[ipwave] PC5 at 5.9GHz?

[Alexandre Petrescu <[e-mail]>]

Hi, IPWAVErs,

Is there cheaply available hardware to make work PC5 at 5.9GHz?  PC5 is
a part of 5G specs that deal with direct communications between
vehicles, presumably without SIM cards and without the involvement of a
Mobile Network Operator (MNO).

For my part, I think no, there is no PC5 hardware at 5.9GHz.

It is very likely, I think, that PC5 hardware (modems, interfaces) might
use a very different PHY layer than what 802.11-OCB uses.  That might be
the 'New Radio' (NR) of 5G.  NR is incompatible with 802.11 PHY layer.

There are no 5.9GHz bands, no spectrum, allocated neither in USA by FCC
nor in Europe by the Commission, for 'C-V2X' or for 'PC5' even though
there might have been a request for comments ('an 'NPRM') at FCC in USA
in that sense.  That NPRM did not lead to allocating 5.9GHz spectrum for
C-V2X.  It is one year now since that NPRM closed.

Currently, all 5.9GHz bands are fully allocated to 'DSRC' (or, 802.11 if
you wish, or 'ITS-G5').

However, I was pointed by a vehicle manufacturer to a router
manufacturer (Comsignia, see https://www.commsignia.com/hardware/)
description that states that one feature is "DSRC and C-V2X (PC5)
communication interfaces".  The price of that OBU is not displayed, but
I suspect it to be in the range of a couple thousand euros, which can
still be affordable, even though not for a series car whose price might
be highly affected.

Also, I was pointed to a recent cheap hardware "AirPrime® EM9190 5G NR
Sub-6 GHz and mmWave Module" which lists the following bands: "Sub-6:
n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n20, n25, n28, n38, n40, n41, n48, n66,
n71, n77, n78, n79, mmWave: n257, n258, n260, n261".  In this list,
there are not the bands 'n46' and 'n47', which are the bands for 5.9GHz.

This brings me the question: is there cheap hardware for PC5 at 5.9GHz?

Alex