The HF spectrum is highly congested. Congestion is exacerbated by automated control systems and computer generated traffic. It is apparent that in circumstances when all channels are oversubscribed only a rigorous procedure for controlling channel access and rationing use can provide equitable and efficient shared use by legitimate users. Moreover, congestion on a single channel inevitably has consequences for all users of the spectrum, even those many MHz apart. Stations unable to pass traffic on the best propagating frequencies will make fruitless attempts to find quieter (but lower capacity channels), thereby producing yet more congestion for the users of those channels. The recent proposal by the ITU to move to an on-demand, ad-hoc user selected frequency allocation system can only exacerbate the already difficult problems. This paper poses an approach to mitigating the serious problems of congestion through an agreed set of channel management protocols which encourage users to cooperate in order to minimise congestion and to facilitate the best possible traffic throughput.
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