The FCC has created two new Innovation Zones for Program Experimental Licenses in designated areas in and nearby the campuses of North Carolina State University (NC State Innovation Zone) in Raleigh, NC and Northeastern University (Northeastern Innovation Zone) in Boston, MA. The Innovation Zones are intended to provide opportunities for qualified licensees to test new advanced technologies and prototype networks – such as those that can support 5G technologies – outside of a traditional small campus or laboratory setting.
The NC State Innovation Zone is intended to study new use cases for advanced wireless technologies that are emerging in unmanned aerial systems (UAS); the Northeastern Innovation Zone will enable researchers to use the Colosseum wireless network emulator to extend and accelerate research in wireless networked systems. Both of these Innovation Zones will help promote platforms to test the integration of Open radio access networks (Open RAN).
The two new zones are based on detailed proposals from the PAWR program.
Additionally, the FCC slightly extend the geographic boundaries of the established New York City Innovation Zone and increased the permitted maximum power for certain frequency bands within that designated area.
PAWR Project to test AI-Driven Spectrum Sharing
The Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) Project Office, led by US Ignite and Northeastern University, announced $2.7 million in funding awarded by the U.S. Department of Defense for development work on advanced spectrum sharing technologies. 
The PAWR program will perform spectrum sharing tests on a live 5G-NR network at the POWDER wireless testbed site in Salt Lake City, Utah. The researchers hope to demonstrate how two mobile operators can occupy spectrum in the same CBRS channel autonomously using AI.
PAWR is funded by the National Science Foundation and a consortium of 35 industry partners.
“When we started the PAWR program to develop and deploy four city-scale wireless testbeds across the country, it was with the intention of creating shared infrastructure to enable new research into advanced communications network technologies,” said Joe Kochan, Principal Investigator and Project Director for the PAWR Project Office. “We’re gratified to be able to support the DOD’s mission today to further network performance with greater spectrum sharing capabilities in the transition to 5G and beyond.”
http://www.advancedwireless.org
