A phased approach to policy-based Spectrum operations

The Department of Defense (DoD) is currently engaged in a broad set of research and development efforts relating to the technical, operational, regulatory, and standardization of Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) capabilities for mission related applications. DoD is converging on the use of a policy-based management approach as the fundamental source of situational awareness for DSA radios to base their transmission decisions. Digital Spectrum Policy (DSP) can represent something as simple as a frequency assignment, all the way to a complex policy which describes conditions for advanced sharing scenarios. This paper investigates the role of Policy Based Spectrum Management (PBSM) in the DoD's spectrum management transformation. It looks at the current spectrum management lifecycle activities which guide joint task force (JTF) operations in the electromagnetic battlespace (EMB). As the use of Policy-Based Spectrum Dependent Systems (SDSs) extends across the JTF, the impact of PBSM will be felt across the different activities in the spectrum management lifecycle. Viewed from this perspective, a phased introduction of PBSM is expected to take place as policy-based SDS technology matures and is deployed.