Title 47
SECTION 96.17
96.17 Protection of existing fixed satellite service (FSS) earth stations in the 3600-3700 MHz Band and 3700-4200 MHz Band.
§ 96.17 Protection of existing fixed satellite service (FSS) earth stations in the 3600-3700 MHz Band and 3700-4200 MHz Band.(a) FSS earth stations licensed to operate in the 3600-3700 MHz band listed at www.fcc.gov/cbrs-protected-fss-sites shall be protected from CBSD operation consistent with this section. The protections in this section shall only apply to registered FSS earth stations that are authorized to operate on a co-primary basis consistent with § 2.106 of this chapter.
(1) FSS earth stations in the 3650-3700 MHz band will be afforded protection consistent with this section only after the conditions set forth in § 96.21(c) are satisfied.
(2) Co-channel. The aggregate passband radiofrequency (RF) power spectral density at the output of a reference RF filter and antenna at the location of an FSS earth station operating in the 3600-3700 MHz band, produced by emissions from all co-channel CBSDs (within 150 km) operating in the Citizens Band Radio Service shall not exceed a median root mean square (RMS) value of −129 dBm/MHz. The reference antenna system requires SAS to calculate antenna gain using § 25.209(a)(1) and (4) of this chapter, and a reference RF filter between the feed-horn and low noise amplifier (LNA)/low noise block downconverter (LNB), with 0.5 dB insertion loss in the passband.
(3) Blocking. The aggregate RF power at the output of a reference RF filter and antenna at the location of an FSS earth station operating in the 3600-3700 MHz band, produced by emissions from all CBSDs (within 40 km), shall not exceed a median RMS value of −60 dBm. The reference antenna system requires an SAS to calculate antenna gain using § 25.209(a)(1) and (4) of this chapter, and a reference RF filter between the feed-horn and LNA/LNB, with a filter mask of 0.6 dB/MHz attenuation to 30.5 dB at 50 MHz offset below the lower edge of the FSS earth station's authorized passband, and 0.25 dB/MHz attenuation to 55.5 dB at an offset greater than or equal to 150 MHz below the lower edge of the FSS earth station's authorized passband.
(b) Registered FSS earth stations in the 3700-4200 MHz band listed at www.fcc.gov/cbrs-protected-fss-sites shall be protected from CBSD operation in accordance with this section. Only licensed FSS earth stations used for satellite telemetry, tracking, and control (TT&C) operations will be protected under this section. Other licensed 3700-4200 MHz earth stations may be protected consistent with § 96.17(f).
(1) Out-of-band emissions into FSS. The aggregate passband RF power spectral density at the output of a reference RF filter and antenna at the location of a TT&C FSS earth station operating in the 3700-4200 MHz band, produced by emissions from all CBSDs (within 40 km) operating in the Citizens Band Radio Service shall not exceed a median RMS value of −129 dBm/MHz. The reference antenna system requires SAS to calculate antenna gain using § 25.209(a)(1) and (4) of this chapter, and a reference RF filter between the feed-horn and LNA/LNB, with 0.5 dB insertion loss in the passband.
(2) Blocking. The aggregate RF power at the output of a reference RF filter and antenna at the location of a TT&C FSS earth station operating in the 3700-4200 MHz band, produced by emissions from all CBSDs (within 40 km), shall not exceed a median RMS value of −60 dBm. The reference antenna system requires SAS to calculate antenna gain using § 25.209(a)(1) and (4) of this chapter, and a reference RF filter between the feed-horn and LNA/LNB, with a filter mask of 0.6 dB/MHz attenuation to 30.5 dB at 50 MHz offset below the lower edge of the FSS earth station's authorized passband, and 0.25 dB/MHz attenuation to 55.5 dB at an offset greater than or equal to150 MHz below the lower edge of the FSS earth station's authorized passband.
(c) These protection criteria will be enforced by the Spectrum Access System authorized consistent with subpart F of this part.
(d) FSS earth station licensees requesting protection under this part must register with the Commission annually, no later than 30 days before the end of the preceding calendar year, or upon making changes to any of the operational parameters listed in this section. Registration information will be made available to all approved SASs.
(1) Annual registration for each earth station shall include, at a minimum:
(i) The earth station's geographic location (Using NAD83 coordinates);
(ii) Antenna gain;
(iii) Azimuth and elevation antenna gain pattern;
(iv) Antenna azimuth relative to true north; and
(v) Antenna elevation angle.
(vi) Whether the earth station is used for satellite telemetry, tracking, and control (for earth stations in the 3700-4200 MHz band).
(2) Such information must be made available to SAS Administrators and maintained consistent with § 96.55.
(e) CBSDs may operate within areas that may cause interference to FSS earth stations, in excess of the levels described in § 96.17(a) and (b), provided that the licensee of the FSS earth station and the authorized user of the CBSD mutually agree on such operation and the terms of any such agreement are provided to an SAS Administrator that agrees to enforce them. The terms of any such agreement shall be communicated promptly to all other SAS Administrators.
(f) FSS earth station licensees in the 3600-3700 and 3700-4200 MHz bands may request additional protection from SAS Administrators to prevent harmful interference into their systems. SAS Administrators must establish a process to receive and address such requests, consistent with §§ 96.53(o) and 96.63 and shall make good faith efforts to address interference concerns, consistent with their other responsibilities under this part. In addressing such requests, SASs shall assume that 3700-4200 MHz earth stations are utilizing filters with the characteristics described in § 96.17(a)(3) or (b)(2) as appropriate for the 3600-3700 or 3700-4200 MHz band.
[80 FR 36222, June 23, 2015, as amended at 81 FR 49066, July 26, 2016]