1. Ca-US-ECC Cooperation 2011
Broadband DA2GC
Broadband Direct-Air-to-Ground Communications
US ECC(11)003
Thomas Weilacher – Vice-Chairman of WG FM

2. Ca-US-ECC Cooperation Meeting
ETSI SRDoc
ETSI submitted a System Reference Document (SRDoc) to CEPT/ECC: ETSI TR V1.1.1 ( )
ETSI SRDoc focus on the Direct-Air-to-Ground connection:
DA2G communication infrastructure on-board the aircraft (external antenna(s), modem, cabling, interface to on-board network),
terrestrial radio access network with broadband backhaul links
A comparable system using 3G CDMA EVDO technology, namely the “GOGO” service operated by Aircell, has been introduced in the USA in the 800 MHz band (awarded in the year 2006),
Licence C: MHz / MHz
Licence D: MHz / MHz
SkySurf Canada (2 x 2 MHz) started operation in 2011, also voice telephony is allowed (prohibited on-board aircraft in the USA), MHz / MHz,
June 2011
Ca-US-ECC Cooperation Meeting

3. Ca-US-ECC Cooperation Meeting
System architecture
June 2011
Ca-US-ECC Cooperation Meeting

4. Phases of a typical flight profile
Adoption of lower transmit power during take-off, climb, descent and landing is possible (no Broadband DA2GC below 3000 m).
June 2011
Ca-US-ECC Cooperation Meeting

5. Technical parameters, operating frequency
It is envisaged to use standardised equipment (e.g. LTE)
The Ground Station (GS) antenna characteristics are similar to those of a Base Station in a terrestrial mobile network (instead of antenna down tilt an antenna up tilt is used)
The Aircraft Station (AS) antennas will probably be omni-directional
The target operating frequency is in the range below 6 GHz:
the lower the operating frequency, the lower the path loss and thus the better the link-budget,
a higher operating frequency would lead to smaller structures for e.g. the GS and AS antennas,
due to the high velocities, the Doppler shift would increase to unacceptable values above 6 GHz.
June 2011
Ca-US-ECC Cooperation Meeting

6. Spectrum requirements
Spectrum requirements by taking into account typical spectrum values (between 1 and 2 bit/s/Hz), a reuse factor of 1 and also future demands for broadband data access:
10 MHz for the Forward Link (FL), link from the GS to the AS
10 MHz for the Reverse Link (RL), link from the AS to the GS
Unpaired spectrum for TDD operation (20 MHz) might be seen as secondary option.
The main application field will be Air Passenger Communications (APC) via fixed or RLAN based on-board connectivity.
In addition the system may also support Airline Administrative Communications (AAC).
June 2011
Ca-US-ECC Cooperation Meeting

7. Activities within CEPT/ECC (1)
ECC Working Group Frequency Management (WG FM) is responsible for spectrum issues on Broadband DA2GC, FM PT 48 has been established (third meeting in September 2011),
ECC Working Group Spectrum Engineering (WG SE) is responsible for compatibility and sharing issues on Broadband DA2GC, SE PT 44 has been established (first meeting in September 2011),
June 2011
Ca-US-ECC Cooperation Meeting

8. Activities within CEPT/ECC (2)
Identification of candidate bands, based on the ETSI SRDoc. and based on an alternative approach submitted by Lufthansa Systems
Prioritisation of candidate bands (4 categories)
Compatibility and sharing studies for “category 1 bands” have been initiated by WG FM:
MHz
MHz
MHz / MHz
MHz
June 2011
Ca-US-ECC Cooperation Meeting

9. Activities within CEPT/ECC (3)
Category 2: Frequency bands to be considered next or in case the studies for the category 1 bands will not show positive results:
(1) The current AMS allocation would need to be modified to allow Broadband DA2GC
(2) Compatibility studies with MLS, AM(R)S, RLANs and FSS have been completed
June 2011
Ca-US-ECC Cooperation Meeting

10. Activities within CEPT/ECC (4)
Category 3: Position on frequency bands still open/undecided
MHz / MHz
MHz
MHz (under discussion within FM PT 50)
MHz / MHz
MHz
MHz
Category 4:
Frequency bands with high regulatory obstacles for an introduction of Broadband DA2GC systems
June 2011
Ca-US-ECC Cooperation Meeting

11. Thanking you for your attention
Any questions ?