5

Panel Conclusions and Recommendations

The committee’s conclusions and recommendations are described in the preceding chapters, including key conclusions and recommendations in the summary and the conclusions and recommendations specific to each division which appear in Chapters 2–4.

OVERARCHING CONCLUSIONS AND KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

The committee observed several crosscutting conclusions in its review of the technical work, expertise, and operations at the Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL). These are summarized in four overarching conclusions. Four key recommendations also stem from these summary and crosscutting issues.

From the above overarching conclusions stem these key recommendations:

Key Recommendation 5-1: The Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL) should examine the division-specific recommendations for research topic growth areas that would advance CTL’s mission and leverage its technical strengths.

Key Recommendation 5-2: The Boulder-based divisions of the Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL) should engage with a wider range of universities and students to supplement the recruitment opportunities presented by the Professional Research Experience Program.

Key Recommendation 5-3: Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL) leadership should prioritize addressing backup power needs for critical instruments and experiments, given the frequent planned and unplanned power outages at the Boulder campus, and its negative impact on calibrations, experiments, and the CTL mission.

Key Recommendation 5-4: The Communications Technology Laboratory should build on its success in hosting and curating open, validated datasets for research use. Areas of growth include sharing reusable datasets from the Public Safety Communications Research Division’s User Experience portfolio, analyzing how datasets support industry development in the Radio Frequency Technology Division, developing reliable data in new areas of the Spectrum Technology and Research Division’s work such as for digital twins, and developing shareable data from otherwise inaccessible datasets like those containing various forms of controlled information.

DIVISION-SPECIFIC CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Public Safety Communications Research Division

Conclusion 2-1: The Mission Critical Services (MCX) portfolio is the most mature and strongest of the five Public Safety Communications Research Division (PSCR) portfolios. The MCX and its partners were able to shepherd conformance testing through the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), develop standards-based conformance testing scripts, and transfer this work to commercial testing and evaluation companies. This high-impact work stands out because the MCX played a critical role from inception to commercialization. The MCX portfolio has prioritized forging partnerships and achieving impactful outcomes. The activities of the portfolio have helped make Long-Term Evolution and 5G New Radio–based first-responder networks viable alternatives to traditional Land Mobile Radio (LMR) systems. However, lack of trust and feature parity have slowed the decommissioning of LMR systems. The MCX portfolio also deals with complicated and evolving standards, and they could play a key role in guiding first-responder radio and network evaluation. What the

PSCR has been able to accomplish with very little resources is not only impressive but may be a best practice to replicate.

Recommendation 2-1: When developing the next evolution of the Mission Critical Services research beyond conformance, the Public Safety Communications Research Division leadership should add or update research on the minimum feature parity necessary for first-responder agencies to trust the transition from Land Mobile Radio to newer technologies. Examples include trust in the ruggedized device and reach beyond radio coverage (e.g., via satellite or device to device mechanisms).

Conclusion 2-2: The User Experience (UX) portfolio has made a focused effort at creating a realistic scenario for first-responder training via mock-up of an apartment in a hazardous materials situation. Training techniques like this hold much potential for improving the way first responders are trained nationwide, but the number of first responders who can directly benefit from the NIST environment is limited. The impact of the UX portfolio could be increased by broadening its focus toward dissemination of learning, e.g., to assist with measurement sciences, standards development, guidelines for adoption of critical communications capabilities for first responders, and interface specifications for reusable datasets.

Recommendation 2-2: To amplify the potential impact for society, the Public Safety Communications Research Division (PSCR) leadership should require each project, for example the User Experience portfolio’s mock-up training environment, to specify the anticipated amplification outcomes in all four PSCR research value areas as appropriate:

1. Measurement sciences,
2. Standards development,
3. Accelerating the adoption of critical communication capabilities for first responders, and/or
4. Reusable datasets.

Conclusion 2-3: One of the challenges for Land Mobile Radio transition to newer 5G/xG technologies was trust in the device. There is a need for focused basic research on public safety radios within the United States; the Public Safety Communications Research Division could be the leading U.S. research and development organization on this topic if it was properly resourced. For example, the Location-Based Services group could better confront the numerous unsolved problems in signal processing and engineering in indoor adverse situations with a larger team of researchers with expertise in areas such as RF propagation, optics, signal processing, radar, imaging, and communications. The Mission Critical Services (MCX) team could lead the evolution of MCX application programming interfaces to take advantage of Integrated Sensing and Communications.

Recommendation 2-3: The Public Safety Communications Research Division (PSCR) leadership should increase the ratio of personnel with PhDs to expand its research depth. Given the PSCR’s success in connecting with relevant stakeholder feedback, hiring more PhD researchers with diverse backgrounds may help to accelerate application of new technologies, such as integrated sensing and communications, for PSCR community use cases while also addressing the device trust concerns expressed by stakeholders.

Conclusion 2-4: There is significant maintenance cost to keep current each Public Safety Innovation Lab subsystem (Project 25 Land Mobile Radio [LMR] systems from two companies, 4G/5G systems, radio frequency chambers, interoperability systems between LMR and Long-Term Evolution, Mission-Critical Voice Quality of Experience system, and Mobile Research Vehicle). A better understanding of the projects and active grant proposals dependent on each subsystem is needed to better understand the business tradeoff between the maintenance cost of each system and relevance of the system for the Public Safety Communications Research Division mission moving forward.

Recommendation 2-4: To make a business decision on when to decommission each Public Safety Innovation Lab system, the Public Safety Communications Research Division leadership should analyze the cost to keep each system current and its ability to allocate these costs to ongoing research projects and future grant awards. The visibility to the dependencies and maintenance costs should be shared with stakeholders.

Conclusion 2-5: The Public Safety Communications Research Division (PSCR) aims to play a key role nationally in guiding public safety radio development, radio evaluation, radio testing, first-responder training, and new technology integration. Research and development in these areas could also impact commercial radio networks and training and communication systems in other industries (e.g., mining, oil and gas, railways). The PSCR prioritizes interaction with targeted stakeholders, and stakeholder use of the PSCR infrastructure, outcomes, and guidelines appears well monitored. The PSCR may benefit from measuring or documenting each portfolios’ impact to the broader community, beyond the targeted stakeholders. Visibility to indirect impact may bring to the surface additional societal challenges.

Recommendation 2-5: The Public Safety Communications Research Division leadership should consider monitoring value beyond the targeted stakeholders—for example, those to whom the information was disseminated—in addition to monitoring stakeholder value. For example, a mapping of potential ripple effects from dissemination of each portfolio’s outcome may highlight areas of potential cross portfolio collaboration need.

Radio Frequency Technology Division

Conclusion 3-1: The Radio Frequency Technology Division has strengths in metrology, measurement sciences, and technology development:

• Strong foundational metrology capabilities (e.g., Josephson standards and radio frequency power and scattering-parameter measurements, competitive with leading peer national metrology institutes);
• Successful measurement science innovation enabling new industries (e.g., Rydberg sensing); and
• Active development programs with strong external collaborations positioning for future industry needs (e.g., hot qubit metrology with industry, national laboratories, universities, magnetic materials, 5G/6G electromagnetic compatibility frameworks).

Conclusion 3-2: The Radio Frequency Technology Division effectively disseminates its work by

• Demonstrating an appropriate technology transfer model (the National Institute of Standards and Technology develops measurement science for low technology readiness level (TRL), and industry implements systems at high TRL) and
• Contributing effectively to standards development (e.g., Next Generation Communications Channel Model Alliance, Third Generation Partnership Project participation, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers standards development).

Conclusion 3-3: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has world-class expertise in Rydberg sensor science, defining the state of the art in atom-based radio frequency metrology. Emphasis on higher-frequency (>110 gigahertz) and deployable system integration would help NIST to sustain its leadership.

Recommendation 3-1: Based on confirmed industry needs, the Radio Frequency Technology Division should develop terahertz-frequency measurement capabilities for 6G support or determine that the frequencies fall outside its mission scope; conduct a hot qubit metrology program strategic review to determine industry need and timeline, pace of NIST measurement capability development, and resource

allocation decision criteria; and assess cryogenic radio frequency measurement requirements for the quantum computing industry.

Conclusion 3-4: Power failures, absent backup systems, and environmental control deficiencies represent an infrastructure crisis, and actively compromise the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s ability to provide reliable national measurement standards. This threatens the core national metrology institute (NMI) function and risks loss of international credibility in key comparisons with other NMIs such as Germany’s Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, the United Kingdom’s National Physical Laboratory, and the National Metrology Institute of Japan.

Recommendation 3-2: The National Institute of Standards and Technology should install backup power systems for all measurement standards facilities; remediate environmental controls; stabilize temperature control for calibration chambers; and develop a multiyear capital facilities plan with dedicated funding.

Conclusion 3-5: Several programs show active development with appropriate external collaborations (hot qubit metrology, terahertz frequency extensions, cryogenic radio frequency), but timelines to operational capability may not align with U.S. industry needs. Early career researcher presentations demonstrate progress, but multiyear gaps may exist before measurement services reach maturity. Strategic clarification is needed on development pace versus anticipated industry demand, particularly for quantum computing and 6G technologies where academic and international capabilities are advancing rapidly.

Conclusion 3-6: The Radio Frequency Technology Division has established strategic planning with stakeholder engagement and quarterly tracking of research activities (publications, standards contributions, conferences, Cooperative Research and Development Agreements). Opportunities exist to enhance impact assessment beyond activity metrics to include economic value quantification of calibration services, systematic tracking of measurement method adoption in commercial products, and analysis of how datasets support industry development. These enhanced metrics would strengthen demonstrated value and inform resource allocation.

Recommendation 3-3: The Radio Frequency Technology Division should conduct a strategic stakeholder needs assessment based on a comprehensive industry survey to identify priority U.S. measurement requirements; perform gap analysis comparing capabilities against industry needs; and develop an evidence-based priority ranking.

Recommendation 3-4: The Radio Frequency Technology Division should enhance its impact assessment by implementing comprehensive tracking of calibration service reach and economic value; develop technology adoption metrics; create systematic industry feedback mechanisms; and publish its annual impact assessment to demonstrate mission effectiveness.

Conclusion 3-7: The current model with PhD researchers spending a large percentage of time performing routine calibrations while calibration fees prove insufficient for facility or capability needs appears unsustainable. Peer national metrology institutes use different workforce models and cost recovery structures that may better support both service provision and innovation.

Recommendation 3-5: The Radio Frequency Technology Division should optimize its workforce by implementing or partnering with an existing technician training program for routine and high-volume calibrations and review cost recovery models for sustainability; conduct a comprehensive workforce assessment including experience demographics and retirement impact; develop succession plans for critical positions; and expand university recruitment relationships beyond the local region.

Recommendation 3-6: The Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL) should perform a workforce metrics analysis, tracking workforce metrics semiannually—including headcount by division, average years at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, time in grade, and years since the last degree—to evaluate workforce stabilization, assess the ongoing impact of recent reductions, and guide strategic workforce planning.

Spectrum Technology and Research Division

Conclusion 4-1: The current engagement with the U.S. Department of War (DOW), National Science Foundation (NSF), and commercial stakeholders is insufficient. There is a changing focus within DOW to align even fundamental research with national security–relevant causes. Finding opportunities for dual-use research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), engaging with DOW and NSF stakeholders more often, and aligning the internal research project investments to also contribute to DOW and NSF mission sets when applicable could advance both NIST and DOW or NSF goals.

Recommendation 4-1: The Spectrum Technology and Research Division (STAR) should collaborate more effectively with U.S. Department of War (DOW), National Science Foundation, and commercial stakeholders. More STAR-related DOW collaborations should implement a risk-based approach to manage multistakeholder programs as is done in the Citizens Broadband Radio Service program. This approach avoids producing results that arrive too late to be impactful even if it means slightly more cost and reduction in scope.

Conclusion 4-2: Radiometric (energy) detection is the standard method for spectrum sensing, but there are multiple other techniques that are superior, particularly when the signals being detected are completely known (e.g., standard waveforms). Cyclostationary detection is one example that the Spectrum Technology and Research Division is considering.

Recommendation 4-2: The Spectrum Technology and Research Division should investigate the potential use of other techniques beyond radiometric detection, e.g., interferometric (two-antenna) detection, feature detection, correlation (e.g., Durbin-Watson), and even matched filtering for spectrum sensing.

Conclusion 4-3: The panel review meeting and follow-up materials described limited projects involving drones or other low-altitude aircraft (e.g., NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility program), or involving reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, which are being intensively studied for use in 6G. This is a key focus area within the 6G network standard.

Recommendation 4-3: The Spectrum Technology and Research Division should develop projects involving drones, low-altitude aircraft, and other emerging technologies of national importance. Research and metrology in these areas should be conducted to influence 6G network architecture and the design of objective, rigorous technical evaluation of these technologies and inform gap and security vulnerability analysis.

Conclusion 4-4: The Spectrum Technology and Research Division’s tracking of technology transfer, and empowerment of the technical staff to achieve such technology transfer, seems ad hoc.

Recommendation 4-4: The Communications Technology Laboratory should better define its technology transfer strategy, track programs for return on investment, value technology transfer internally, and prioritize it as a tracked mission effectiveness measure. Implementation could involve engaging with

industry to develop commercial uses cases for their technologies, undertaking one-to-one mapping with Cooperative Research and Development Agreements after the technology transfer, and making technology transfer a significant portion of program success criteria.

Conclusion 4-5: One of the objectives of the Spectrum Technology and Research Division is to provide validated data that improve spectrum sharing models and interference testing. National Institute of Standards and Technology–validated data are of high value for the spectrum sharing community because they are unbiased and nonproprietary. Sharing data can help publicize and increase visibility of the Communications Technology Laboratory’s work.

Recommendation 4-5: The Spectrum Technology and Research Division should share validated data more effectively, through venues such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers societies, perhaps in a competition, so that people can test and evaluate their algorithms.

Conclusion 4-6: The feasibility of communications digital twins is rapidly increasing because of advances in computational capabilities, and their relevance is growing with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). As digital twins become more prominent, standardizing their design and validating their performance in AI-native wireless for 6G are emerging as critical areas of research. The broader research community would greatly benefit from the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s active involvement in shaping standards and validation frameworks for communications digital twins.

Recommendation 4-6: The Spectrum Technology and Research Division should lead the development of standardized frameworks for use of digital twins in artificial intelligence–native 6G wireless systems by leveraging the Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL)’s advanced radio frequency instrumentation and calibrated propagation data. This effort should focus on the National Institute of Standards and Technology and CTL strengths and priorities in defining interoperability standards, creating benchmark datasets, and establishing validation protocols to ensure accuracy and reproducibility.

Conclusion 4-7: The long-standing expertise of the Spectrum Technology and Research Division (STAR) in microwave radiometry and precise noise calibration makes it uniquely qualified to lead pilot projects on radio frequency interference detection and mitigation. STAR’s proven capabilities applied to spaceborne and airborne platforms can ensure high-fidelity measurements, protect mission-critical data for existing and future spaceborne microwave radiometry assets, and expand into emerging areas such as unmanned aerial vehicle sensing within 6G Non-Terrestrial Network frameworks. This will strengthen Earth observation and environmental monitoring efforts.

Recommendation 4-7: The Spectrum Technology and Research Division should employ its radiometry expertise to space research applications. A critical component of this expansion is the accurate detection and mitigation of radio frequency interference, which is essential for preserving the integrity of passive radiometric measurements in space-based and airborne platforms. The space work could expand to the unmanned aerial vehicle domain within the 6G Non-Terrestrial Network construct.