Can Bluetooth and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi Devices Coexist?

URL : http://intelligenthospitaltoday.com/can-bluetooth-and-802-11bgn-wi-fi-devices-coexist/

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Both Bluetooth and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi operate in the Industrial, Scientific, Medical (ISM) unlicensed radio frequency (RF) spectrum from 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) to 2.4835 gigahertz (GHz).  Early Bluetooth devices interfered with 802.11b/g Wi-Fi devices because both devices tried to use the same channel for an extended period of time which caused interference, lost data, and eventually a loss of service for both devices.

The Coexistence of Bluetooth and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi

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by using Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) both the Bluetooth and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi devices can coexist by taking turns transmitting over time.

In order to minimize the interference, the Bluetooth SIG implemented a signaling mechanism called Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS).  The FHSS signaling methodology causes the Bluetooth device to switch the 1 megahertz (MHz) wide channel 1600 times per second across all 79 channels available to Bluetooth.

Bluetooth Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS)

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the use of FHSS does not eliminate the interference, but it does greatly reduce the chance for interference.

In an effort to further reduce the interference the Bluetooth SIG enhanced the FHSS with a signaling mechanism called Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFH).  When a Bluetooth device uses AFH it scans the radio frequencies before transmitting to detect and avoid used channels by hopping to an unused channel.

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Key factors that enable Bluetooth and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi devices to coexist with each other are:
•    The use of low power Bluetooth class devices.
•    Limit the total number of Bluetooth devices in the same location.
•    Remove old Bluetooth devices that do not use Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFH).