JPL's Wireless Communication Reference Website Chapter: Network Concepts and Standards

Spectrum Allocations

Frequency allocation:

A band of radio frequencies identified by an upper and lower frequency limit earmarked for use by one or more of the 38 terrestrial and space radio communication services defined by the International Telecommunication Union under specified conditions.

Frequency allotment:

The designation of portions of an allocated frequency band to individual countries or geographical areas for a particular radio communication service; for a satellite service, specific orbital positions may also be alloted to individual countries.

Frequency assignment:

Authorization given by a nation's government for a station or an operator in that country to use a specific radio frequency channel under specified conditions. In the U.S., the FCC handles frequency assignments. Increasingly, economic mechanisms are used to assign frequencies.

The term frequency assignment is also used for the action of an operator assigning a channel to a particular user. For instance in dynamic frequency assignment (DCA) the cellular operator optimizes the resources available in all cells to optimally adapt to the changing needs from its subscribers. Confusingly, DCA is often called dynamic frequency allocation.

Personal Communication Services

JPL's Wireless Communication Reference Website © Jean-Paul M.G. Linnartz 1996.