Experiment Description

0049-EX-CM-2018 Text Documents

Microsoft Corporation

2018-03-07ELS_206024

Microso Corpora on Form Exhibit File No. ‐EX‐CM‐ Experiment Descrip on Microso , in partnership with Allband Communica ons, a coopera ve Internet service provider serving rural northeast Michigan, seeks to evaluate new ways of using TVWS technology to expand access to high‐speed Internet access for America’s students, especially in rural and underserved areas. Today, an es mated % of teachers assign homework that requires access to broadband,1 even as million American students go home at the end of each school day to a household that lacks a high‐speed Internet connec on.2 The proposed deployment would help to address this unmet need in rural Hillman, MI by providing high‐speed wireless Internet access on school buses as they complete their morning and a ernoon routes. This will allow students without suitable connec ons at home to complete assignments that require broadband Internet access while they are on their way to and from school. Each school bus would be equipped with a TVWS radio, which would communicate with fixed TVWS base sta ons for Internet backhaul and to verify that the device has not le the area where experimental opera ons have been authorized. Because of the significant coverage needs of this experimental deployment, however, Microso seeks to use an experimental fixed white‐space device at a power level above that ordinarily permi ed for personal/portable devices under the Commission’s rules. Microso and Allband will prevent any harmful interference by adhering to the separa on distances that ordinarily apply to fixed devices of the same transmit power and ensuring that bus‐ resident devices will not operate unless they are able to connect to one of a pre‐programmed list of fixed base‐sta on devices to be deployed in Hillman. A bus‐resident device will cease opera ng if it has not been able to contact a base sta on in the last five seconds. This ensures that the bus‐resident white‐ space devices are geofenced, and will not operate if a bus is driven outside of the intended area of 1 http://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/ / / /internet-broadband-access/ / 2 http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/ / / /digital-divide-persists-even-as-lower-income-americans-make- gains-in-tech-adoption/

Microso Corpora on Form Exhibit File No. ‐EX‐CM‐ opera on. A map depic ng the bus route as well as loca on and coverage area of each fixed base sta on, outside of which the bus‐resident devices will be unable to operate, is a ached. The experimental white‐space devices have also not yet been configured for automa c database control. Because automa c database control is complex, the manufacturer intends to conduct experimental equipment trials to establish baseline device capabili es in a controlled environment before adding this addi onal func onality and seeking FCC equipment cer fica on. To prevent harmful interference during the proposed experiment, each device would be limited to opera ons only on channels through , and specific channels of opera on would be selected manually each morning from within that restricted set based on channel‐availability data in a white‐spaces database. Microso will coordinate with local broadcasters to ensure interference protec on for wireless microphones in the unlikely event that a broadcaster seeks to reserve a channel for wireless microphone opera ons within the experimental area on less than hours’ no ce.


Document Created: 2019-04-27 03:52:41
Document Modified: 2019-04-27 03:52:41
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