How Intelligent Engineering Can Solve the Electromagnetic Spectrum Crisis
Watch Episode
Today’s episode of ID The Future comes from our sister podcast Mind Matters News, a production of Discovery Institute’s Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence. Mind Matters regularly explores the nature of intelligence, the origin of information, and the things that make us uniquely human, all concepts that are central to the theory of intelligent design. Enjoy today’s offering of Mind Matters News!
In this episode of Mind Matters News, host Robert J. Marks speaks with Baylor University spectrum experts Dr. Charles Baylis, Dr. Austin Egbert, and PhD candidate Jonathan Swindell about the nation’s pressing electromagnetic spectrum crisis.
Have you ever thought about all of the electromagnetic waves in the room you’re in right now? You have invisible microwave cell phone signals in the air, plus all of the signals for broadcast television and AM and FM radio. Radiation from a GPS signal is there waiting for you to tap in. The range of frequencies in electromagnetic waves is known as the electromagnetic spectrum. And that spectrum is in great demand, with the rapid proliferation of personal wireless devices, radar network, and satellite weather sensors all competing for a spot. Managing the electromagnetic spectrum is our topic today.
Rather than relying on rigid government regulations or exclusive frequency auctions, today’s guests explain how technical innovation and dynamic spectrum sharing provide a sustainable path forward. They highlight breakthrough research that is using generative AI to optimize power amplifiers on the fly, allowing radars and communication devices to shift frequencies in under a millisecond without affecting performance. There is a way for commercial technology and military defense to safely and efficiently coexist on the shared airwaves, but it will take cooperation and the freedom to innovate.
Dig Deeper
- Congressional Testimony: Dr. Charles Baylis of Baylor University testifies about spectrum at the Senate Commerce hearing chaired by Senator Ted Cruz. Watch the hearing video. Baylis’s opening testimony begins about 45 minutes into the recording. The official Senate hearing page also lists him and provides his written testimony.
- The Spectrum Crisis: Charles Baylis, Matthew Fellows, Lawrence Cohen, and Robert J. Marks II, “Solving the Spectrum Crisis: Intelligent, Reconfigurable Microwave Transmitter Amplifiers for Cognitive Radar,” IEEE Microwave Magazine, vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 94–107, July–August 2014. Read the full paper here.