Virginia Tech Research Center in Arlington, home of the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative’s xG Testbed.
Our Program Experimental License now extends to the Virginia Tech Research Center in Arlington, home of the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative’s xG Testbed shown here. Photo by Craig Newcomb for Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech’s Program Experimental License (PEL) enables wireless communications research by streamlining the process to gain access to radio frequencies for experimental purposes on properties owned or controlled by the university. Compared to the traditional experimental license process, use of the PEL cuts the regulatory time required to implement a project from weeks or months to as little as ten days. 

The PEL was established in 2017, when the Division of Information Technology was licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, who administers the PEL program. The university’s PEL has served as an umbrella over several university locations in Blacksburg, including the main Virginia Tech campus, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, the Corporate Research Center, and Kentland Farms.

Research teams can apply for individual licenses through the program, granting them space on a particular frequency, or band, to conduct research and testing in areas such as wireless communications, cybersecurity, telehealth, smart farming, smart cities, and more. 

In FY 2023, the Division of IT expanded the PEL program to northern Virginia, adding licenses to cover the Virginia Tech Research Center in Arlington and the new Innovation Campus in Alexandria. Expanding PEL to these facilities is strategically significant for Virginia Tech’s research enterprise, as these locations house research teams focused heavily on artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning, wireless and "Next-Gen" technology, and other advanced communications applications.

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) xG Testbed  in the Virginia Tech Research Center, which provides testing capabilities for end-to-end radio access network interoperability, conformance, and performance in lab and field environments, has already begun using the new PEL. The Innovation Campus is slated to open in early 2025.

Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives Jeff Crowder, who manages the program, noted, “expanding PELs to these facilities is strategically significant for Virginia Tech’s research enterprise, since the licenses can benefit several areas of focus including artificial intelligence and machine learning, and wireless and 'Next-Gen' technology.”