The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted rules that allow very-low-power (VLP) devices to operate across the entire 6 GHz band. VLP devices operate at very low power across short distances while providing very high connection speeds.
The VLP devices have no restrictions on where they can operate and won’t require automatic frequency coordination systems. Devices will be required to use a contention-based protocol and to implement transmit power control and are prohibited from operating in a fixed outdoor infrastructure. Those requirements are aimed at ensuring that the risk of interference remains insignificant, according to the FCC’s announcement.
The step involves 1,200 megahertz of the band and will enable such devices to coexist with other unlicensed and Wi-Fi enabled devices, according to the press release. The FCC cites education, healthcare, and entertainment as sectors that will benefit from the move.
“The FCC’s actions in the 6 GHz band will spur innovation by providing more capacity for emerging technologies and applications, such as augmented reality and virtual reality, in-car connectivity, wearable on-body devices, healthcare monitoring, short-range mobile hotspots, high accuracy location and navigation, automation, and more,” the FCC said in a press release.
The new rules, which are contained in a Report and Order, permit VLP device operations across 350 megahertz of spectrum in the U-NII-6 (6.425-6.525 GHz) and U-NII-8 (6.875-7.125 GHz) portions of the 6 GHz band at the same power levels and technical/operational protections as recently approved for the U-NII-5 (5.925-6.425 GHz) and U-NII-7 (6.525-6.875 GHz) bands. Incumbent licensed services in the band will be protected.
In February, the FCC approved seven organizations to offer automated frequency coordination (AFC) systems for spectrum in the 6 GHz band. The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) said the move left two milestones that the fixed wireless industry needed to meet before 6 GHz spectrum can be used to offer faster fixed wireless access (FWA) speeds.
The seven entities approved were Broadcom, Comsearch, Federated Wireless, Qualcomm, Sony, the Wi-Fi Alliance, and the Wireless Broadband Alliance.
