SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT
The UK Water Industry has been very successful in making effective use of the spectrum allocated to it previously by the Radiocommunications Agency (RA) and now by Ofcom. It has done so by developing a National Cellular Frequency allocation plan that provides the maximum spectrum re-use at the minimum power level for a predetermined Grade of Service.
The Spectrum Management Process requires precise and accurate work
by a process that has a clear audit trail.
CSS Spectrum Management Services is an ISO 9001 accredited company
and therefore has the necessary processes in place. To provide
spectrum management it is necessary to have a set computer based
planning tool.
At CSS we use the BAE Systems 'COVMOD' system, which has been
calibrated against previous field measurements and has been found to
be very accurate. The Site information necessary to carry out this
type of spectrum management is held in a geographic relational
database.
The spectrum management process is broken down into three main
areas:
Private Business radio Systems
Water Industry Scanning Telemetry
Non-Utilities Scanning Telemetry
The engineering processes are different but the paperwork follows a
standard methodology.
A requirement of the self-management process of the radio spectrum
delegated on a National Basis is for the SMO Organisation, in this
case CSS, to initially investigate any complaints of interference
from members. Once it has been confirmed that the interference is
not being generated by an Industry member, the case is passed to the
Field Operations Group within Ofcom for detailed investigation.
