The Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) Project Office has received funding from the US Department of Defense (DOD) to use AI for wireless spectrum sharing.

The PAWR is a consortium of 35 industry partners and is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The PAWR has received $2.7 million in funding from the DOD to develop and test AI to help solve the challenge of multiple companies using the same wireless spectrum.

Under the current technology, spectrum is often licensed exclusively to a single company in a given market. Since there is a finite amount of spectrum available, a way to share blocks of spectrum between companies is desirable, although not without its challenges. The PAWR and DOD hope that AI can be used to allocate spectrum on-the-fly between companies, based on current demands.

“When we started the PAWR program to develop and deploy four city-scale wireless testbeds across the country, it was with the intention of creating shared infrastructure to enable new research into advanced communications network technologies,” said Joe Kochan, Principal Investigator and Project Director for the PAWR Project Office. “We’re gratified to be able to support the DOD’s mission today to further network performance with greater spectrum sharing capabilities in the transition to 5G and beyond.”

Should the PAWR’s research yield results, it could be a boon for the wireless industry and customers alike.

Image Credit: PAWR