[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 16 (Wednesday, January 24, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 7631]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-2113]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration


Public Meeting To Discuss Results of Ultrawideband Systems 
Testing

AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA) will host a public meeting to discuss the results of tests 
conducted by the agency to develop practical methods for characterizing 
the very narrow pulses of ultrawideband (UWB) systems and to assess the 
compatibility between UWB devices and selected federal radio 
communications or sensing systems.

DATES: The meeting will be held from 2 p.m.-4 p.m., Wednesday, January 
31, 2001.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 
Room 1605, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC. The meeting 
will be open to the public. For updated information on this meeting, 
please see NTIA's homepage at http://www.ntia.doc.gov>.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Roosa, Office of Spectrum 
Management, NTIA, telephone: (202) 482-1559; or electronic mail: 
[email protected]>. Media inquiries should be directed to the Office 
of Public Affairs, NTIA, at (202) 482-7002.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Recent advances in microcircuit and other 
technologies have allowed the use of very narrow pulses (typically less 
than a nanosecond) with very wide bandwidths in new applications in 
both radar and communications devices. These ``ultrawideband'' or 
``UWB'' devices are capable of locating nearby objects and can use 
processing technology to ``see through walls'' and communicate in 
multipath propagation environments, making them useful in many 
commercial and government applications. The manufacturers of these 
devices are seeking authorization from NTIA and the Federal 
Communications Commission (FCC) to operate UWB systems on an unlicensed 
basis. The current regulations for unlicensed devices, located in Part 
15 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, do not address such 
UWB devices. The FCC has initiated a rulemaking proceeding to examine 
whether UWB devices can be accommodated compatibly with existing 
systems operating in the electronic environment.\1\ NTIA has conducted 
a series of measurements and analyses for characterizing and assessing 
the impact of UWB devices on selected Federal equipment operation 
between 400 kHz and 6 GHz. The results of these tests were released by 
NTIA on January 18, 2001 in the form of two reports: ``The Temporal and 
Spectral Characteristics of Ultrawideband Signals,'' NTIA Report 01-
383, which provides practical methods for characterizing UWB systems; 
and ``Assessment of Compatability between Ultrawideband Devices and 
Selected Federal System,'' NTIA Special Publication 01-43, which 
provides information needed to measure the potential of UWB systems to 
interfere with existing radio communications or sensing systems.\2\ At 
the same time, NTIA filed both reports with the FCC to be included in 
the public record of its rulemaking proceeding.
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    \1\ See Revision of Part 15 of the Commission's Rules regarding 
Ultra-Wideband Transmission Systems, ET Docket No. 98-153, Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking, 65 Fed. Reg. 37332 (June 14, 2000).
    \2\ Both of these reports are available on NTIA's website at 
www.ntia.doc.gov>.
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    Public Participation: The meeting will be open to the public and is 
physically accessible to people with disabilities. To facilitate entry 
to the Department of Commerce building, please have a photo 
identification available and/or a U.S. Government building pass, if 
applicable. Any member of the public wishing to attend and requiring 
special services, such as sign language interpretation or other 
ancillary aids, should contact Paul Roosa at least three (3) days prior 
to the meeting via the contact information provided above.

    Dated: January 19, 2001.
Kathy D. Smith,
Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 01-2113 Filed 1-23-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-60-P