BBN Technologies, part of RTX, has received a contract from the US Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Spectrum Consortium to head up the Advanced Spectrum Coexistence Demonstration programme.
The effort aims to develop technology that enables critical national security radars and commercial 5G networks to operate on the same radio frequencies without causing mutual interference.
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As part of the first phase, BBN and its partners will develop an initial smart spectrum manager capable of detecting radar activity, predicting potential 5G interference, and automatically redirecting 5G traffic within seconds.
Currently available tools can take several minutes to respond to interference, leaving both 5G users and radar systems exposed to possible disruptions or operational hazards.
The second phase intends to enhance the system into a more advanced prototype, introducing tools designed to improve reliability when radars and 5G networks share frequencies.
The platform is planned to be self-managing and rule-based, with minimal human oversight required once deployed. This technology could be integrated into operational radars and 5G networks, improving overall efficiency and security.
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By GlobalDataBBN principal investigator for the project Chris Vander Valk said: “Lives are put at risk when a radar misses a target, whether it’s a ship navigating waters or a rescue team tracking a storm. Our work ensures those radars stay reliable, even as 5G frequencies become increasingly congested, so public and private shared use of the spectrum is optimised for all users.”
The project brings together contributions from multiple organisations.
Raytheon Advanced Technology will provide radar signals and test equipment, while Ericsson Federal Technologies Group will support with its 5G network expertise. Signal Processing Technologies will supply interference cancellation, detection, and localisation methods.
Federated Wireless will deliver dynamic spectrum management, and Purdue University will offer signal processing and machine learning models for faster interference prediction. Novowi will provide real-time machine learning for spectrum sensing and security analysis.
BBN will integrate these components into a system for government use while addressing risk management between incumbent and commercial operations.
The team aims to achieve specific targets including a 50% rise in usable commercial 5G capacity, a reduction of unwanted radar interference by 20 dB, and a thousand-fold improvement in 5G link quality when both systems operate concurrently.
Plans also include delivering a version of the spectrum access system that can run either in the cloud or at network edge locations, easing the transition from testing environments to operational deployment.
Work under this contract will take place across several US locations including Cambridge in Massachusetts, Marlborough in Massachusetts, Plano in Texas, and Vienna in Virginia, among others.
The US government is sponsoring this initiative through an agreement between the National Spectrum Consortium and the Government under Other Transaction number W15QKN-21-9-5599.
