XM and Sirius asked the FCC to refrain from allowing ultra-wideba...

petition by Siemens VDO Automotive AG asking the FCC to make changes in the rules adopted for UWB devices. XM and Sirius, authorized to operate in the 2332.5-2345 MHz and the 2320-2332.5 MHz bands, respectively, said UWB vehicular radar systems were likely to cause interference to satellite radios in vehicles due to proximity but because they were “currently restricted to the 22-29 GHz band… the Commission and the satellite radio licensees have assumed that these systems would not present an interference concern.” The addition of UWB vehicular radar systems to the 3.1-10.6 GHz band would make the former assumption invalid, particularly as there was no technical analysis of potential interference, they said: “While vehicle manufacturers will likely engineer radar systems to avoid interference to satellite radio operating within the same vehicle, this does not address a situation in which a radar system in one car is directly pointed at a trunk- or roof-mounted satellite radio antenna in an adjacent vehicle.” XM and Sirius asked the Commission to either require additional technical analysis to address the issues or, if the rule were changed, to allow the parties ample time to object to equipment certification applications. The Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) also asked the Commission not to allow vehicular radars in the band, saying they were likely to increase the potential for harmful interference to fixed satellite service (FSS) earth station receivers in the band. It said nothing “in the record shows a need for additional spectrum for UWB vehicular radars, while the SIA has made substantial showings of the risk of harmful interference from such devices in the 3.1-10.6 GHz band.” Northrop Grumman and Raytheon submitted joint comments telling the FCC it shouldn’t approve the radars “near or in the 23.6-24.0 GHz band without adopting strict limits to reduce the potential for increased interference that likely will result under standards being proposed by manufacturers.” Both companies are contractors for the National Polar- Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) that, when operational, will use that band to provide “space- based, remotely sensed environmental data,” they said: “While the parties recognize the potential benefits from vehicular radars,… protection against harmful interference to remote passive sensors deployed by NPOESS is important… because the capabilities of [NPOESS] to offer significant safety-of-life benefits, support for homeland security and defense objectives.” Meanwhile, Siemens VDO said opposition to its proposal by the National Academy of Sciences’ (NAS) Committee on Radio Frequencies (CORF) were based on a concern that its radars were more likely to cause harmful interference to earth exploration satellite service (EESS) sensors in the 23.6-24 GHz band, which it said was untrue: “CORF fails to acknowledge that any threat of future interference to EESS will be reduced due to existing rules that, starting in 2010, require all UWB vehicular radar devices to sharply attenuate emissions appearing 30 degrees or more above the horizontal plane.” Siemens said its device wouldn’t increase the interference potential any more than pure pulsed devices.