SRSP-300.512 — Technical Requirements for Remote Rural Broadband Systems (RRBS) Operating in the Bands 512–608 MHz (TV Channels 21 to 36)

This Standard Radio System Plan (SRSP) replaces SRSP-300.512, issue 1. Issue 2 of SRSP-300.512 is hereby released in order to remove references to the 614-698 MHz frequency band as per the policy decision in SLPB-004-15, Decision on Repurposing the 600 MHz Band.

Changes are listed below:

• throughout the document, references to the 614-698 MHz band have been removed
• table 1, showing the Radio frequency channel arrangement, has been edited to remove channels higher than channel 37

Issued under the authority of
the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development

Martin Proulx
Director General
Engineering, Planning and Standards Branch

1. This Standard Radio System Plan (SRSP) states the minimum technical requirements for the efficient use of the UHF (ultra high frequency) television broadcasting bands by point-to-multipoint remote rural broadband radio systems (RRBS) in the fixed service.

2. The frequency band 512-608 MHz has been licensed for RRBS.

3. This SRSP specifies system characteristics relating to efficient spectrum usage only and is not to be regarded as a comprehensive specification for equipment design and/or selection.

4. RRBS is for fixed wireless access^{Footnote 1} only and can be used only for subscriber-based broadband Internet applications. In-band backhaul and other subscriber-based services are permitted at the discretion of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's (ISED) regional office, on a case-by-case basis, provided that the main application of the network is broadband access.

5. RRBS will be licensed on a first-come, first-served (FCFS) basis.

6. This document replaces SRSP-300.512, issue 1, Technical Requirements for Remote Rural Broadband Systems (RRBS) Operating in the Bands 512–608 MHz and 614–698 MHz (TV Channels 21 to 51).

7. Existing RRBS operating in accordance with GL-05 and licensed as standard prior to the issuance of this SRSP may continue to operate as previously licensed, although RRBS systems operating in the repurposed 600 MHz spectrum are subject to displacement as per SLPB-004-15, Decision on Repurposing the 600 MHz Band. New RRBS must conform to the requirements of the latest version of this SRSP.

8. Radio systems conforming to these technical requirements will be given priority in licensing over non-standard radio systems operating in this band.

9. The arrangements for non-standard systems are outlined in Spectrum Utilization Policy, SP Gen, General Information Related to Spectrum Utilization and Radio Systems Policies.

10. Although a radio system may conform to the requirements of this SRSP, modifications to that system may be required whenever harmful interference^{Footnote 2} is caused.

11. ISED expects licensees to collaborate to resolve conflicts (i.e. interference) through good faith discussions and mutual agreement between the affected parties. If such interference cannot be resolved, the parties should advise ISED. Following consultation with these parties, ISED will determine the necessary modifications to resolve the conflict.

12. ISED may require RRBS applicants and/or licensees to use receiver selectivity characteristics that provide rejection of harmful interference.

13. It should be noted that RRBS operate in accordance with RP-006, Policy for the Use of 700 MHz Systems for Public Safety Applications and Other Limited Use of Broadcasting Spectrum and, as such, may not constrain the provision of existing and new broadcasting services. RRBS are established on an unprotected basis with respect to all TV broadcast services (including low power TV and very low power TV), but not with respect to other secondary services, other RRBS or licence-exempt systems. Should an RRBS assignment established in accordance with this SRSP cause interference to broadcasting assignments, whether established before or after the RRBS assignment, remedial measures will have to be taken by the RRBS licensee even to the extent of ceasing operation if another suitable channel cannot be found. Conversely, an RRBS assignment is not entitled to protection from interference from broadcasting assignments.

14. The current issues of the following documents are applicable. They are available on the Spectrum Management and Telecommunications website.

15. The RF channel arrangements defined in this SRSP provide for RF channel bandwidths of 6 MHz concurrent with upper and lower boundary frequencies identical to the 6 MHz broadcast channel plan and have the following designation:

16. Normally, two channels will be assigned to each frequency division duplex (FDD) system and one channel will be assigned to each time division duplex (TDD) system. However, for each TDD system, up to two contiguous channels may be assigned, and for each FDD system, a pair of up to two contiguous channels may be assigned, depending on the availability of such contiguous channels and provided that the requirement for this extra capacity can be demonstrated.

17. The following section describes radiated power and emission limits for transmitters within the band.

24. The following section describes antenna characteristics.

30. This section describes criteria for the protection of broadcasting stations.

41. RRBS licensees are requested, when installing equipment at the customer premises, to survey neighbouring buildings for external TV antennas. In cases where such antennas exist, the licensee is requested to use, to the extent possible, interference mitigating solutions. These may include the use of a directional antenna pointed away from the TV antenna, the incorporation of site shielding, and maximizing the distance between RRBS transmit and DTV receive antenna.

42. RRBS licensees are required to inform their subscribers of the potential for harmful interference to their existing over-the-air television reception.

43. In the event of harmful interference to television reception caused by RRBS CPE, the RRBS licensee shall take measures to mitigate this interference.

44. This section describes methods to mitigate interference to RRBS.

55. In the border area, the sharing and use of the bands 54-72 MHz, 76-88 MHz, 174-216 MHz, 470-608 MHz and 614-746 MHz are currently covered by the Agreement Between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America Relating to the TV Broadcasting Service and the Associated Working Arrangement, the Letter of Understanding (LOU) , which covers areas within 400 km of the border, and the Interim Agreement Between Canada and the United States Concerning Digital Television (DTV). These three agreements and working arrangements deal with the sharing and use of the bands by broadcasting services operating in the United States and in Canada. In addition, the LOU specifies that new (non-broadcasting) services shall not claim protection from DTV stations or analogue TV stations in either country. The LOU does not deal with non-broadcasting versus non broadcasting operations in the border area. Therefore, until such time as a new Agreement can be reached between Canada and the United States, any authorization issued for non-broadcasting use in Canada within 400 km of the border area must be on a no-interference, no-protection basis with respect to broadcasting services in the United States. Furthermore, licensees will be subject to any future agreements or arrangements between Canada and the United States regarding use of these RRBS in the border area and may be required to modify their stations or operations in order to conform to such agreements or arrangements.

56. Until a new Agreement is reached, RRBS stations are not permitted to operate within 121 km of the Canada-United States border.

This annex provides guidance on the derivation for calculating the minimum E-field strength levels to coordinate between RRBS.

B1. Guidance on RRBS customer premises equipment (CPE) receiver protection

The RRBS CPE receiver protection is defined using a minimum co-channel C/I ratio of +4 dB,^{Footnote a} which is equivalent to the minimum required signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for robust RRBS operation.

The first adjacent channel CPE receiver rejection is 41.0 dB, whereas the equivalent first adjacent channel rejection resulting from the transmit emission mask described in RSS-196 is 31.7 dB, resulting in a compound rejection of 31.2 dB. The second adjacent channel CPE receiver rejection is 63.2 dB, whereas the equivalent second adjacent channel rejection resulting from the transmit emission mask described in RSS-196 is 54.3 dB, resulting in a compound rejection of 53.7 dB. The compound effect is assumed to be a power addition of the interference resulting from the two interference mechanisms: leakage of the RRBS main interfering signal into the victim receiver due to limited receiver filtering performance, and out-of-band power emitted by the interfering RRBS transmitter into the channel selected at the victim RRBS receiver.

Typical CPE parameters and calculated values for the maximum non-interfering field strengths for co-channel, first adjacent, and second adjacent channels may be found in table B1. These values are based on Equations (B1), (B2), and (B3).

At the edge of coverage, the maximum non-interfering field strength for the co-channel is calculated using Equation (B1):

Where:

The maximum non-interfering field strength for the first adjacent channel is calculated using Equation (B2):

Where:

The maximum non-interfering field strength for the second adjacent channel is calculated using Equation (B3):

Where:

B2. Guidance on RRBS base station receiver protection

The RRBS base station receiver protection can be defined using a minimum co-channel C/I ratio of +4 dB^{Footnote b}, which is equivalent to the minimum required SNR for robust RRBS operation.

The first adjacent channel base station receiver rejection is 41.0 dB, whereas the equivalent first adjacent channel rejection resulting from the transmit emission mask described in RSS-196 is 31.2 dB, resulting in a compound rejection of 31.2 dB. The second adjacent channel base station receiver rejection is 63.2 dB, whereas the equivalent second adjacent channel rejection resulting from the transmit emission mask described in RSS-196 is 54.3 dB, resulting in a compound rejection of 53.7 dB. The compound effect is assumed to be a power addition of the interference resulting from the two interference mechanisms: leakage of the RRBS main interfering signal into the victim receiver due to limited receiver filtering performance and out-of-band power emitted by the interfering RRBS transmitter into the channel selected at the victim RRBS receiver.

Typical base station parameters and calculated values for the maximum non-interfering field strengths for co-channel, first adjacent, and second adjacent channels may be found in table B2. These values are based on Equations (B4), (B5), and (B6).

At the edge of coverage, the maximum interfering field strength for the co-channel is calculated using Equation (B4):

Where:

The maximum non-interfering field strength for the first adjacent channel is calculated using Equation (B5):

Where:

The maximum non-interfering field strength for the second adjacent channel is calculated using Equation (B6):

Where:

These sample values are based on the protection ratios in table 2 and were calculated using the methodology in annex A. In lieu of using these separation distances, licensees — in consultation with and agreement from ISED's regional offices — may recalculate the required separations using site-specific information and agreed terrain databases, using the terrain-based propagation model found in Broadcasting Procedures and Rules, Part 10, Application Procedures and Rules for Digital Television (DTV) Undertakings (BPR-10).

Table C1 provides the minimum separation distances outside the protected contour of an NTSC broadcast station for an RRBS base station or CPE when using co-channel (N), first adjacent channel (N±1) and beyond (N±2 to N±4, N±7 to N±8, N+14 and N+15).

Table C2 provides the minimum separation distances outside the protected contour of a DTV broadcast station for an RRBS base station or CPE when using co-channel (N), first adjacent channel (N±1) and second adjacent channel (N±2).