Wireless Mesh Network and Wi-Fi Coexistence Measurements: Interference Analysis
Safineh, Shervin (2020)
2020
Master's Programme in Information Technology
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2020-12-29
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202012229140
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202012229140
Tiivistelmä
Wireless communications have covered all aspects of day-to-day life to the point that many devices with various wireless technologies in place need to be designed in a way that they can coexist with each other. The need for gathering constant information in a certain environment while the normal life is going on there at the same time can be an example of such need, but when there is limited medium for all these applications to be operating, the concepts of collision and interference are not distant from expectations. With all the advances in wireless communications, the effect of these interferences on other wireless devices operating in the same range of electromagnetic spectrum has been reduced considerably, but not eliminated.
Bluetooth Low Energy and Wi-Fi are two technologies that operate in the same range of the electromagnetic spectrum known as the Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band at 2.4 GHz. This means the possibility of having interference between the two while they are actively operating next to each other is very high. One question, however, remains that how these technologies can affect each other.
First part of this thesis explains how each of these two technologies operate individually and how they are different from each other. Second part of the thesis introduces the wireless mesh network and breaks down how it works. In the third part of the thesis, the concept of radio propagation and signal characteristics is discussed. Next, the thesis provides a use case which consists of two different networks utilizing the introduced technologies. The thesis explains how measurements were done and which equipment and tools were necessary to make the process happen. After that, the thesis presents the results of the measurements using filtered, comparable, and uniform sets of data in the forms of tables and plots generated with MATLAB software.
Finally, the thesis analyzes the presented results and lists the conclusions extracted from the analysis. The main observations are that the wireless mesh network impacts the Wi-Fi network performance such that more frequent data transmissions from the nodes in the wireless mesh network causes more interference in the communications going on in the Wi-Fi network, and that the Wi-Fi network’s activity results in some delays in the wireless mesh network. The thesis also calculates the role of isolation and highlights how interference can result in higher received signal values.
Bluetooth Low Energy and Wi-Fi are two technologies that operate in the same range of the electromagnetic spectrum known as the Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band at 2.4 GHz. This means the possibility of having interference between the two while they are actively operating next to each other is very high. One question, however, remains that how these technologies can affect each other.
First part of this thesis explains how each of these two technologies operate individually and how they are different from each other. Second part of the thesis introduces the wireless mesh network and breaks down how it works. In the third part of the thesis, the concept of radio propagation and signal characteristics is discussed. Next, the thesis provides a use case which consists of two different networks utilizing the introduced technologies. The thesis explains how measurements were done and which equipment and tools were necessary to make the process happen. After that, the thesis presents the results of the measurements using filtered, comparable, and uniform sets of data in the forms of tables and plots generated with MATLAB software.
Finally, the thesis analyzes the presented results and lists the conclusions extracted from the analysis. The main observations are that the wireless mesh network impacts the Wi-Fi network performance such that more frequent data transmissions from the nodes in the wireless mesh network causes more interference in the communications going on in the Wi-Fi network, and that the Wi-Fi network’s activity results in some delays in the wireless mesh network. The thesis also calculates the role of isolation and highlights how interference can result in higher received signal values.