AI to Control Spectrum Usage?

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A Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) $3.75M contest looks to bring AI to wireless spectrum provisioning 

DARPA said the current practice of assigning fixed frequencies for various uses irrespective of actual, moment-to-moment demand is simply too inefficient to keep up with actual demand and threatens to undermine wireless reliability in the military as well as civilian applications, DARPA stated.

The challenge is expected to take advantage of recent significant progress in the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning and spur new developments in those research domains, with potential applications in other fields where collaborative decision-making is critical,” DARPA stated.

DARPA said it will build what it called the largest-of-its-kind wireless test bed – “the Colosseum” -- which will serve during and after the SC2 as a national asset for evaluating spectrum-sharing strategies, tactics, and algorithms for next-generation radio systems. The “Colosseum” will let researchers remotely conduct large-scale experiments with intelligent radio systems in realistic, user-defined RF environments, such as the wireless conditions of a busy city neighborhood or battle setting.

The 30 teams will now have to meet several requirements throughout the year to prepare for the Preliminary Event #1 Competition this December.

Full Story - 
http://www.networkworld.com/article/3163166/mobile-wireless/darpa-picks-30-contenders-to-battle-in-wireless-spectrum-competition.html
 

Czech Keep 60m Band for 2017

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Amateur / Ham Radio Operators in the Czech Republic have received an announcement from the Czech Telecommunication Institute (CTU), granting  permission for 60m band for 2017 with no changes from the 2016 allocation.

More information - http://60mband.blogspot.ch/2017/01/the-same-60m-band-allocation-in-ok-land.html

Small Changes to Australian Plan

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The latest Australian Radiofrequency Spectrum Plan – ARSP 2017 – was published on the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) website on 3 January 2017.

Only minimal changes have been made to the previous Spectrum Plan, principally those arising from the outcomes of the 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference – WRC-15. Most of the updates involve changes to Footnotes relating to specific allocations, while relatively few comprise changes to allocations.

Of chief interest to Australian amateurs is the addition of the allocation of a 15 kHz band for the Amateur Service at 5351.5-5366.5 kHz, now widely known as the 60 metre band.

As for when access to the new 60 metre band will become available in Australia, the next step will involve amending the Amateur licence conditions, which provides all the technical parameters applicable to Australian amateur licences.

More information - http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2017/20170108-1/index.php