ETSI TR 102 834 V1.1.1 (2009-05)

ETSI TR 102 834 V1.1.1 (2009-05)
Technical Report

Electromagnetic compatibility
and Radio spectrum Matters (ERM);
System Reference Document;
Technical characteristics for airborne
Ultra-WideBand (UWB) applications
operating in the frequency bands
for 3,1 GHz to 4,8 GHz and 6 GHz to 8,5 GHz

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2 ETSI TR 102 834 V1.1.1 (2009-05)



Reference
DTR/ERM-TGUWB-0121
Keywords
SRDoc, UWB
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© European Telecommunications Standards Institute 2009.
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3 ETSI TR 102 834 V1.1.1 (2009-05)
Contents
Intellectual Property Rights . 5
Foreword . 5
Introduction . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 References . 6
2.1 Normative references . 6
2.2 Informative references . 7
3 Definitions, symbols and abbreviations . 8
3.1 Definitions . 8
3.2 Symbols . 8
3.3 Abbreviations . 8
4 Executive summary . 9
4.1 Comments on the System Reference Document . 9
4.1.1 Status of the System Reference Document . 9
4.2 Market information. 9
4.3 Technical system description . 10
4.4 Compatibility Issues . 10
4.5 Enforcement Issues. 11
5 Current regulations . 11
6 Proposed regulations . 11
7 Main conclusions . 11
8 Expected ECC, EC and ETSI actions . 12
8.1 Expected ECC and EC actions . 12
8.2 Expected ETSI actions . 12
Annex A: Detailed market information . 13
A.1 Range of applications . 13
A.1.1 Cabin Management System . 13
A.1.2 Wireless Cabin Management System . 13
A.1.3 Passenger communication and IFE . 14
A.1.4 Mobile Devices . 16
A.1.5 Critical communication headsets for pilots . 17
A.2 Motivation for Wireless IFE . 17
A.2.1 Weight Comparison . 17
A.2.2 Maintenance Considerations . 18
A.3 Traffic evaluation . 18
Annex B: Technical information . 20
B.1 Technical description . 20
B.1.1 Transportation Systems (aircraft) . 20
B.2 Basic Demand . 21
B.2.1 Number of units . 22
B.2.2 Data rates . 23
B.2.3 Reliability of wireless data transmission . 23
B.2.4 IFE Specific Specifications . 23
B.2.5 Localization . 24
B.3 Technical justification for spectrum . 24
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4 ETSI TR 102 834 V1.1.1 (2009-05)
B.3.1 Technical justification for proposed power levels . 24
B.3.2 Technical justification for bandwidth . 24
Annex C: Expected compatibility issues . 26
C.1 Coexistence issues . 26
C.2 Current ITU allocations . 26
C.3 Sharing issues . 26
History . 27

ETSI

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5 ETSI TR 102 834 V1.1.1 (2009-05)
Intellectual Property Rights
IPRs essential or potentially essential to the present document may have been declared to ETSI. The information
pertaining to these essential IPRs, if any, is publicly available for ETSI members and non-members, and can be found
in ETSI SR 000 314: "Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs); Essential, or potentially Essential, IPRs notified to ETSI in
respect of ETSI standards", which is available from the ETSI Secretariat. Latest updates are available on the ETSI Web
server (http://webapp.etsi.org/IPR/home.asp).
Pursuant to the ETSI IPR Policy, no investigation, including IPR searches, has been carried out by ETSI. No guarantee
can be given as to the existence of other IPRs not referenced in ETSI SR 000 314 (or the updates on the ETSI Web
server) which are, or may be, or may become, essential to the present document.
Foreword
This Technical Report (TR) has been produced by ETSI Technical Committee Electromagnetic compatibility and Radio
spectrum Matters (ERM).
Introduction
Use of wireless UWB communications in airborne platforms offers significant advantages to operators of aircraft by
increasing operational flexibility while reducing costs.
The document is intended to also help to find solutions on this subject by defining the spectrum needs for airborne
UWB applications.
The EC funded FP 7 European R&D Project EUWB [i.6] has work package 8A on airborne UWB applications and
work package 9 dedicated to standardization and regulation.
The purpose of producing the present document is to lay a foundation for industry to quickly bring innovative and
useful products to the market while avoiding harmful interference with other services and equipment.
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6 ETSI TR 102 834 V1.1.1 (2009-05)
1 Scope
The present document provides information on radio frequency usage for airborne Ultra Wide Band (UWB)
applications.
These airborne UWB applications are operating in the frequency range from 3,1 GHz to 4,8 GHz and from 6 GHz to
8,5 GHz.
The operating radio link distance is limited typically to a maximum of about 30 m.
Airborne UWB devices may be installed onboard an aircraft or may form an integral part of other portable electronic
equipment carried by the passengers, such as future generation cellular phones equipped with UWB enabled Bluetooth
V 3.0.
The present document includes necessary information to support the co-operation between ETSI and the Electronic
Communications Committee (ECC) of the European Conference of Post and Telecommunications Administrations
(CEPT), including:
• Detailed market information (see annex A).
• Technical information (see annex B).
• Expected compatibility issues (see annex C).
The present document does not cover equipment compliance with relevant civil aviation regulations. In this respect, an
installed wireless airborne UWB-based communications is subject to additional national or international civil aviation
airworthiness certification, for example to EUROCAE ED-14E [i.5].
2 References
References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or
non-specific.
• For a specific reference, subsequent revisions do not apply.
• Non-specific reference may be made only to a complete document or a part thereof and only in the following
cases:
- if it is accepted that it will be possible to use all future changes of the referenced document for the
purposes of the referring document;
- for informative references.
Referenced documents which are not found to be publicly available in the expected location might be found at
http://docbox.etsi.org/Reference.
NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication ETSI cannot guarantee
their long term validity.
2.1 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of the present document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For non-specific references, the latest edition of the referenced document
(including any amendments) applies.
Not applicable.
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7 ETSI TR 102 834 V1.1.1 (2009-05)
2.2 Informative references
The following referenced documents are not essential to the use of the present document but they assist the user with
regard to a particular subject area. For non-specific references, the latest version of the referenced document (including
any amendments) applies.
[i.1] CEPT/ECC Report 64: "The protection requirements of radiocommunications systems below
10,6 GHz from generic UWB applications", Helsinki, February 2005. .
[i.2] CEPT/ERC Report 25: "The European table of frequency allocations and utilisations covering the
frequency range 9 kHz to 3000 GHz - Lisboa 02- Dublin 03- Kusadasi 04- Copenhagen 04- Nice
07- Baku 08". .
[i.3] CEPT/ECC/DEC/(06)04: "ECC Decision of 24 March 2006 amended 6 July 2007 at Constanta on
the harmonised conditions for devices using UWB technology in bands below 10,6 GHz".
[i.4] CEPT ECC/DEC/(06)12: "ECC Decision of 1 December 2006 amended Cordoba, 31 October
2008 on supplementary regulatory provisions to Decision ECC/DEC/(06)04 for UWB devices
using mitigation techniques.
[i.5] EUROCAE ED-14E (2005) (Equivalent to RTCA DO-160E): "Environmental Conditions and Test
Procedures for Airborne Equipment".
[i.6] EUWB consortium.
NOTE: Available at http://www.euwb.eu.
[i.7] CEPT ECC Report 93: "Compatibility between GSM equipment on board aircraft and terrestrial
networks".
[i.8] NASA/TP-2005-213606 (Vol. 1): "UWB EMI To Aircraft Radios: Field Evaluation on
Operational Commercial Transport Airplanes". Ely, J.J. Martin, W.L. Fuller, G.L. Shaver,
T.W. Zimmerman.
[i.9] ETSI EN 302 065: "Electromagnetic compatibility and Radio spectrum Matters (ERM); Ultra
WideBand (UWB) technologies for communication purposes; Harmonized EN covering the
essential requirements of article 3.2 of the R&TTE Directive".
[i.10] IEEE 802.15.4a (August 2007): "Wireless Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer
(PHY) Specifications for Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs) - Amendment 1:
Add Alternative PHYs".
rd
[i.11] ECMA 368 (3 edition, December 2008): "High Rate Ultra Wideband PHY and MAC Standard".
[i.12] ECMA 369 (3rd edition, December 2008): "MAC-PHY Interface for ECMA-368".
[i.13] ETSI TR 102 631 (V1.1.1): "Electromagnetic compatibility and Radio spectrum Matters (ERM);
System Reference Document; Technical Characteristics for Airborne In-Flight Entertainment
Systems operating in the frequency range 5 150 MHz to 5 875 MHz".
[i.14] FCC 03-33: "Revision of Part 15 of the Commission's Rules Regarding Ultra-Wideband
Transmission Systems".
[i.15] ACARE (Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe): "Strategic Research Agenda",
(published in 2004 and amended in 2008).
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8 ETSI TR 102 834 V1.1.1 (2009-05)
3 Definitions, symbols and abbreviations
3.1 Definitions
For the purposes of the present document, the following terms and definitions apply:
In-Flight Entertainment (IFE): any of several modalities of In-Flight Entertainment, including but not limited to fixed
streaming audio, audio on demand, fixed streaming video, video on demand, and public announcement audio and/or
video
3.2 Symbols
For the purposes of the present document, the following symbol applies:
c velocity of light in a vacuum
3.3 Abbreviations
For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations apply:
ACARE Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe
AP Access Point
AVOD Audio/Video on Demand
BW BandWidth
CEPT Conference Europeenne des Administrations de Postes et des Telecommunications
CMS Cabin Management System
CVMS Cabin Video Monitoring System
DAL Design Assurance Level
dBm deciBel relative to 1 mW
DL DownLink
ECC Electronic Communications Committee
EMI ElectroMagnetic Interference
ERC European Radiocommunications Committee
ERM Electromagnetic compatibility and Radio spectrum Matters
HDR-LT High Data Rate - Location Tracking
IFE In-Flight Entertainment
ITU International Telecommunication Union
IU Illumination Unit
LDC Low Duty Cycle
LDR-LT Low Data Rate - Location Tracking
LT Location Tracking
MBOFDM Multi-Band Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
PA Passengers Announcement
PAX PAssenger
PSU Passenger Service Unit
RF Radio Frequency
SEB Seat Electronic Box
UL UpLink
USB Universal Serial Bus
UWB Ultra Wide Band
VHF Very High Frequency
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9 ETSI TR 102 834 V1.1.1 (2009-05)
4 Executive summary
4.1 Comments on the System Reference Document
No statements have been received on the present document yet.
4.1.1 Status of the System Reference Document
The present document has been created by TC ERM TG31A. It was in ETSI internal consultation and, in parallel,
already submitted to ECC (WGFM and WGSE) for information. Comments from the consultation were considered and
resulted in a revised draft document. Final approval for publication of the present version is expected for ERM#37. The
final document will be submitted to WGFM and WGSE for their considerations.
Table 4.1: Documnt status
Target version Pre-approval date version
V1.1.1 a s m Date Description
th
V1.1.1 0.0.1 First version chairman TG31A
5 October 2008
th
V1.1.1 0.0.2 Second version chairman TG31A based
5 December 2008
on input from EUWB [i.6] project
th
V1.1.1 0.0.3 Third version from ERM TG31A#25
8 December 2008
discussions
th
V1.1.1 0.0.4 Fourth version after confirmation from
17 December 2008
EADS/Airbus and EUWB - for
submission to ERM
th
V1.1.1 0.0.5 Resolution of comments received from
18 February 2009
MINEA-NL as well as Bosch and EADS
(on WAIC clarification) - version for
submission to ERM#37

4.2 Market information
There are four main application fields for airborne UWB:
• The Cabin Management System (CMS) application field.
• Passenger communication and in-flight entertainment.
• Mobile devices which will become part of the future cabin equipment for crew or maintenance staff.
• Communication headsets for pilots in the cockpit to ground and for the flight crew.
Wireless distribution offers many distinct advantages over a similar wired system; including: less weight, increased
reliability due to fewer connectors, less likelihood of damage since no cables run through the floor or up the seat legs.
Additionally, reconfiguring the cabin can be reduced to simply moving the seat, rather than needing to replace all the
wiring bundles.
Entertainment while travelling has become an expectation of the flying public, and a competitive advantage among
airlines attempting to gain or protect market share. Consequently, IFE systems continue to evolve with added
functionality, capability, and user convenience being the highest priorities. The current state-of-art IFE systems offer
video and audio "on demand", meaning that every passenger may be watching or listening to different content. This
type of system requires independent distribution systems to each seat location, and if a wired system, can incorporate
hundreds of kilometres of wiring.
Not only is wiring heavy and bulky, leading to increase fuel burn, it is difficult to maintain due to the number of
connectors with resulting reliability issues. Furthermore, the need to frequently reconfigure the cabin means that the
cabling will be moved, replaced, and adjusted often during the life of the IFE system.
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10 ETSI TR 102 834 V1.1.1 (2009-05)
Currently pilots use wired headsets to communicate to ground stations. Use of wireless headsets will increase the pilot
freedom of movement, comfort and increase efficiency. This application specifically calls for the use of UWB due to
high interference immunity in existing avionics/navigations equipments.
Medical emergency headsets or biometric data systems will help in-flight crew assist an unexpected emergency, where
flight crew need to communicate via aircraft systems to get urgent medical assistance from ground. This application can
be design as a part of the CMS or part of the pilot to ground communication system.
UWB technology is only used for wireless communication inside the aircraft. The connection to the outside world will
be provided with the normal aircraft communication means as usual.
All of the above described use cases need high reliable, low latency, and robust communications. The large channel
capacity provided by UWB technology facilitates the employment of highly redundant, interference-robust and
encrypted communications which are considered to not affect other electronics inside the Aircraft.
Nevertheless, the envisaged applications do not plan to use UWB technology for safety- relevant system components or
avionic equipments which are being contemplated in the discussions on WAIC systems (Wireless Avionics
Intra-Communications) in CEPT/WGFM and ITU-R WP5B.
For detailed market information see annex A.
4.3 Technical system description
The content delivery for the current generation of wireless IFE systems depends upon reliable network performance of
approximately 1 Mbit/s to each seat-back display to achieve high-quality motion video. Every seat potentially can be
watching different content (or different locations in the same video stream), thus the network bandwidth is needed to
support a 1 Mbit/s video stream to every seat in the cabin. Cabins typically range between 130 and 350 seats.
Longer-range aircraft, where good IFE is more important, tend to have larger cabins.
The aggregated total application bandwidth needed for new larger aircraft such as the A380 will exceed 800 Mbit/s.
In the aircraft environment the envisaged applications range from location and tracking to signalling and data
communication. The spectrum masks, the mitigation techniques and activity factors which will be implemented are
thought to be compatible with ECC Decisions [i.3] and [i.4]. Both options for LT are still considered, LDR-LT based on
pulsed transmissions (similar to IEEE 802.15.4a [i.10]) as well as HDR-LT based on MBOFDM (similar to
ECMA 368 [i.11]).
Usage of UWB in portable devices can be predicted for the future, as UWB devices will be widely used. Normally it
will not be possible to enforce the use of UWB devices onboard an aircraft. The only possible technical way to control
the UWB devices on board is to use the fixed installation of UWB base stations to control the portable UWB devices
and put them into in-flight mode.
In in-flight mode, the on board systems can monitor the signal power levels and indicate non-compliant UWB devices.
In this mode critical communication such as medical/ safety emergencies and pilot to crew and ground communications
is given precedence to other entertainment/ business communications.
For detailed technical information see annex B.
4.4 Compatibility Issues
It is expected that new ECC studies will be based on existing material from ECC Report 64 [i.1] with additional
dedicated consideration on airborne UWB usage.
Tests performed by Boeing in 2004 [i.13] related to the measurements of aircraft fuselage attenuation in the 5 GHz band
showed results that the aircraft fuselage can provide average attenuation of 5 GHz signals in excess of 17 dB. This
information was recently given to CEPT/ECC-SE24 when having studied usage of 5 GHz frequencies for airborne
usage. Those tests were already performed on the new aircraft 787 with composite fuselage. Comparison between a
normal aluminium aircraft door and a composite fuselage was also made and it was found that the attenuation of the
aluminium fuselage was greater than 30 dB in the 5 GHz band. Additionally, since on the Boeing 787 its windows are
larger than a normal aircraft and are also shielded, the tests above have also shown that the attenuation of these
windows will be greater than 30 dB.
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11 ETSI TR 102 834 V1.1.1 (2009-05)
The study done by NASA [i.8] concluded that use of UWB at the FCC regulated levels [i.14] do not impede system
such as Very High Frequency Communication, VHF Omni Ranging- navigations aid, Instrument Landing System
Localizer, Instrument Landing System Glideslope, Distance Measuring Equipment and Air Traffic Control Radio
Beacon System.
Consequently, airborne UWB can be considered to be operating in an environment comparable to indoors.
4.5 Enforcement Issues
One can foresee enforcement challenges for the future when UWB air interfaces will be implemented in mobile phones
or laptops (e.g. wireless USB). The present document is intended to also help to find solutions on this subject by
defining the spectrum needed for airborne UWB applications.
5 Current regulations
There is no regulation permitting the use of airborne UWB devices in aircraft and other airborne platforms.
Concerning the application of UWB devices installed in "aircraft" no dedicated coexistence investigations have been
performed by ECC so far and therefore it is by default not allowed at this moment. However, ECC TG3 recommended
that ETSI should release an ETSI System Reference Document to trigger investigation of potential coexistence issues
targeting the application of UWB installed inside "aircrafts". The present document is the response to that
recommendation.
6 Proposed regulations
Based on the needs of the intended applications described in the scope of the present document, the following limits for
airborne UWB are proposed as shown in table 6.1.
Table 6.1: Proposed limits for equipment
Frequency Area of operation / Category Maximum Average power density
(EIRP) (dBm/MHz)
3,1 GHz to 4,8 GHz LT and communications inside an aircraft -41.3 dBm/MHz and using LDC
6,0 GHz to 8,5 GHz LT and communications inside an aircraft -41,3 dBm/MHz

LDC use is defined as in the amended ECC Decision (06)12 [i.4].
Licence-exempt regulation is proposed.
As depicted in clause 4.4 of the present document, airborne UWB can be considered to be comparable to an indoor
environment.
7 Main conclusions
Airborne UWB may be used for communications and location tracking purposes in several application fields (cabin
management, in-flight-entertainment, short range communication for crew and other onboard an aircraft purposes).
It will help to reduce the weight of the electrical harness of an aircraft, leading to decreased fuel burn, lower number of
connectors with resulting reliability and flexibility increases.
Nevertheless, the envisaged applications covered by the present document do not plan to use UWB technology for
safety- relevant system components or avionic equipments which are being contemplated in the
...