANs) in 5 GHz (5150-5350 MHz, 5470-5725 MHz) can be used in vehicles (terrestrial). The document was completed at this meeting and will be submitted to the 86th WG FM meeting (October 2016) for consideration; it also covers RLAN use on board aircraft, as well as the 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz (5725-5875 MHz) bands.
