China's Radio frequency allocation revised policy and the impacts on 5G/6G, WiFi, UWB, and radar technologies
The recent unveiling of the updated "Radio Frequency Allocation Regulations of the People's Republic of China" by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology marks a significant milestone in shaping the country's communications landscape. Effective since July 1, 2023, this strategic policy overhaul holds profound implications for various facets of the communications industry.
Strategic Focus and Implications:
The forefront of this regulatory update involves the allocation of the 6425-7125MHz frequency band for the IMT (International Mobile Telecommunications) system, encompassing the 5G/6G sphere on a global scale. This pivotal move aims to provide a regulatory framework for the utilization of 5G/6G frequencies, thereby fostering stability within the industry.
Key Policy Revisions and Impacts:
1. Expanded Frequency Allocation for IMT Systems: The inclusion of new frequency allocations across diverse bands such as 6GHz, 26GHz, 40GHz, and 70GHz bolsters the regulatory status of 5G/6G frequencies. Notably, the allocation of the 6GHz band for IMT systems positions China as a vanguard, potentially steering consistent global or regional frequency allocations in this spectrum, ensuring ample mid-band resources for 5G/6G evolution.
2. Sustainable Satellite Communication Development: Detailed regulations governing satellite maritime mobile and satellite mobile businesses in the 150MHz and 400MHz bands, coupled with provisions for satellite-in-motion earth stations in select frequency bands (17.7-19.7GHz, 27.5-29.5GHz), reinforce the regulatory framework for satellite communication frequencies, facilitating their sustainable growth.
3. Frequency Safety for Major Aerospace Projects: The policy revision underscores interference protection in relevant frequency bands, safeguarding crucial applications in satellite earth exploration, space research, and radio astronomy. These provisions offer essential rule-based assurances for frequency use in major aerospace initiatives and scientific research endeavors.
4. Guidance for Automotive Radar Industry: Prioritizing radio positioning services in the 79-81GHz frequency band, the policy aims to carve out spectrum resources dedicated to automotive radar and related applications.
Impact on Communication Technologies:
The policy revision exerted discernible impacts on several communication technologies, including 5G/6G, WiFi, UWB, and radar. These impacts range from spectrum reallocation, priority frequency bands, and regulatory adjustments, aimed at fostering technological advancements, ensuring smooth operations, and optimizing resource utilization across these domains.
Impact of Spectrum Allocation on 5G/6G Development: China's Frequency Division
The global race for spectrum allocation, particularly in the context of 5G and 6G development, has reached a critical point. China's recent move to dedicate specific portions of the mid-frequency band for IMT (International Mobile Telecommunications) has significant implications for the trajectory of 5G and 6G technologies.
Spectrum Congestion and Limited Resources:
The spectrum below 6GHz is notably crowded, underscoring its status as a limited resource. The decision to allocate a fraction of the valuable mid-frequency band explicitly for IMT is poised to provide substantial advantages for 5G/6G systems. This strategic allocation promises more spectrum resources and reduced interference, fostering high-speed data transmission, lower latency, and heightened transmission stability. These enhancements create a more robust infrastructure capable of supporting increased device connections and large-scale data transmission.
Comparative Advantage and Strategic Allocations:
China's 5G/6G development has secured distinct frequency band advantages, however challenges in accessing mid-band spectrum resources for 5G network construction have led to the full allocation of the 6GHz band to RLAN (Radio Local Area Network), impacting the spectrum resources available for 5G.
Notably, the European Union's allocation strategy, dedicating the high-band frequency band of 6425-7125MHz to mobile communications and utilizing the low-band frequency band of 5925-6425MHz for RLAN, has drawn attention. Although China's intentions regarding the low-band allocation remain unspecified, aligning with the EU's frequency band allocation could be a future benchmarking consideration.
Strategic Spectrum Division's Role in Advancing 5G/6G:
The meticulous division of frequency bands emerges as a pivotal catalyst for 5G/6G advancement. Access to vast bandwidth, enhanced capacity, and exclusive spectrum rights establishes a foundation crucial for stabilizing industry expectations and propelling innovation in this domain.
WiFi China’s radio frequency regulation
The recent revision of China's "Radio Frequency Allocation Regulations" has raised concerns about potential interference and bandwidth limitations. The allocation of the 6GHz frequency band (including WiFi 6e and WiFi 7) coincides significantly with the spectrum allocated to 5G/6G.
Bandwidth Allocation:
Within the revised allocation, 1200MHz is dedicated to the 5G/6G frequency band, leaving merely 500MHz unallocated. Consequently, the available spectrum for WiFi 7 within the 6GHz band might be limited to a single 320MHz channel or three 160MHz channels. Despite this seemingly restricted allocation, the tangible impact on the WiFi sector appears relatively minimal.
Perspectives and Considerations:
- Router Adaptation: Domestic WiFi 7 routers might require preemptive adjustments for frequency modulation to 5925-6425MHz to mitigate potential interference. In contrast, overseas WiFi 7 routers, such as in the United States are configured for the entire 6GHz band (5925-7125MHz). Future WiFi 7 routers in Europe and China are likely to align with the 5925-6425MHz frequency band to avoid band interference.
- Uplink and Downlink: Notably, WiFi's uplink and downlink rates remain unaffected by frequency band adjustments but can be influenced by external interference. The planned 500MHz bandwidth reservation in the 6GHz range, remains untouched by 5G/6G usage.
- Alignment with European standards: The alignment with the European Union's allocation in 2021—dedicating 5925-6425MHz to RLAN and 6425-7125MHz to IMT—suggests synchronization at the IMT level. This synchronization hints at ongoing WiFi specification formulation, potentially shaping the WiFi industry's future development strategies.
- Benefits of dedicated frequency bands: Clear regulations designating 5925-6425MHz for WiFi in the future would be beneficial for the industry. Dedicated frequency bands mitigate interference among various communication technologies, promising improved performance within this allocated spectrum.
Despite initial concerns over potential limitations arising from spectrum overlap between WiFi and 5G/6G allocations, a detailed analysis suggests relatively minimal impact on WiFi technology. With proper adaptation and alignment with designated frequency bands, the WiFi industry stands to benefit from standardized usage, reduced interference, and potentially enhanced performance within allocated frequency segments.
China’s Radio Frequency Allocation Policy: Impact on UWB Technology
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's recent overhaul of the "Radio Frequency Allocation Regulations" holds significant implications for various communication technologies, particularly Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology.
1. UWB Frequency Reallocation:
Earlier in 2023, the Chinese Radio Administration Bureau redefined the operating frequency band for UWB from 6-9GHz to 7235-8750MHz, freeing up the 6000-7235MHz frequency band for other purposes, notably aligning with the development goals of 5G/6G technologies. This adjustment emphasizes shorter-distance communications and Channel 8-11 positions for future UWB advancements.
2. Impact on UWB Industry:
The latest policy revision significantly affects the UWB industry, presenting both positive and negative ramifications.
Positive impacts:
- Standards and Interoperability: The policy refines and restricts UWB technology usage concerning frequency and power, fostering standardization. This initiative aims to overcome existing obstacles in protocol barriers and diverse frequency range implementations within the industry, promoting inter connectivity among equipment manufacturers.
- Enhanced Spectrum Utilization: The revision resolves conflicts between UWB and WiFi bands, fostering a cleaner frequency spectrum for UWB technology, ultimately benefiting industry development. Streamlining frequencies could simplify product design and decrease costs for manufacturers, enhancing security and performance in short-range consumer applications. A clear example is represented by the New Radiotech UWB chipsets that have Channels Ch. 1~Ch. 15 fully covered. Moreover, it has already been certified by FiRa Consortium, with the new national standards Ch.8, 9, 10, and 11, and realize the interconnection of Ch. 9 and Ch. 11.
- Chinese Market Opportunities: The policy shift provides to the Chinese UWB chip manufacturers to leverage the UWB development under national policies.
Negative impacts:
- Industry Adjustments and costs: The new regulations necessitate substantial adjustments in industry chains, including chip upgrades, RF tuning channel changes, and entire product line revisions, especially impacting certain application scenarios. The new compliance impacts UWB manufacturers, particularly concerning product line renewals and meeting stringent testing requirements, antenna design/measurement test methods, impacting on operational budgets.
- Application Scenarios: Adherence to the regulations might limit UWB-powered applications requiring a broader range coverage in industrial RTLS scenarios. This represents a potential challenge marking more expensive the anchor deployments, and potentially deterring potential stakeholders adoption due to high costs.
The revised Radio Frequency Allocation Regulations significantly influence the UWB industry landscape in China. While introducing standardization and enhancing spectrum utilization, these changes demand adjustments and pose challenges to UWB manufacturers and application scenarios.
This policy shift underscores the critical need for industry adaptation and innovation to align with regulatory reforms, fostering a standardized and dynamic UWB sector in China's communications ecosystem.
Millimeter Wave Technology Impact under New 'Division Regulations
The recent updates in China's "Division Regulations" for radio frequency allocation have notably impacted the realms of millimeter wave radar and communications, presenting new directives that wield significant influence in these domains.
Millimeter-Wave Radar
The revised regulations underpinning millimeter-wave radar predominantly clarify the operational specifications for automotive radar systems. Notably, the regulations delineate a distinct usage framework, favoring the 79-81GHz frequency band for automotive radar applications. This allocation aims to streamline and enhance the performance of millimeter-wave radar systems by minimizing interference, ensuring more robust utilization within this spectrum.
While a portion of the 76-79GHz frequency band is allocated for outer space use, particularly within the 78-79GHz range, this allocation does not significantly impact the ground-based deployment of millimeter-wave technologies. The remaining frequency band in this range continues to serve as a primary frequency spectrum for millimeter-wave radar applications.
Millimeter Wave Communications
Contrarily, millimeter wave communications currently operate predominantly within the 5G frequency band, (spanning from 24.25-52.6GHz), have not been significantly impacted on the existing spectrum utilization for millimeter wave communications technology.
The 'Division Regulations' introduced in China's recent radio frequency allocation policy distinctly impact millimeter wave radar and communications technologies. While the focus remains on streamlining the utilization of the 79-81GHz frequency band for automotive radar, the changes do not substantially disrupt millimeter wave communications, which primarily operate within the 5G frequency band.