Radio Astronomy (TBD – 2021)

Workshop Topic: The challenging problem of managing RF inference in a manner that protects radio astronomy studies will be a major thrust of the proposed Spectrum Innovation Center. This workshop will engage with researchers at NRAO and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, as well as with researchers at the Australia Telescope National Facility to develop a blueprint for spectrum sharing that could enhance the science and open up new bands for commercial use. This thrust will leverage the experience from the radio-quiet zone around Greenbank to explore enlarging the shared use of valuable spectrum using methods such as the sharing of transmitted waveforms for joint decoding of signals at the radio telescopes and the development of rapid probing strategies to dynamically identify locations and times when communication transmissions will not interfere with ongoing radio astronomy measurements.

Workshop Goals:  Workshop participants will be asked to discuss and suggest research that can answer the following questions a) What are the interference issues facing radio astronomy as we plan for 5G and 6G and have they been characterized? b)  What are the issues and concerns of radio astronomers vis a vis shared spectrum? c) Is there a way to quantify the effect of interference in terms of loss of scientific precision or fidelity of radio astronomy studies, and c) is there a way to quantify unused capacity as a function of location and time?