When it comes to spectrum monitoring and regulation, authorities in different countries have significantly varying approaches. In some countries, regulators are state-financed and act upon request or complaints, and are not forced to earn their living. In some countries, while state-owned, regulators act more like commercial business entities in terms of earning their budgets by not only licensing, but also by monitoring spectrum and punishing “spectrum pirates” – users that deploy radios without permission, sometimes interfering with other spectrum users, slowing network speeds and causing costly network downtimes.
Despite those differences in approaches, all regulators have a single mission and same challenges – to keep networks and frequencies well-organized avoiding overcrowding and interferences as well as detecting and punishing unlicensed users.
Lately, we stumbled upon increasing demand for our world’s smallest field spectrum analyzers in Malaysia. As it turns out, Malaysia recently introduced 23 GHz frequency channel previously unavailable for public commercial use. In order to make this channel introduction well-organized, MCMC also introduced a new requirement for spectrum users.
Whenever somebody wants to apply for spectrum, he needs to provide a full RF spectrum scan according to parameters intended for a particular link and showing that desired channel is free and won’t interfere with other network users.
By this simple yet effective measure, MCMC has been able to maintain well-organized spectrum deployments with minimum efforts and expenses. Customers are happy too because they are able to deploy networks as effectively as possible without worrying about interferences and unlicensed spectrum users.
As described by one of SAF distributors in Malaysia, Numero Engineering Sdn. Bhd. CEO HL Chan, first impression with Spectrum Compact was surprising in terms of seeing such small device with -105dBm noise floor.
“Handheld spectrum analyzers can’t achieve such a good noise floor unless the sweep time in minutes range with RBW is so narrow where it’s of no practical use, but this device does it just right! Battery life is very good and the user interface is easy to use. What’s most impressive – it makes impressive reports!”
Currently, Malaysia with its fairly small land-area has become one of the main markets for Spectrum Compact, but we’ve also seen similar approaches being implemented by regulators in other countries as well. It seems that spectrum scans performed by the customer or by regulator upon customer’s request are becoming a common practice in increasing number of countries worldwide.
Learn more about Spectrum compact here: www.saftehnika.com/en/spectrumanalyzer Learn more about Spectrum Compact applications for regulatory authorities here: https://saftehnika.com/en/solutions_mon
