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Industrial, Scientific, and Medical Devices (ISM, FCC Part 18)
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Part 18 (section 18.301) of the FCC rules designate certain bands for high-power Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) devices. These devices generate significant radio energy, but not for telecommunications purposes. Examples includes microwave ovens, industrial heaters, medical diathermy, jewelry cleaners, and RFID tags.
ISM devices may be operated in most frequency bands subject to strict power limits, but are allowed unlimited power in these eleven specially-designated ISM bands.
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Unlicensed bands
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Although these bands are allocated for ISM use, e.g. microwave ovens and industrial equipment, a major use has been unlicensed (Part 15) systems such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and ZigBee. In the period 1995-2005, most of the cordless phones marketed in the US were in the 902-928 MHz band, but conflicts with the other uses and availability of DECT equipment has greatly decreased sales of 902-928 MHz cordless phones.
The rules for these bands sprung from FCC Docket 81-413 which sought to end an implicit prohibition of spread spectrum/CDMA technology that resulted from a focus on FDMA spectrum uses. This resulted in rules adopted in 1985 that allow unlicensed spread spectrum systems to use these bands for almost any possible application subject to a 1W power limit and a power spectral density limit. Initial applications, however, were limited to frequency hopping and "direct sequence" modulations, the latter being subject to ill-defined spreading and processing gain requirements.
An FCC rulemaking in 2002, in ET Docket No. 99-231, dropped the spreading and processing gain requirements, and permitted any digital modulation that meets the power and power spectral density limits. The immediate effect was to authorize Wi-Fi products under standard IEEE 802.11g. Subsequent Wi-Fi standards, including n and ac, were eligible for certification with no further rule changes.
Bluetooth is authorized under the original 1985 frequency hopping provisions. The 2400 and 5800 MHz bands are used for Wi-Fi.
A good history is "The Innovation Journey of Wi-Fi: The Road To Global Success" by Wolter Lemstra, Vic Hayes, John Groenewegen; Cambridge University Press, 2010.
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Frequency Bands |
Band | Use | Service | Table |
902 - 928 MHz | 900 MHz unlicensed band | - | - |
2400 - 2483.5 MHz | Unlicensed band (commonly used by Wi-Fi) | - | - |
5725 - 5850 MHz | Unlicensed band (commonly used by Wi-Fi) | - | - |
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802.11/WLAN/Wi-Fi/WiGig
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Wireless LANS utilize various channels in the 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz bands (multiple countries), and (in theory) the 3.6 GHz band (U.S. only). For a list of which channels are available in which regions, refer to the Wikipedia article.
Wi-Fi is a trademark permitted for devices that are based upon a published standard of the IEEE 802.11 committee and that have been certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Wi-Fi is presently incorporated in about three billion devices. Wireless cash registers were one of the earliest applications of what is now Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi devices operate on an unlicensed basis, generally meaning they cannot cause interference to licensed services, and must accept any interference caused to them. Wi-Fi shares bands with other unlicensed or ISM devices, such as cordless phones at 2.4 and 5.8 GHz and microwave ovens at 2.4 GHz.
Some of the key patents related to Wi-Fi are credited (in the courts at least) to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia, which has collected over $400 million in royalties and legal settlements over patent rights.
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Frequency Bands |
Band | Use | Service | Table |
2400 - 2495 MHz | Wireless LANs | - | - |
3655 - 3700 MHz | Wireless LANS (U.S. only; standardized but not used) | - | - |
4910 - 4990 MHz | Wireless LANs (Japan) (U.S. public safety 4940-4990) | - | - |
5030 - 5090 MHz | WLANs (Japan, 2002-2017) | - | - |
5150 - 5350 MHz | Wireless LANs (U-NII-1 and U-NII-2A) | - | - |
5470 - 5895 MHz | Wireless LANs (U-NII-2C, U-NII-3, U-NII-4) | - | - |
5925 - 7125 MHz | Wireless LANs (U-NII-5, U-NII-6, U-NII-7, U-NII-8) | - | - |
42.39 - 46.71 GHz | Wireless LANs (WiGig) | - | - |
57.24 - 74.52 GHz | Wireless LANs (WiGig) | - | - |
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