Measurement and Characterization of Electromagnetic Noise in Edge Computing Networks for the Industrial Internet of Things

Daily Changes in Channel Occupancy in the 868 MHz ISM Band

Due to the rapid development of Internet of Things (IoT) systems operating in industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) frequency bands, many researchers have attempted to determine the amount of interference that can be expected in such systems. The basic information required for this purpose is the current occupancy of frequency channels in various geographical locations. It is known that the occupancy measurement must last long enough to allow for the detection of low duty cycle transmissions. In this paper, it is shown that fulfilling only this criterion may lead to unreliable results being obtained. In two measurement campaigns performed in two different locations, the occupancy of a selected sub-band in the 868 MHz ISM band was determined on the basis of two hour-long observations repeated several times a day. During a typical day, the ratio of the maximum and the minimum result depended on the location and reached a value of eight; however, on one day, a period of abnormally high channel usage reaching 65% was observed in the location in which typical values did not exceed 1%.

Channel Occupancy Measurements in 868 MHz ISM Band in Residential Areas

The rapid development of Internet of Things (IoT) has led to more and more devices using ISM frequency bands. Because they are not time synchronized, medium access collisions are unavoidable. The probability of such a collision is usually reasonably low; however, it increases with the number of transmitters competing for the same frequency channel. For this reason, ISM bands' occupancy is regularly monitored by researchers. This paper presents the results of the measurement campaign during which a selected part of the 868 MHz ISM frequency band was monitored for the presence of transmissions in six locations in various residential areas in Warsaw, Poland. For the purpose of the campaign, a dedicated measurement set-up comprising a software-defined radio (SDR) module was assembled. The measurements results showed that the channel occupancy is in most cases lower than 1% with a maximum observed value of 2%. The paper presents selected characteristics of the detected signals. Additionally, distribution over time of the detected signals was used together with the Monte Carlo simulations to analyze how long idle time blocks are available for new transmitters that could be deployed in the band under testing.