Measurements and simulation of radio frequency impulsive noise in hospitals and clinics

Electrical and mechanical equipment can be a major source of interference to indoor wireless systems. A receiver system was developed to measure the time-varying nature of such "impulsive noise" in the 450 MHz band, and extensive measurements were made in hospitals and clinics across the United States. Empirical distributions were extracted for the amplitude, inter-arrival time, and duration of the observed noise pulses. The software propagation simulation tool SIRCIM Plus was developed to include the simulation of impulsive noise in indoor environments, based on the measurements reported here.