NSF SpectrumX invites you to the next Radio Shop Chat, “The National Radio Quiet Zone Telecommunication Challenge,” featuring Dennis Roberson, on Wednesday, August 5 at 3 p.m. ET.
Registration is required and free.
Abstract
The National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ) represents a unique telecommunications environment where the operational requirements of critical federal facilities must coexist with growing imperatives for access to broadband services by consumers, businesses, critical infrastructure, and emergency services. This talk examines the fundamental tension between increasing telecommunications dependencies across society and the increasing operational sensitivities of federal installations that require electromagnetic protection. Through analysis of current conditions, modernization options, and feasibility assessments, it will be demonstrated that significant telecommunications improvements are technically achievable within the NRQZ, though implementation remains constrained primarily by economic factors rather than technical limitations. Terrestrial mobile broadband and satellite-based solutions are evaluated as primary modernization pathways, while identifying emerging risks from satellite emissions and autonomous systems. The primary recommendation is for the prioritization of terrestrial mobile broadband infrastructure while establishing frameworks for managing interference risks from evolving technologies. Areas where additional analysis is needed to sustain this activity are identified at the end of the talk.
Speaker Bio
Dennis Roberson is the founder, president, chief executive officer, and a member of Roberson and Associates, LLC, and has over 40 years of industry experience. He also served as the vice provost for research and as a research professor in computer science and in the law school at Illinois Institute of Technology, where he was an active researcher in the wireless networking arena. He was a co-founder of IIT’s Wireless Network and Communications Research Center (WiNCom), and a co-founder of the Intellectual Property Management and Markets Program in the law school. His wireless research focused on dynamic spectrum access networks, spectrum measurement systems, spectrum management, and wireless interference and its mitigation.
Previously, Roberson was executive vice president and chief technology officer at Motorola. He had an extensive corporate career, which included major business and technology responsibilities at IBM, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC, now part of Hewlett Packard), AT&T, and NCR. He has been involved with a wide variety of technology organizations, including currently serving as the chair of the External Advisory Board for SpectrumX and chair of the Marconi Society Board. His government service included chairing the Federal Communications Commission Technical Advisory Council for eight years, serving on the TAC for 22 years, and membership on the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee. Roberson currently serves on the governing and/or advisory boards of several exciting technology-based companies. He has served as a frequent speaker at universities, companies, technical workshops, and conferences around the globe. He has over 20 issued patents with several additional patents filed with the US Patent Office.
Roberson holds bachelor of science degrees in electrical engineering and physics from Washington State University and a master of science in electrical engineering from Stanford University.