**Before the**

**Federal Communications Commission**

**Washington, D.C. 20554**

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| In the matter of                 | *  |                              |
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| Request for Declaratory Ruling   | ** |                              |
| Regarding                        |    |                              |
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| Emissions from Digital Circuitry | *) |                              |
| Used with                        | ** |                              |
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| Ultra-Wideband Transmitters.     | *  |                              |
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**Order**

**Adopted: April 2, 2003 Released: April 2, 2003**

By the Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology

1.  On December 3, 2002, a Request for Declaratory Ruling was filed on
    behalf of twenty-three companies and associations (the "requesting
    parties").[^1] The requesting parties ask the Commission to issue a
    declaratory ruling that all emissions associated with digital
    circuitry used to generate ultra-wideband (UWB) emissions are
    required to meet the radiated emission limits provided in Subpart F
    of Part 15 of the Commission's rules for UWB transmitters.[^2]

2.  Section 15.521(c) of the Commission's rules states that emissions
    from digital circuitry contained within a UWB transmitter are
    subject to the limits specified in Section 15.209 if those emissions
    are not intended to be radiated from the transmitter's antenna.[^3]
    The requesting parties assert that the language in Section 15.521(c)
    is ambiguous because the regulation identifies any emission that is
    not intended to be radiated from the antenna as a digital emission.
    To remove this ambiguity, they request that the Commission declare
    that all digital emissions associated with circuitry used to
    generate UWB emissions are required to comply with the tighter
    limits specified in Subpart F of Part 15, rather than the limits in
    Section 15.209, regardless of whether these emissions are intended
    to be radiated by the UWB transmitter's antenna. The requesting
    parties further ask that all components that generate the UWB
    emissions, including digital components, be isolated from the
    emissions of other digital circuitry during testing, *i.e.*, that
    the circuitry that generates the UWB emissions be disabled, so as to
    isolate the unintended digital emissions.

3.  The standard addressed by the requesting parties was implemented in
    the *First Report and Order* in ET Docket No. 98-153. In that
    *Order*, the Commission specifically stated that the emissions from
    digital circuitry used with the UWB transmitter for the purpose of
    enabling the operation of the transmitter are not subject to the
    transmitter limits specified in Subpart F of Part 15, but are
    subject to the more lenient standards specified in Section
    15.209.[^4] Based on its desire to pursue a cautionary approach in
    its introduction of UWB standards, the Commission also required a
    demonstration that the emissions from the digital circuitry are not
    intended to be radiated from the antenna. The Commission also stated
    that emissions from digital devices, *i.e.*, circuitry used to
    control additional functions or capabilities, as defined in Section
    15.3(k), are subject to the limits specified in Section 15.109 for
    Class A or B digital devices, as appropriate.[^5] In the recently
    adopted *Memorandum Opinion and Order and Further Notice of Proposed
    Rule Making* in ET Docket No. 98-153, the Commission, for the sake
    of clarity, amended the language in Section 15.521(c) to more
    closely reflect the language contained in the text of the *First
    Report and Order*.[^6] The Commission stated that the need to modify
    the rule was demonstrated by two separate pending requests: an
    Application for Review filed against a grant of certification issued
    to Time Domain Corporation for its UWB transmitter, as discussed
    below, and this Request for Declaratory Ruling.

4.  In another recently adopted *Memorandum Opinion and Order*
    ("*MO&O*"), the Commission denied an Application for Review of a
    grant of certification issued to Time Domain Corporation for its UWB
    transmitter, FCC ID NUF-200SGT-0702.[^7] This Application for Review
    was filed by many of the same requesting parties, who raised
    essentially the same arguments that they present in this Request for
    Declaratory Ruling. In this *MO&O*, the Commission concluded that:
    the digital circuitry discussed in Section 15.521(c) includes
    circuitry used to control and enable the operation of the
    transmitter; the emissions produced by the Time Domain transmitter
    were from digital circuitry used with the UWB transmitter; these
    emissions are subject to the limits specified in Section 15.209; and
    the test procedure sought by the requesting parties is not feasible
    and would not provide useful test results. Thus, the Commission has
    been clear in its recent decisions that the standard specified in
    Section 15.521(c) applies to emissions from all digital circuitry
    contained within UWB transmitters. As long as these emissions are
    not intended to be radiated from the antenna, they are subject to
    the limits specified in Section 15.209.

5.  Accordingly, under the authority contained in Sections 0.31(i)
    and (j) and 0.241(a) of the Commission\'s regulations, 47 CFR §§
    0.31(i) and (j) and 0.241(a), IT IS ORDERED that the request for a
    declaratory ruling of 47 C.F.R. § 15.521(c), as described above, IS
    DISMISSED.

6.  Questions regarding this Order can be directed to John Reed at
    <jreed@fcc.gov> or at (202) 418-2455.

Ed Thomas

Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology

[^1]: The request was filed by Air Transport Association of America,
    Inc.; American Airlines; American Congress on Surveying and Mapping;
    ARRL, the National Association for Amateur Radio; The Boeing
    Company; Deere & Co.; Delta Air Lines, Inc.; Garmin International,
    Inc.; General Aviation Manufacturers Association; Global Locate,
    Inc.; National Business Aviation Association, Inc.; NavCom
    Technology, Inc.; Northwest Airlines, Inc.; PanAmSat Corporation;
    QUALCOMM Incorporated; Raytheon Company; Rockwell Collins, Inc.;
    Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.; Tendler Cellular, Inc.; Thales
    Navigation; Trimble Navigation Ltd.; United Airlines; and United
    States GPS Industry Council.

[^2]: *See* 47 C.F.R. §§ 15.509-15.519.

[^3]: 47 C.F.R. §§ 15.209 and 15.521(c).

[^4]: *See First Report and Order* in ET Docket No. 98-153, 17 FCC Rcd
    7435, 7506 (2002).

[^5]: *Id*. *See*, also, 47 C.F.R. §§ 15.3(h), (i) and (k), 15.107, and
    15.109.

[^6]: *Memorandum Opinion and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rule
    Making* in ET Docket No. 98-153, FCC 03-33, released March 12, 2003,
    at para. 150.

[^7]: *See Memorandum Opinion and Order*, Application for Review of
    Certification of a Time Domain UWB Transmitter, FCC Identifier
    NUF-200SGT-0702, 18 FCC Rcd 2369 (2003) at para. 8-10.