AI to Control Spectrum Usage?

/

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
 

Shackles Removed from Radio

/

Commercial radio stations will no longer be shackled to an outdated regulatory system under new plans announced by the UK Government on World Radio Day 

The Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has launched a consultation to overhaul regulation of national and local radio stations. 

At present, commercial radio has to abide by a series of complex rules regarding content which are enforced by Ofcom, many of which were devised in the late 1980s before the emergence of digital technologies.

But Government has announced today that it is consulting on changes to the rules that govern much of the programming decisions, and is proposing to give greater flexibility to local radio stations in particular so that they can have a say in their own content.

It will further mean that DJs will be free to play more of the music and content they and their listeners want, when they want, without their station needing Ofcom’s permission.

Stations will also be able to network more of their services across different stations, allowing them to showcase star presenters throughout the day including at breakfast time.

The consultation closes May 8, download the document -
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/commercial-radio-deregulation-consultation

Press Release - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/radio-released-from-shackles

Baofeng Solution for Traffic Lights

/

German Amateur Radio Operator Bastian Blössl DF1BBL was working on a traffic light project when he stumbled across an idea to use his amateur radio skills to solve an RF dilemma.

As part of the project, Blössl needed to send an RF signal when traffic lights changed. He trialed a Baofeng radio, a popular and inexpensive amateur radio handheld device, usually found for less than $30.

The solution used a custom designed UDP packet to an audio flow graph in GNU Radio. GNU Radio then feeds the Baofeng. The radio’s built-in VOX function handles transmit switching.

More infromation - http://hackaday.com/2017/02/11/baofeng-handy-talkie-meets-gnu-radio/

Bastian Blössl DF1BBL Blog - https://www.bastibl.net/baofeng-digi-modes/