Google Wants To Administer the First White Spaces

aabelro writes "Google proposes to the FCC to become the administrator of a White Spaces Database containing geo-location information about devices using the free channels in the radio spectrum."

Re:Hmmmm...

[Lostlander]

Bah that hasn't happened in the first world for a few hundred years how do we know if it even works anymore.

Re:Hmmmm...

[jmac_the_man]

Maybe that's why they enshrined the right to protest against the government? How many anti-war protesters were arrested for protesting the war (and not something else) during the Bush administration? How many Tea Party types were arrested for their protests (and again, not for something else?) Neither of those groups were really the victors (in that there's still a war and still a health care bill), but simply protesting the government isn't illegal.

Re:Hmmmm...

[bluefoxlucid]

No, it's the government's job to make laws. That's a social function.

Has this all been thought out?

[dtmos]

I've never been comfortable with the entire White Space approach, especially the database idea. A big problem is that primary users are only protected out to a predetermined contour, not to their actual range as used in the field. For example, TV stations are only protected out to a given contour (a specific distance out from the tower, where the station's signal strength is predicted to weaken to a predetermined threshold) specified in their license. However, many, many people in rural areas watch over-the-air television at distances well outside the contour, by using antennas that are larger, and mounted higher (often with mast-mounted preamplifiers), than those assumed when the signal strength threshold was set. Should a secondary user query the Google database from this area, he will get authority to transmit on the television channel, since he's outside the protected contour of the TV station, and would then interfere with the television reception in the area. A homeowner (or, more likely, a farm owner) could complain to the FCC, only to be told that he's outside the protected coverage area of the TV station and has to accept the interference. I doubt he'd be happy with that answer.

A similar problem arises with the licensed wireless microphones used in electronic news-gathering (ENG) trucks. They're quite mobile, and cover large areas. How are they supposed to get Internet connectivity in the field to check the database? Presumably they're out of cellular range, since they're in rural, White Space areas; what do they do? And if they use the channel without updating the database, how is a secondary user going to know he's there? The secondary user will query the database, get an "all clear" and, not knowing the microphone is nearby, transmit on the same channel as the microphone.

It just seems like the practical aspects of all this need some more thought.

Re:Hmmmm...

[pwfffff]

You've never worked in a modern corporation have you?

Re:Hmmmm...

[AnotherUsername]

What about the Postal Service? Or the National Weather Service? What about the National Institute of Standards and Technology? What about the Department of Labor? These are a few government services that seem to perform rather well. These aren't the only entities that perform well, either. I just didn't feel like spending hours listing various government services.

Without you providing actual examples, I can only assume you dislike the bureaucracy. The government doesn't have a monopoly on bureaucracy. It is only the most famous environment. It is present in corporations as well(think Office Space). Google has bureaucracy. Anytime large amounts of money are being used on anything, or there is a possibility of fines or jail because of lost paperwork, there will be bureaucracy. If this is the only reason you have for the government not doing something, I say that the government should start today.