IEEE 802.11afWi-Fi in TV White Space

Abstract

TV White Space is expected to make the radio resource utilization more flexible by adopting spectrum sharing concept to TV band. IEEE 802.11af is the worldfirst standard of PHY andMAC for operation of wireless LAN in the TV band. As radio regulations, such as spectrum mask and maximum transmission power, are different depending on countries, it is not so simple to implement the standard. Therefore, it is necessary for the standard to conduct investigation on implementation of the standard by prototyping according to the specific regulations, measurements of performances in various use scenarios, and discussion on its feasibility. This chapter covers from the IEEE 802.11af standard to its prototypes and field experiments. It is believed that the chapter helps to understand not only the specific standard but also the concept and practical experiences of TV White Space operations. The prototyping was based on radio regulations of US FCC and UK Ofcom. The field experiments introduced in the chapter were conducted under the TV White Space Pilot organized by UK Ofcom. Measurements were taken through the experiments in indoor and outdoor environments and analyzed to show feasibility and features of the standard and potentials of TV White Space utilization for IP communications. Note that this chapter includes several worldfirst achievements on IEEE 802.11af related R & D.