The Challenge

Wireless systems are becoming essential to our daily lives and 

for the development of new technologies in areas as diverse as 

public safety communications, electric power grid management, 

medical devices, and advanced manufacturing. The available 

spectrum for wireless communications is a limiting factor that 

must be addressed through innovations in technology and spectrum sharing to drive economic growth and support infrastructure, public safety, and defense.

What NIST Does

• Provides the measurements and standards to support the 

development of high-performance wireless components to 

improve spectrum efficiency. 

• Partners with other federal agencies to provide opportunities 

for collaborative R&D and access to test bed resources.

• Operates a multipurpose test facility to replicate complex 

electromagnetic environments for testing of wireless devices. 

• Develops accurate channel propagation models necessary for 

the next generation of products.

• Provides the standards for voice, data, image, and video communications to support the nation’s first responders.

• Develops higher-frequency antennas to support growing demand for current and future telecommunications and imaging 

applications.

Program Goals

• Pioneer new technology platforms for advanced communications.

• Support the adoption of standard technologies into commercial 

networks.

• Provide research, development, testing, and evaluation to foster 

nationwide first-responder communications interoperability.

• Promote interdisciplinary research, development, and testing in 

advanced communications.

BY THE 

NUMBERS

10 billion

Estimated 

number of 

connected 

mobile devices

in use by 2018 

2.5 billion

Number of 

worldwide 

smartphone 

subscriptions 

by the third 

quarter of 2014 

 (Ericsson Mobility Report)

4.5 trillion

Projected 

global economic impact 

by 2020 of 

connected 

cars, home 

and building security, and other 

wireless-enabled projects 

(GSMA)

www.nist.gov

ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS AT NIST
Recent Program Highlights

• Created the NIST Communications Technology Laboratory and launched the Center for Advanced 

Communications, in partnership with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 

(NTIA), to coordinate the research, standards development, and testing that support advanced 

communications technology.

• Working to establish the National Advanced Spectrum and Communications Test Network (NASCTN) involving federal, academic, and commercial test facilities that provide the testing, modeling, and analysis 

necessary to develop and deploy spectrum-sharing technologies and inform future spectrum policy and 

regulations.

The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 authorized auctions of communications spectrum, providing NIST $300 million to conduct an R&D program to help public safety overcome critical 

technical barriers, spur innovation and investment in public safety broadband, and realize the full potential 

of wireless broadband capabilities. This funding will be available from FY 2015 through FY 2022.

New for FY 2016

NIST requested an additional $9 million to accelerate the development of the measurement tools and 

capabilities necessary to support advanced 5G networks. 

With the requested funds, NIST will focus on:

• Developing the measurement and test platforms to support the testing and evaluation of new advanced 

communication technologies for both existing and future frequency spectrum bands allocated for wireless communication systems. A major step will be the design and construction of a multipurpose test facility to characterize next-generation antenna technologies such as frequency agile, beam-steering, etc. 

• Developing the measurements and characterization technologies necessary to enable industry to take 

advantage of millimeter-wave frequencies that lie well outside current cell phone bands. 

0

5

10

15

20

25

Dollars, in millions

FY2 016

Budget

FY 2014 FY 2015

10.9

12.8

21.8