The U.S. Government is in the process of implementing 2012 recommendations by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) to share federal spectrum with non-federal users, a process that is projected to result in a Trillion dollars in societal benefits as well as related employment for millions. Related competitions such as DARPA’s Spectrum Challenge and Spectrum Collaboration Challenge encourage innovative approaches and help prepare the STEM professionals who will develop effective spectrum sharing radios and networks as well as spectrum access systems needed to realize the PCAST vision.
We describe experience gained and lessons learned through organization of two international radio spectrum coexistence competitions. In addition, we present an assessment of these competitions based on analysis of participant survey item responses addressing self-efficacy and engagement as well as participant recommendations.
We identify and discuss several important considerations in organizing and hosting this type of competition. These considerations include infrastructure comprising both hardware and software, recruitment of sponsors, timing of funding and publicity for the competition, recruitment of participants and advisors, software and hardware documentation and ease of use, technical support, logistics for the final competition, and documentation of the competition, and in particular the final competition, for use in publicizing the next year’s competition, if held yearly.
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9981-743X
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
[biography]
Joshua García Sheridan is a PhD candidate in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. He received his Bachelor's of Science in Electrical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His current research work includes evaluation of remote learning sites for radio engineering coursework, and his current research interests for dissertation center around teachers' pedagogical choice to engage in engineering activities within the K-12 system.
Richard M. Goff is a former aircraft structural test engineer for the Navy, a Peace Corps Volunteer, and computer entrepreneur. He holds a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, and is currently an Associate Professor Emeritus in the Department of Engineering Ed
Vuk Marojevic received his M.S. from the University of Hannover, Germany, and his Ph.D. from the Universidad Politècnica de Catalunya—Barcelona Tech, Spain, both in electrical engineering. He joined Mississippi State University in 2018, where he is currently Associate Professor. His research interests are in software-defined radio, spectrum sharing, 4G/5G cellular technology, wireless testbeds and testing, resource management, wireless security, and engineering education with application to mission-critical networks, vehicular networks, virtualized wireless networks, green communications, the Internet of Things, and unmanned aircraft systems. Dr. Marojevic has been instructor of undergraduate and graduate level classes at the Barcelona Tech and Virginia Tech. He is a member of the IEEE, ACM, and ASEE.
A licensed Professional Engineer in Virginia, Carl Dietrich earned a BS EE degree from Texas A&M University, and MS EE and PhD EE degrees from Virginia Tech. He has taught courses in software defined radio, communications systems, electronics, and electromagnetic fields. He has also taught short courses on software defined radio since 2007, covering fundamental concepts and enabling technologies in addition to the use of open source software to develop and run SDR applications. In addition, Dr. Dietrich has performed and directed research in the areas of cognitive radio, software defined radio (SDR), multi-antenna systems, and radio wave propagation, and has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers. He has worked at Virginia Tech, Bell Northern Research, and the Defense Information Systems Agency. He has served as chair of the Wireless Innovation Forum's Educational Special Interest Group, is a member of ASEE and Eta Kappa Nu, Senior Member of IEEE, and an Extra class amateur radio operator.
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