Reduce Interference Risk in Connected Medical Devices
White Papers
A solid coexistence test plan will ensure wireless network reliability in the presence of many smart devices and overcrowded radio bands
Numerous wireless Internet of Things (IoT) and connected medical devices using different protocols — including IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth®, and ZigBee® — are clogging radio bands. This overcrowding causes all-too-frequent radio-frequency (RF) communications failures, even when signal strength seems sufficient. The issue is especially problematic in healthcare environments where dense deployments of connected medical devices operating on different bands and radio protocols are the norm. These communication dropouts have several causes, particularly poor coexistence.
Coexistence is the ability of wireless equipment to operate in the presence of other equipment, especially devices using dissimilar operating protocols. The only way to ensure efficacious, safe, and reliable wireless network performance in healthcare environments is to test for radio coexistence. That is often easier said than done.