National Spectrum Strategy: Wireless network expert available

On Monday, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a new National Spectrum Strategy to modernize the United States’ spectrum, the frequencies used to transmit radio signals for wireless technologies.

Northwestern University spectrum expert Randall Berry is available to comment on the wireless industry, technologies behind networked systems, the importance of freeing up more spectrum bands to meet skyrocketing demands and the need to grow and support the spectrum workforce.

Berry is the John A. Dever Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering, where he also serves as chair of the department of electrical and computer engineering.

Berry’s expertise includes wireless networks, wireless spectrum policy, network security and the intersection of economics and technology in networked systems. In his own research, Berry works to understand resource allocation problems that arise in networked systems and develops distributed resource allocation techniques for wireless networks, spectrum sharing and wireless spectrum policy.

Reporters can contact Berry directly at rberry@eecs.northwestern.edu or by reaching out to Amanda Morris at amandamo@northwestern.edu.

Quote from Professor Berry:

“Having a pipeline of spectrum available is crucial for the wireless industry powering everything from wireless broadband to connected cars and drones. The U.S. has been lacking a national spectrum strategy since 2017, and, during this time, spectrum rollouts have been hampered by interagency fights. This new plan helps to address these issues by establishing new processes for resolving spectrum conflicts and studying dynamic sharing technologies. It also identifies a significant amount of new spectrum for study. Access to these bands is critical for U.S. leadership in 5G and beyond wireless. The plan also highlights the need to grow and support the spectrum workforce to support growth in this sector.”