FCC RULES

Excerpts from FCC Rules part 15 relative to "Unlicensed Spread Spectrum radio systems" believed to be current as of July 23, 1996.

This is offered as general information only and is NOT valid for legal use of any kind.

SEE COMPLETE AND CURRENT FCC RULES FOR MORE INFORMATION!

Section 15.247 Operation within the bands 902 - 928 MHz, 2400 - 2483.5 MHz, and 5725 - 5850 MHz.

(a) Operation under the provisions of this Section is limited to frequency hopping and direct sequence spread spectrum intentional radiators that comply with the following provisions:

(1) Frequency hopping systems shall have hopping channel carrier frequencies separated by a minimum of 25 kHz or the 20 dB bandwidth of the hopping channel, whichever is greater. The system shall hop to channel frequencies that are selected at the system hopping rate from a pseudorandomly ordered list of hopping frequencies. Each frequency must be used equally on the average by each transmitter. The system receivers shall have input bandwidths that match the hopping channel bandwidths of their corresponding transmitters and shall shift frequencies in synchronization with the transmitted signals.

(i) Frequency hopping systems operating in the 902-928 MHz band shall use at least 50 hopping frequencies. The maximum allowed 20 dB bandwidth of the hopping channel is 500 kHz. The average time of occupancy on any frequency shall not be greater than 0.4 seconds within a 20 second period.

(ii) Frequency hopping systems operating in the 2400-2483.5 MHz and 5725-5850 MHz bands shall use at least 75 hopping frequencies. The maximum 20 dB bandwidth of the hopping channel is 1 MHz. The average time of occupancy on any frequency shall not be greater than 0.4 seconds within a 30 second period.

(2) For direct sequence systems, the minimum 6 dB bandwidth shall be at least 500 kHz.

(b) The maximum peak output power of the transmitter shall not exceed 1 Watt. If transmitting antennas of directional gain greater than 6 dBi are used, the power shall be reduced by the amount in dB that the directional gain of the antenna exceeds 6 dBi.

(c) In any 100 kHz bandwidth outside these frequency bands, the radio frequency power that is produced by the modulation products of the spreading sequence, the information sequence and the carrier frequency shall be either at least 20 dB below that in any 100 kHz bandwidth within the band that contains the highest level of the desired power or shall not exceed the general levels specified in Section 15.209(a), whichever results in the lesser attenuation. All other emissions outside these bands shall not exceed the general radiated emission limits specified in Section 15.209(a).

(d) For direct sequence systems, the transmitted power density averaged over any 1 second interval shall not be greater than 8 dBm in any 3 kHz bandwidth within these bands.

[Unpublished Note: This paragraph is apparently in error and should be corrected soon by an Erratum. The paragraph should state that the peak power density shall not be greater than 8 dBm in any 3 kHz band during any one second interval.]

(e) The processing gain of a direct sequence system shall be at least 10 dB. The processing gain shall be determined from the ratio in dB of the signal to noise ratio with the system spreading code turned off and the signal to noise ratio with the system spreading code turned on, as measured at the demodulated output of the receiver.

(f) Hybrid systems that employ a combination of both direct sequence and frequency hopping modulation techniques shall achieve a processing gain of at least 17 dB from the combined techniques. The frequency hopping operation of the hybrid system, with the direct sequence operation turned off, shall have an average time of occupancy on any frequency not to exceed 0.4 seconds within a time period in seconds equal to the number of hopping frequencies employed multiplied by 0.4. The direct sequence operation of the hybrid system, with the frequency hopping turned off, shall comply with the power density requirements of paragraph (d) of this Section.

Note: Spread spectrum systems are sharing these bands on a noninterference basis with systems supporting critical Government requirements that have been allocated the usage of these bands, secondary only to ISM equipment operated under the provisions of Part 18 of this Chapter. Many of these Government systems are airborne radiolocation systems that emit a high EIRP which can cause interference to other users. Also, investigations of the effect of spread spectrum interference to U. S. Government operations in the 902-928 MHz band may require a future decrease in the power limits allowed for spread spectrum operation.

Section 15.203 Antenna requirement.

An intentional radiator shall be designed to ensure that no antenna other than that furnished by the responsible party shall be used with the device. The use of a permanently attached antenna or of an antenna that uses a unique coupling to the intentional radiator shall be considered sufficient to comply with the provisions of this Section. The manufacturer may design the unit so that a broken antenna can be replaced by the user, but the use of a standard antenna jack or electrical connector is prohibited. This requirement does not apply to carrier current devices or to devices operated under the provisions of Sections 15.211, 15.213, 15.217, 15.219, or 15.221. Further, this requirement does not apply to intentional radiators that must be professionally installed, such as perimeter protection systems and some field disturbance sensors, or to other intentional radiators which, in accordance with Section 15.31(d), must be measured at the installation site. However, the installer shall be responsible for ensuring that the proper antenna is employed so that the limits in this Part are not exceeded.

Section 15.209 Radiated emission limits, general requirements.

(a) Except as provided elsewhere in this Subpart, the emissions from an intentional radiator shall not exceed the field strength levels specified in the following table:

** Except as provided in paragraph (g), fundamental emissions from intentional radiators operating under this Section shall not be located in the frequency bands 54-72 MHz, 76-88 MHz, 174-216 MHz or 470-806 MHz. However, operation within these frequency bands is permitted under other sections of this Part, e.g., .Sections 15.231 and 15.241.

(b) In the emission table above, the tighter limit applies at the band edges.

(c) The level of any unwanted emissions from an intentional radiator operating under these general provisions shall not exceed the level of the fundamental emission. For intentional radiators which operate under the provisions of other Sections within this Part and which are required to reduce their unwanted emissions to the limits specified in this table, the limits in this table are based on the frequency of the unwanted emission and not the fundamental frequency. However, the level of any unwanted emissions shall not exceed the level of the fundamental frequency.

(d) The emission limits shown in the above table are based on measurements employing a CISPR quasi-peak detector except for the frequency bands 9-90 kHz, 110-490 kHz and above 1000 MHz. Radiated emission limits in these three bands are based on measurements employing an average detector.

(e) The provisions in Sections 15.31, 15.33, and 15.35 for measuring emissions at distances other than the distances specified in the above table, determining the frequency range over which radiated emissions are to be measured, and limiting peak emissions apply to all devices operated under this Part.

(f) In accordance with Section 15.33(a), in some cases the emissions from an intentional radiator must be measured to beyond the tenth harmonic of the highest fundamental frequency designed to be emitted by the intentional radiator because of the incorporation of a digital device. If measurements above the tenth harmonic are so required, the radiated emissions above the tenth harmonic shall comply with the general radiated emission limits applicable to the incorporated digital device, as shown in Section 15.109 and as based on the frequency of the emission being measured, or, except for emissions contained in the restricted frequency bands shown in Section 15.205, the limit on spurious emissions specified for the intentional radiator, whichever is the higher limit. Emissions which must be measured above the tenth harmonic of the highest fundamental frequency designed to be emitted by the intentional radiator and which fall within the restricted bands shall comply with the general radiated emission limits in Section 15.109 that are applicable to the incorporated digital device.

(g) Operation in the frequency bands allocated to TV broadcast stations:

(1) Perimeter protection systems operating under the provisions of this Section in the frequency bands allocated to TV broadcast stations, as shown in Part 73 of this Chapter, shall contain their fundamental emissions within the frequency bands 54-72 MHz and 76-88 MHz. Further, the use of such perimeter protection systems is limited to industrial, business and commercial applications.

(2) Biomedical telemetry devices operating under the provisions of this Section in the frequency bands allocated to TV broadcast stations, as shown in Part 73 of this Chapter, shall contain their fundamental emissions within the frequency band 512-566 MHz. Further, the marketing and the use of biomedical telemetry devices operating under this paragraph shall be limited to hospitals.