Compatibility of airport wireless broadband networks with satellite links in the 5091–5150 MHz band

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is considering the use of portions of the 5000–5250 MHz band, including the 5091–5150 MHz subband, for the future Airport Network and Location Equipment (ANLE) system. The 5091–5150 MHz subband has also been allocated, on a co-primary basis, to mobile-satellite-service (MSS) feeder uplinks. The compatibility of ANLE networks with the MSS feeder uplinks is evaluated in this paper. An ANLE network architecture based on the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) implementation described in the IEEE 802.16 family of standards is used in the analyses described below. These compatibility analyses consider interference effects from multiple ANLE base stations (BSs) at the same airport. ANLE BSs with antenna patterns having 3-dB horizontal beamwidths of 120° and 90° are analyzed. The effects of these BS antenna pattern types on the compatibility of ANLE networks with MSS feeder links are evaluated. In addition, the potential impact of downtilting the ANLE BS antennas is also addressed for both types of patterns mentioned above. Our results show that, given the parameters identified in the paper for ANLE networks and for MSS feeder uplinks, bandsharing between these systems is feasible.