Field measurements for practical unlicensed communication in the UHF band

This paper presents the result of a measurement campaign conducted in Italy, Spain, and Romania to obtain empirical values for the parameters upon which unlicensed devices could distinguish in a hidden node scenario between empty and occupied TV channels. Signal power measurements in the UHF frequency band (470–860 MHz) have been carried out on rural, sub-urban, and urban sites, at different heights over the ground by using different analysis bandwidths. The results have been analyzed with respect to the hidden node margin problem, spectrum sensing bandwidth, and occupancy threshold, to produce a set of practical parameters upon which harmless unlicensed communication in the UHF TV bands is feasible.