SemFio Networks

  • Home
  • About
  • Services
    • Wi-Fi DevOps with Mist
  • Partners
    • Mist
  • Training
  • Contacts
  • Blog
  • Home
  • About
  • Services
    • Wi-Fi DevOps with Mist
  • Partners
    • Mist
  • Training
  • Contacts
  • Blog

Industry Canada new 5GHz band regulations

8/19/2015

17 Comments

 
UPDATE - December 2018:
ISED has updated their radio standards specifications for Wi-Fi equipments operating in the 5GHz frequency band. Check out this article to see what is new:

5GHz Regulations in Canada (2018 Update)

Last year, I have written a blog post entitled "5GHz Band Channel Availability in Canada" explaining what 5GHz channels were available in Canada. This was based on a document from Industry Canada named "RSS-210 - Licence-exempt Radio Apparatus (All Frequency Bands): Category I Equipment" Annex 9 - Local Area Network Devices. If you go visit the Industry Canada's website today, you will see that this annex is no longer applicable and has been replaced in May 2015:
Picture
So, in this article, it is time for me to update the information provided in my previous blog post and keep things up to date!

The new document covers the new radio standards specifications for the Wi-Fi equipment operating in all the 5GHz frequency bands:
 - UNII1 (5150-5250MHz)
 - UNII2 (5250-5350MHz)
 - UNII2-Extended (5470-5600MHz and 5650-5725MHz)
 - UNII3 (5725-5850MHz)

Here are the updated radio standards specifications:
Picture
As you can see, nothing much changed from the last standards. Basically, the channel availability and the output powers were kept unchanged. 
So what has changed? According to me, two important regulations were added. They are detailed below.

TCP Implementation (UNII2 & UNII2-Extended)

Transmitter Power Control or TPC is a feature that enables a Wi-Fi device to dynamically switch between several transmission power levels in the transmission process. This is mainly used to reduce interference if another device is transmitting on the same frequency.
For Wi-Fi devices operating the UNII2 and UNII2-Extended, Industry Canada states that "devices with a maximum e.i.r.p. greater than 500mW shall implement TPC in order to have the capability to operate at least 6dB below the maximum permitted e.i.r.p. of 1W". This information can be important to keep in mind while designing a WLAN.

Higher e.i.r.p. allowed for Point-to-Point devices (UNII3 & ISM)

Concerning the UNII3 & ISM bands (5725-5850MHz), the conducted output power shall not exceed 1W. If directional antennas are used with a gain greater than 6dBi, the maximum conducted output power shall be reduced  by the amount in dB that the directional gain of the antenna exceeds 6dBi. So basically the maximum e.i.r.p. will never exceed 4W and if the gain of the antenna is greater than 6dBi, the output power will be adjusted accordingly.
However the standards stats that "fixed point-to-point devices operating in this band may employ transmitting antennas with directional gain greater than 6dBi without any corresponding reduction in transmitter conducted power".

Here is an example to explain this regulation:
Picture
So, on the left part of the drawing, we are using an antenna gain of 9dBi; which is 3dBi greater than 6dBi. If we were to use the maximum conducted power possible (i.e. 1W), the total e.i.r.p. would be: 30dBm (1W) + 9dBi = 39dBm (8W). 8W is over the maximum allowed (4W). So in order to stay under the regulations, we need to lower the conducted power by the number of the antenna gain dB greater than 6 (in our case 9-6 = 3dB). So the new conducted power would be: 30dBm (1W) - 3dB = 27dBm (500mW).
If we use a conducted power of 500mW we will have the following e.i.r.p.: 27dBm (500mW) + 9dBi = 36dBm (4W). This complies with the regulations!

On the right part of the drawing, we are setting up a point-to-point bridge link with an antenna gain of 13dBi; which is also greater than 6dBi. Even though the e.i.r.p. exceed 4W, we are still allowed to use a maximum conducted power of 1W.

If you are installing Wi-Fi on the 5GHz band in Canada, I would invite you to read the full official document from Industry Canada named "RSS-247 Digital Transmission Systems (DTSs), Frequency Hopping Systems (FHSs) and Licence-Exempt Local Area Network (LE-LAN) Devices". The section #6 details the regulations concerning Wi-Fi devices.

I hope this information will be useful for some of you.

Written by François Vergès
17 Comments
Steve McKim link
8/13/2015 16:09:47

Nice article Francois! If you don't mind, I'm going to copy that spreadsheet for my own use.

With respect to the PtMP scenario you described, I think it is important to note that if the clients are using directional antennas, then their EIRP is allowed to be higher than 4W. However, you may want to avoid this situation as you could deafen your AP's receiver or cause interference to your other sectors on the tower or structure.

Reply
François Vergès
8/14/2015 01:36:42

Hi Steve,

No problem, the info is there to be shared!
Thank you for adding the little note on the PtMP scenario. Much appreciated.

Cheers'

François

Reply
Some Guy
1/26/2016 18:40:39

Thanks for this post; glad I found it. It can be hard to find up-to-date Canada-specific info in an easily-accessible form such as this.

Reply
Simon
2/5/2016 22:36:48

Hello, I am noting that channels 120, 124 and 128 are not allowed in Canada, but they are in the USA. How do Access Point manufacturers manage this when selling product that could be sold in the USA or Canada? Do they simply eliminate operating on 120, 124 and 128 for their USA product also?

Thanks

Simon

Reply
François
3/6/2016 13:33:30

Hi Simon,

Yes they configure the available channels in the Country Code settings. So if you select the country code to be CA for Canada, the AP will only used channel available in Canada.

I hope I have answered your question!

François

Reply
Dan
10/26/2016 09:05:44

Hi Simon,

To add a little bit more detail, often manufacturers manufacture a model that can used globally, but they will hard set the regulatory domain for certification in each country (where required). Meaning that all APs shipping to Canada have been (or should be!) certified by Industry Canada, our regulatory body, FCC for the US, and so on.

Hope this helps!

Dan

Alain Daigle link
2/21/2017 15:31:26

Super François
Je cherchais cette information et je suis tombé sur ton blog !!! Félicitations et merci pour cette information utile !!!! Alain

Reply
Wendy Reuter link
3/27/2017 16:30:23

Hello Francois,
Would the proposed spectrum changes enable transit systems to deploy wifi technologies seamlessly across stations and vehicles, in ways that wouldn't be possible without the spectrum changes?

Reply
François Vergès link
3/27/2017 21:36:29

Hi Wendy,

The new specifications do not really change much from the previous ones. No change has been made on the spectrum, only on the transmit power rules. So you should be able to deploy Wi-Fi across stations and vehicles but it would be the same as what it would have been before. Are you talking about new spectrum available on 5GHz in the future? If you want to bring this conversation offline, feel free to send me an email.

Thank you!

Best Regards,

François (fverges@semfionetworks.com)

Reply
Chris
5/11/2017 15:20:57

Great article and table! Many thanks.

Couple of comments:

1) There is a Channel 32 (cf 5160MHz) - probably worth adding to your table for completeness.

2) On-going discussions regarding harmonizing Canadian U-NII 1 with the FCC. Increasing max conducted output power and EIRP as well as allowing use outdoors. Hopefully, Canada will align with the USA and simply device implementations!

Reply
François Vergès link
5/13/2017 19:53:14

Hi Chris,

Thank you for your comment.

I have never seen channel 32 in Wi-Fi equipment in Canada. Have you ever used it?
Indeed, it would be nice if IC align with the FCC on U-NII 1.
As far as I know, unlike the FCC, there is no plan to allow more spectrum in the 5GHz in Canada.

Nice to exchange with other Canadian Wi-Fi peers.

Cheers.

François

Reply
Pat Drummond
4/3/2018 12:12:06

Wikipedia has a chart for 5 GHz for about 17 global regions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels

I am curious why these channels in the Canada column do not match your chart:
54, 58, 62, 102, 106, 110, 134, 138, 142, 151, 155
Channel 32 is not listed.

Reply
DH
9/13/2018 13:35:02

Pat, Francois' matrix column 2 is the Center Frequency of the base 20MHz channel. The extra channels you noted (54, 58, etc) are the center of a wider channel. I am not an expert in IC/FCC/ETSI, but I have noted that there are an additional set of requirements that apply to Wide channel sets that straddle between different UNII groups. For example, the FCC requires the wide channel (e.g. 160MHz centered on chn 50) to adhere to the most restrictive rule for any constituent channel. in the chn 50 example, that would mean the entire 160MHz would have to support DFS. At least, that's how I've read the rules. I'm willing and able to be wrong.

Reply
Patrick Casavant
11/2/2018 06:20:22

You should update this page since IC have update some rule for wifi, it is now possible to apply for a licence to use UNII1 outside.

Reply
François Vergès
11/5/2018 15:37:36

Hi Patrick, thank you. Yes it's planned. Thank you!

Reply
Patrick
11/10/2018 08:47:02

Super!! You make IC rules more understandable for everyone!!

François Vergès link
12/28/2018 07:55:05

Hi Patrick, I have finally found some time to update the article. Here is the new one: https://www.semfionetworks.com/blog/5ghz-regulations-in-canada-2018-update

Please let me know if it meets your expectations.

Thank you!

Best Regards,

François




Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    François Vergès

    François Vergès is the founder of SemFio Networks. As a Network Engineer, he has a real passion for Wi-Fi.

    Picture Picture Picture

    Categories

    All
    5G
    5GHz
    6GHz
    802.11
    802.11ax
    802.11v
    802.1X
    AirConsole
    Aruba
    ArubaOS
    AutoCAD
    Automation
    Brand
    Capture
    Cisco
    Cisco WLC
    CLI
    Cloud
    Co-Channel Contention
    Controller Upgrade
    Course
    CWNE
    CWNP
    Design
    DFS
    Diagrams
    Ekahau
    FreeRADIUS
    Frequencies
    FSPL
    Hotspot
    Ideas
    Industry Canada
    Interference
    ISED
    Jetson Nano
    KRACK
    London
    MagicQuadrant
    MakeWi FiVisible
    MakeWi-FiVisible
    Market
    Meetup
    Mobility Express
    News
    Packet Analysis
    Programming
    Python
    Reference Guide
    Script
    Security
    SemFio
    Site-survey
    Site-survey
    Spectrum-analysis
    Technology
    Timeline
    Tip
    Training
    Validation
    Video
    Warehouse
    WiFi
    Wi-FI
    Wi-Fi
    Wi Fi 6
    Wi-Fi 6
    Wifitraining
    Wi Fi Troubleshooting
    Wi-Fi Troubleshooting
    Wireshark
    WLAN Pi
    WLPC
    WPA2

    Archives

    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014

    RSS Feed

SemFioNetworks-EmailContact SemFioNetworks-LinkedInProfile SemFioNetworks-YoutubeChannel

Let's Talk

Please get in touch with us if you have any questions. We offer a wide variety of professional Wi-Fi services that can help your wireless environment becoming faster, more secure and more efficient!
Get in touch
SemFioNetworks-Logo
Copyright © 2020 by SemFio Networks Inc.