A new Grand Challenge was released by DARPA called Spectrum Collaboration Challenge (SC2) to over 8,000 engineering and communications specialists at the International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) this week in Las Vegas.
SC2 is asking teams to work together to reconsider current spectrum management and discover a way to better use radio frequency (RF) signals. With the explosion of wireless, current spectrums won't be able to keep up with wireless-device usage in the near future.
A DARPA official made it clear that the spirit of collaboration, not competition, will pave the way to victory in this challenge.
“DARPA Challenges have traditionally rewarded teams that dominate their competitors, but when it comes to making the most of the electromagnetic spectrum, the team that shares most intelligently is going to win,” SC2 Program Manager Paul Tilghman of DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office said.
The competition will be held in the "Colosseum," which has been specifically designed as the largest wireless testbed, allowing team members to properly test their ideas. The teams must use current developments in artificial intelligence and mechanics to springboard their new projects. The results are highly anticipated, as the military is using wireless devices more and more every day. Increasingly, more products in the civilian world are using the wireless spectrum. However, testing will not begin until 2017, nor end until 2020, when finalists will compete for a $2 million prize.
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