ARRL sponsored BLP engineering study/interference potential

[Linnea]

From 05 Dec 03 ARRL Newsletter:

An ARRL-sponsored independent engineering study to accurately quantify the
interference potential of Broadband over Power Line (BPL) is set to start
in the very near future. In addition, the League soon will elicit
interference reports from amateurs in communities where BPL trials are
known to be under way.

"We're contracting for an independent measurement of potential interaction
between BPL and Amateur Radio," said ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ. The
study--to be conducted under the auspices of certified professional
engineers--not only will examine and document how BPL might affect HF and
low-VHF amateur operation but how Amateur Radio operation could affect BPL
systems.

The ARRL-sponsored engineering study should be completed within a couple
of months, Sumner said. The ARRL anticipates that the FCC could issue a
Notice of Proposed Rule Making in the proceeding (ET Docket 02-104) early
in 2004. The FCC's Notice of Inquiry in the matter, released last April,
has attracted more than 5100 comments--many of them from the amateur
community.

At this point, while some BPL system trials are operating under existing
Part 15 rules for unlicensed devices, other systems have secured FCC Part
5 experimental licenses that permit them to use higher power levels. In
either case, however, FCC rules require BPL operators to cease operation
if their systems result in harmful interference.

In a related initiative, the ARRL will be contacting amateurs in about a
half-dozen US communities where BPL field trials now are in progress. The
League will ask amateurs to listen on the air for any increase in noise
level that might be related to the BPL trial. Sumner says it's most
important that hams in trial areas who detect noise first verify that it
is indeed caused by BPL before they document and report their observations
to the FCC.

"It is important that each interference complaint be a valid case of
actual harmful interference," an attachment to Sumner's letter says. "It
is possible to misidentify other noise sources as BPL." Sumner says
amateurs must carefully avoid "crying wolf" by filing invalid reports of
BPL interference. The League suggests amateurs receiving the solicitation
letters enlist the support of "a technically qualified observer"--an ARRL
Technical Coordinator, Technical Specialist or local club interference
committee--then submit a recording of the interference to the ARRL
Laboratory for review and analysis.

The ARRL's solicitation includes a form to document suspected instances of
harmful interference from BPL. Sumner says the League hopes the effort
will result in a "body of technical evidence that will protect the Amateur
Service from this source of potential interference."

In a related development, a California technology company this month wrote
the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology to refute ARRL assertions
that BPL necessarily poses a severe interference potential. Corridor
Systems <http://www.corridor.biz> says its "breakthrough" BPL system,
operated under existing Part 15 rules, uses frequencies in the 2 to 20 GHz
range, will not interfere with HF and low-VHF reception and can provide up
to 216 MB per second throughput.

"Corridor Systems has demonstrated a BPL technology which is completely
compatible with the Amateur Radio Service and, indeed, with all users of
the HF-VHF spectrum," Corridor's Chief Technology Officer Glenn Elmore,
N6GN, said in the "open letter"
<http://www.corridor.biz/031201-fcc-letter.pdf> that was copied to ARRL.

Sumner pointed out in responding to Elmore that ARRL only first became
aware of Corridor's work in mid-October and that the League's comments
were appropriate within the context of the FCC's definition of BPL systems
operating in the 2 to 80 MHz HF and low-VHF spectrum. "The Corridor
Systems approach deserves to be distinguished from the spectrum-polluting
HF and low VHF systems, not only because of its much lower interference
potential but also because of the higher data rates it can support,"
Sumner said.

Additional information about BPL and Amateur Radio is on the ARRL Web site
<http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/>.

[Linnea]

The ARRL Letter
Vol. 22, No. 49
December 12, 2003

Update on BPL - FEMA weighs in:

FEMA SAYS BPL WILL "SEVERELY IMPAIR" ESSENTIAL HF OPERATIONS

A proverbial monkey wrench in the works for BPL? Expressing "grave
concerns" about likely interference from unlicensed Broadband over Power
Line (BPL) systems, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) told
the FCC that BPL could "severely impair FEMA's mission-essential HF radio
operations in areas serviced by BPL technology." FEMA responded December 4
to last April's FCC BPL Notice of Inquiry, ET Docket 03-104. Now part of
the Department of Homeland Security--the agency said its primary worry is
BPL's potential impact on the FEMA National Radio System (FNARS) on HF.
FNARS is FEMA's primary command and control backup medium under the
Federal Response Plan.

"FEMA has concluded that introduction of unwanted interference from the
implementation of BPL technology into the high frequency radio spectrum
will result in significant detriment to the operation of FEMA radio
systems such as FNARS," FEMA asserted. "FNARS radio operators normally
conduct communications with signals that are barely above the ambient
noise levels." FNARS HF stations, FEMA said, typically are in residential
areas of the sort that BPL might serve.

As part of the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA's perspectives on BPL
could carry substantial weight at the FCC, which may issue a Notice of
Proposed Rule Making as early as February. The FCC's BPL Notice of Inquiry
has attracted more than 5100 comments--many of them from the amateur
community.

FEMA said BPL also could render useless such "essential communications
services" as the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), the
Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) and the Civil Air Patrol. FEMA and
ARRL last year signed a Memorandum of Understanding that focuses on how
Amateur Radio may coordinate with the agency in disasters and emergencies.

Calling the HF spectrum "an invaluable and irreplaceable public safety
resource," FEMA said there's no current alternative to HF in terms of
meeting national security and emergency preparedness requirements at the
national, state and local levels. The agency advised the FCC to beef up
its Part 15 rules to ensure no increase in interference levels to existing
FCC or NTIA-licensed communication systems. Otherwise, FEMA predicted,
"any noise increase inevitably would diminish the ability to maintain
essential communications" and would "directly impair the safety of life
and property."

Likewise, FEMA pointed out, amateur HF transmitters could possibly
interfere with and interrupt BPL service, leading consumers not familiar
with Part 15 to blame licensed radio services.

Concluded FEMA: "The purported benefits of BPL in terms of expanded
services in certain communications sectors do not appear to outweigh the
benefit to the overall public of HF radio capability as presently used by
government, broadcasting and public safety users."

Additional information about BPL and Amateur Radio is on the ARRL Web
site, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/html/plc/. To support the League's efforts in
this area, visit the ARRL's secure BPL Web site,
https://www.arrl.org/forms/development/donations/bpl/