Co-existence of Heterogeneous Wireless Networks in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Spectrum

S&T Accomplishment Report · Thu Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 2024

OSTI ID:2478668

Mahmud, Syed Ayaz ^[1]; Ji, Mingyue ^[1]; Nasim, Imtiaz ^[2]; Agarwal, Vivek ^[2]; Mishra, Amitabh ^[2]; Kasera, Sneha ^[1]

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1. University of Utah
2. Idaho National Laboratory

To achieve automation across different applications, next-generation nuclear power plants are beginning to leverage advanced wireless technologies. The deployment of these wireless technologies is a salient need for modernizing the existing nuclear plants. A “one-size-fits-all” solution cannot be adopted since wireless technologies are selected according to specific application needs, quality of service, and economic restrictions. To balance the trade-off between technical and economic requirements, a multi-band heterogeneous wireless network architecture is needed. However, the co-existence of these multi-band wireless technologies poses numerous challenges. Due to factors including dissimilarity in channel access mechanisms, transmit power levels, distance between nodes, and interference among co-existing solutions, performance can be seriously degraded, leading to very low signal-to-noise ratio. This report builds on our previous study, "Experimental Evaluation of Interference in 2.4 GHz Wireless Network," which analyzed the performance of wireless communication technologies such as Wi-Fi, Zigbee, and Bluetooth co-existing within the 2.4 GHz band. We now extend this study by developing a new upper-layer approach that uses rate control to create temporary opportunities for signal transmission while using the shared band. Unlike existing work in the literature, our approach does not require modifications at the link or physical layers of the network. Further, we extend our work to explore the co-existence of Wi-Fi and fifth-generation (5G) in the 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum, using both experiments and simulations. This report provides a technical foundation for understanding the operational designs of Wi-Fi and 5G in the unlicensed band and evaluates their performance when these networks co-exist. Our findings show that the performance of 5G can be improved by controlling the Wi-Fi’s packet rate at the upper layer.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: 58
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-05ID14517
• OSTI ID: 2478668
• Report Number(s): INL/RPT-24-80712-Rev000
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
CO-existence
Heterogeneous networks
Nuclear plants
WIreless Networks