SSD Processing Overview

SSD Processing occurs after a certification request has been received, and after SPS Review Processing, and after SRB Processing. It is the final, though complex process in Certification Request Processing. The flow chart below provides a basic overview of the current SPS review processing task flow.

The chart below provides a basic overview of the SSD processing task flow.

SSD Processing SSD Chief Review SPS Addendum Review Process by WG7 SSD Processing Assign SRB Engineer SPS Recommendation No IRAC# Process by WG8 No IRAC# SRB Engineer Review Get IRAC #s Get IRAC #s SPS Cert. Review DAA Review Upload docs to IRACNET
  1. Recommended agency changes. These changes occur outside of SSD processing.
  2. Approval recommended without addendum, through SRB Chief processing. The SPS Secretary may recommend SRB Chief processing. When processing occurs without addendum, a Certification of Spectrum Support will be generated instead. The Certification of Spectrum Support is generated by the SRB Engineer (or, within WG 8 processing, by the WG 8 Chair), and is reviewed by the SPS Chair / Vice Chair.
  3. Approval recommended with or without addendum, through WG 8. The SPS Secretary may recommend Working Group 8 (WG 8) processing. Both Working Group 7 (WG 7) and WG 8 processing can generate addendum, but only WG 8 may also review requests that do not produce an addendum. When processing occurs without addendum, a Certification of Spectrum Support will be generated instead. See the SSD processing task flow table below for more details.
  4. Approval recommended with addendum, through WG 7. The SPS Secretary may recommend Working Group 7 (WG 7) processing.

The table below contains a detailed, step-by-step explanation of the current SSD processing task flow. The table is divided into 4 topics because there are four main task flow paths after the SPS recommendation. The main task flow numbers correspond to the numbers in the SSD processing map. Note that SSD processing includes many instances when multiple next process steps (i.e., tasks) are possible, as indicated by the double-headed arrows in the processing map; optional steps are represented in the table through letters that appear after a number (i.e., “1a,” “1b,” 2a,” “2b,” etc).

Task Flow Path 1: SPS Recommendation is Approval with Recommended Agency Changes

Steps SSD Processing Task Flow Descriptions
1 If the SPS Secretary recommends approval with agency changes, the recommendation is sent to the agency submitter/representative, and does not enter SSD processing.
2 As indicated by the double-headed arrow, once the agency submitter/representative makes the recommended changes, the request is sent back to the SPS Secretary. The SPS Secretary's subsequent, second recommendation may then cause the request to be flowed into SSD processing.

Task Flow Path 2: SPS Recommendation is Approval to SRB Chief

Steps The request is sent to the SRB Chief, who assigns it to an SRB Review Engineer.
1 The request is sent to the SRB Chief, who assigns it to an SRB Review Engineer.
2 The SRB Review Engineer conducts a review.
  • If the certification request has an Interdepartmental Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC) number, the request is sent directly to the SPS Chair/Vice Chair to conduct a Certification of Spectrum Support (CoSS) Review.
  • If the certification request does not have an IRAC number, the SPS Secretary must first obtain an IRAC number for the request. An IRAC number may be obtained from IRACNET, outside of the workflow. A Certification of Spectrum Support is then uploaded and attached to the request, which is sent to the SPS Chair / Vice Chair to conduct a CoSS Review.
3a If the SPS Chair / Vice Chair approves, the request is sent to the Deputy Associate Administrator (DAA) of the Office of Spectrum Management (OSM) to conduct the DAA Review.
4a If the DAA approves, they will sign the finalized CoSS to IRACNET to conclude SSD processing.
5a If the DAA does not approve, the request will be processed back to the SPS Chair/Vice Chair for additional Certification of Spectrum Support review, as indicated by the double-headed arrow in the SSD processing flow chart.
3b If the SPS Chair / Vice Chair does not approve, the SPS Chair / Vice Chair may process the request back to its source (in this case, the SRB Review Engineer). Once the SRB Review Engineer has conducted a review, the request is processed back to the SPS Chair / Vice Chair, as indicated by the double-headed arrow in the SSD processing flow chart.
3c If the SPS Chair / Vice Chair does not approve, the SPS Chair / Vice Chair may process the request to the SPS Secretary for another SPS preparation, which occurs outside the scope of SSD processing and causes the process to be reinitiated.

Task Flow Path 3: SPS Recommendation is Approval to the WG 8 Chair

Steps SSD Processing Task Flow Descriptions
1 The WG 8 Chair processing task flow is similar to the WG7 Chair task flow, with the following exception: when the WG 8 Chair receives a request from the SPS Secretary following the SPS recommendation, after making sure the request has obtained an IRAC number, the WG 8 Chair has the following options:
2a If the WG 8 Chair decides the request needs an addendum, a draft addendum will be generated, attached, and sent to the SPS Chair / Vice Chair for review. At this point the task flow will follow task flow steps 31-3f described under Task Flow Path 3.
2b If the SPS recommendation does <b>not</b> include an addendum, the WG 8 Chair will send the request to the SPS Chair / Vice Chair for Certification of Spectrum Support Review. At this point the task flow will follow task flow steps 3a-3c described under Task Flow Path 2.

Task Flow Path 4: SPS Recommendation is Approval to the WG7 Chair

Steps SSD Processing Task Flow Descriptions
1 When the WG 7 Chair receives the SPS recommendation:
2 The request and addendum are then sent to the SPS Chair / Vice Chair for an Addendum Review
3a If the SPS Chair / Vice Chair conducts the Addendum Review and does not approve, the request and addendum may be processed back tot he WG 7 Chair for further processing.
3b If the SPS Chair / Vice Chair conducts the Addendum Review and does not approve, the request may also be processed back to the SPS secretary for SPS Prep, at which point further review occurs outside the scope of SSD processing.
3c If the SPS Chair / Vice Chair conducts the Addendum Review and approves, they will upload the reviewed addendum, and send the addendum with the request to the SSD Chief to conduct the SSD Chief Review
4a If the SSD Chief conducts the SSD Chief Review and approves, they will assign and attach the addendum. The SPS Secretary will then upload the request to the IRACNET to conclude SSD processing.
4b If the SSD Chief conducts the SSD Chief Review and does not approve, the request may be processed back to the WG 7 Chair for further processing.
4c If the SSD Chief conducts the SSD Chief Review and does not approve, the request may also be processed back to the SPS Secretary, at which point further review occurs outside the scope of SSD processing.

A PDF version of the Task and Status Diagram is available here.