Spectrum Occupancy and Interference Model Based on Network Experimentation in Hospital

Emerging healthcare radio technologies are designed to operate in the 2.4GHz industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band. Since both standardized (Bluetooth and Wi-Fi) and non-standardized (proprietary) devices use the same frequency band, the aggregate interference may significantly affect the performance of medical wireless systems. This paper characterizes the spatiotemporal spectrum occupancy and proposes models for the aggregate interference in hospital environments. In particular, time-frequency and cluster-based statistical models for the aggregate interference are developed based on network experimentation. The proposed models enable the design of wireless networks for e-health applications and medical services.