Subject: New Non-WG Mailing List: paws -- Protocol to Access White Space database (PAWS)

From: IETF Secretariat <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2011 11:53:47 -0800 (PST)

A new IETF non-working group email list has been created.

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Description: 
As nations struggle to provide spectrum in a finite swath of useful
spectrum, especially spectrum for use with wireless Internet
bandwidth, there are problems with incumbents in a given band. The
incumbents may use the spectrum inefficiently, especially
geographically - there may be large swaths of country where a
particular band is not used at all, and others where use is only in a
portion of the band.

Recently, techniques have been developed that attempt to share
spectrum between incumbents and new users. The generic term for this
is "white space". For example, in over the air TV bands, spectrum is
divided into channels, and in any one area, usually not all channels
have TV transmitters in range. There is a desire among many
regulators to make this prime spectrum available for Internet access
and other uses, as long as the new use does not interfere with the
existing TV band use.

Multiple database(s) are expected to exist which contains the
information about available channels for use at a given location. A
device is required to query the database for available channels and
associated information. There are several scenarios that the US
regulation permits which include a simple tower/client arrangement
where the tower queries the database on behalf of itself and its
client TVBDs as well as ad hoc mobile networks where at least one TVBD
in the ad hoc net has another path to the Internet and can query the
database with it.

This BoF will explore the various aspects of specifying a messaging
interface betwen the devices and the database. 

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