eSafety Compendium

The FCC Regulation was a controversial proceeding and was based on extensive publicconsultation and sharing studies carried out within the National Telecommunication andInformation Administration (NTIA) in order to ensure protection of certain serviceswithin the frequency range suggested. However, it is understood that detailed sharingstudies were not carried out with respect to the Fixed Service where density of the fixedlinks in USA is much lower than in Europe. The USA is currently the only countryknown to have specifically authorised the use of UWB Short Range Radars at 24 GHz,although it is believed that no vehicles containing these devices have yet been marketed.Following the WRC-2000 results the FCC has initiated a proposed rule making on thefuture frequency allocations within the band 76-81 GHz. The bands 76-77.5 GHz and 78-81 GHz are allocated to the Radio Astronomy service and Radiolocation Service on anequal primary basis.In the United States, the FCC reviewed a proposal from the automotive industry to use24 GHz short range automotive radar. After a public consultation on this and otherproposals, including direct input from the government agencies responsible for operationof EESS, the FCC adopted technical emission levels that permit implementation of SRRto serve the public interest.Further details may be found on the FCC web site.1.2 Developments in JapanIn Japan automotive long range radar systems are available in the 77 GHz range butlimited to narrow-band design (below 500 MHz).Japanese vehicle industries as well as microelectronic manufacturers are seeking toestablish a narrow band 77 GHz technology Mitsubishi Electronics announced recently aMMIC chipset for 77 GHz automotive radars. Toyota and Honda began theimplementation of ACC radars on some of their vehicles for limited pre-crashapplications.These applications do not provide, however, the same functionalities as SRRs and are notyet available at affordable prices.12