NTIA Report TR-08-455

Measurements to Characterize Land Mobile Channel Occupancy for Federal Bands 162–174 MHz and 406–420 MHz in the Denver, CO Area

September 2008

John E. Carroll, J. Randy Hoffman, Robert J. Matheson

Abstract: This report describes field measurements to characterize Land Mobile Radio (LMR) channel occupancy of Federal bands 162–174 megahertz (MHz) and 406–420 MHz at a single location overlooking the Denver, Colorado metropolitan area. This is part of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration effort to improve the spectrum efficiency of Federal radio usage. Measurements of the received radio traffic levels in these LMR frequency bands were performed over an 8-day period for the purpose of determining radio channel usage within the receiver spatial coverage of approximately 100-kilometer (km) radius for base stations, 50-km radius for mobile units, and 25-km radius for handheld units. The measurements were made using newly developed techniques that digitize as much as a 5-MHz segment of spectrum and process it to obtain simultaneous signal levels of up to 400 individual LMR channels. These techniques provided faster measurements, but also allowed enhanced post-processing of the data to remove effects of impulsive noise-like sources.

Keywords: channel occupancy; channel usage; Federal radio usage; Land Mobile Radio (LMR); measurements; spectrum efficiency

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Disclaimer: Certain commercial equipment, components, and software are identified in this report to specify adequately the technical aspects of the reported results. In no case does such identification imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, nor does it imply that the equipment or software identified is necessarily the best available for the particular application or uses.