Collaborative Research: EAGER: A Wide Area, Persistent Spectrum Monitoring System

无线电频谱是有限的，但却没有得到有效利用，这是由于以前的政策制度最初通过行政分配等方法分配频谱，后来通过拍卖等市场机制分配频谱。因此，今天的一项关键任务是实现频谱共享，在新的共享规则下，允许新业务在迄今分配给持牌现任运营商（主要用户）的频段上运行，这是由总统命令驱动的，指示目前由各种联邦网络持有的500 MHz到2020年重新用于民用。上述任何工程解决方案的关键促成因素是（低成本）硬件的部署与适当的网络和存储资源以及允许持续监控频谱使用的软件基础设施相结合。该试点项目将产生第一批经过校准的大规模频谱使用数据集（频率、时间和区域），并将其存档以供后处理。这样的数据库将成为任何未来频谱工程工作的独特国家资源；它的影响将远远超出学术界。它支持的数据驱动研究将为负责制定新的频谱共享规则的频谱决策者提供有价值的投入。该项目极大地扩展了频谱监测的最新技术：首先，它将产生第一个广域、持久和可任务的频谱监测和数据收集基础设施，而不使用昂贵的高端传感器，但仍然能够收集前所未有的高质量频谱数据，这些数据将被存储并公开供研究界进一步调查。此外，该设计将构成迈向未来网络化监测基础设施的第一步，该基础设施可以允许研究人员进行分布式实验，他们将有能力同时任务所需的传感器子集，以便在所需的频谱带中获取数据。这将使频谱使用模式作为空间和时间函数的数据挖掘成为可能，这在目前是不可能的。

Radio frequency spectrum is finite and yet inefficiently used -- resulting from prior policy regimes that dispensed spectrum via methods initially such as administrative allocation and later via market mechanisms such as auctions. Accordingly, a key imperative today is to enable Spectrum Sharing whereby new services are allowed to operate in bands hitherto allocated to licensed incumbents (primary users) under new sharing rules, driven by a Presidential mandate directing 500 MHz currently held by various Federal networks to be re-purposed by 2020 for civilian use. A key enabler of any engineering solution for the above is deployment of (low cost) hardware in conjunction with appropriate networking and storage resources and a software infrastructure that allows for persistent monitoring of spectrum usage. This pilot project will produce the first calibrated large-scale data sets (over frequency, time and region) of spectrum usage archived for post-processing. Such a database will be a unique national resource for any future spectrum engineering efforts; its impact will extend well beyond the academic community. The data-driven research that it enables will provide valuable inputs for spectrum policymakers charged with formulation of new spectrum sharing rules.This project significantly extends the state-of-the art in spectrum monitoring: first and foremost, it will result in the first wide-area, persistent and taskable spectrum monitoring and data collection infrastructure without using expensive high-end sensors, but still capable of gathering unprecedented amount of good quality spectrum data that will be stored and made publicly available for further investigations by research community. Further, the design will constitute the first step towards future networked monitoring infrastructure that can allow for distributed experimentation by researchers who will have the ability to task desired sensor sub-sets simultaneously for data acquisition in desired spectrum bands. This will enable data mining of spectrum usage patterns as a function of both space and time, which is currently not possible.