Baylor Engineering Professor Testifies at U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Hearing on Spectrum Technology

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Charles Baylis, Ph.D., professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of Baylor University’s Spectrum Management with Adaptive and Reconfigurable Technology Hub (SMART Hub), testified today before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation in a full committee hearing titled America Offline? How Spectrum Auction Delays Give China the Edge and Cost U.S. Jobs.

Baylis, a nationally recognized expert in wireless communication, leads SMART Hub’s research and technology development efforts. SMART Hub, launched in 2024 through a $5 million congressional appropriation, is a Department of Defense Spectrum Innovation Center to conduct multifaceted spectrum research to meet national defense needs. Housed at Baylor University, SMART Hub is comprised of 25 multidisciplinary researchers across 15 institutions 

“It was truly an honor to have a seat at the table before leaders and policymakers, and to share the work we have been blessed by God to do at Baylor University,” Baylis said. “We have an outstanding team throughout SMART Hub and the School of Engineering and Computer Science, and I am further grateful for the opportunity to represent them and their work in this setting.”

Other witnesses at the hearing included Thomas Hazlett, Ph.D., Professor of Economics, Clemson University; Matt Pearl, Director, Strategic Technologies Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies; and Bryan Clark, Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Defense Concepts and Technology, Hudson Institute. The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation is chaired by Senator Ted Cruz (Texas), with Senator Maria Cantwell (Washington) serving as ranking member.

Sharing expertise with the U.S. Senate

Today’s hearing was convened to “examine the critical role of spectrum policy in driving the U.S. economy, maintaining the U.S.’s technological edge over China, and strengthening national security.”

Through his work in developing innovative approaches to spectrum usage, Baylis’ insights provided the committee with a vision of future possibilities for wireless communications, and the implications of this growth. As lawmakers consider policy approaches that could benefit defense efforts or commercial goals, Baylis cast a vision for a “third way” that supports both. 

Said Baylis in his opening statement: 

As a center, we are creating adaptive and reconfigurable technologies that will provide a “win-win” for military dominance and economic growth.  By adapting, we aim to provide flexible, opportunistic spectrum capabilities to military systems and 5G and 6G commercial wireless systems, maximizing performance in whatever band they operate. 

As the developer of adaptive and reconfigurable technology, the United States will gain an enormous international advantage both economically and tactically.  U.S. industries will develop these systems and sell their technology worldwide. Commercial wireless systems will realize heretofore uncomprehensible bandwidths.  And our military systems will be the strongest, most agile in the world, dominating in the most important dimension of battle:  the spectrum.   

How do we get to this situation from where we are today?  This is a question that I, as Director of a Congressionally funded Spectrum Innovation Center, have spent a lot of time considering and mapping to direct our research, innovation, and workforce development. If spectrum coexistence is like driving a car down a highway with other vehicles, we must develop adaptive and cognitive techniques to maneuver devices through a congested spectrum.  In less congested environments, device-to-device interaction can be used to coexist, just as cars can pass each other autonomously in uncrowded highways.  In more congested environments, like a traffic light, a DSMS will be useful for coordinating. 

Baylis further advocated for spectrum research funding—amplifying SMART Hub’s holistic approach which integrates security, economics, business and policy considerations into the effort—and highlighted the need to develop the future spectrum workforce, which SMART Hub is doing through innovative training for students across a broad age range.

Baylis’ complete testimony and a video of the proceedings are available through the U.S. Senate website.  

The “real estate” of wireless transmission

From his laboratory in the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative, Baylis directs SMART Hub efforts to develop the technologies described above.

For a more complete understanding of the landscape in which he works, Baylis describes the spectrum as the “real estate” of wireless transmission. Anyone who uses a cellular phone relies on the spectrum for communication, along with a variety of other wireless methods.

“When I send or receive a phone call, I have to use some type of bandwidth on the spectrum to transmit. It’s the same for anyone,” Baylis said. “Now, when you factor in the exponential increase in the number of wireless devices, you can imagine that the spectrum has become crowded to the point that there’s really no spectrum left.”

Both military and corporate organizations recognize that dwindling space will soon have an impact on their users. Reliable wireless communication is of critical importance to the Department of Defense in both peacetime and war, and the military must be able to adapt and work around interference.  Their partnership with SMART Hub will pursue new adaptive technologies for military use, with the likelihood of future benefits to civilian communication as well.

“We are working on groundbreaking technology that will revolutionize how we use the spectrum,” Baylis said. “Rather than fixed systems that use the same frequency and stay there, we’re designing systems that can adapt to their surroundings and determine how to successfully transmit and receive. It’s a true paradigm shift that requires the type of collaboration we will have in SMART Hub.”

That shift would require new algorithms and hardware adjustments capable of responsive shifts from one band to another. This is a key SMART Hub focus: the development of groundbreaking technologies to build and support adaptive and reconfigurable technologies for wireless communication, radar systems, and passive sensing. 

“We are grateful for the opportunity to do our part to protect our men and women who are in harm’s way, and we want to do so without any compromise,” Baylis said. “Spectrum dominance is of extreme importance and that’s why these efforts are funded by Congress — it leads directly to success in the field and to the safety of our armed forces.”

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more about Baylor University at www.baylor.edu. 

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