Overview of Wireless Microphones—Part I: System and Technologies

Wireless microphones are indispensable to modern society. They are used worldwide by professionals and amateurs for such applications as live performances, electronic news gathering, and conference presentations. Due to the radio spectrum crunch, wireless microphones have become a hot topic of discussion and debate among television broadcasters, wireless microphone manufacturers, wireless network operators, and spectrum regulators. In order to keep wireless microphones operating well, it is necessary to give engineers, researchers, and regulators a comprehensive overview of wireless microphones in the aspects of technologies, spectrum requirements, and interference that may be experienced or generated by wireless microphones. This overview is divided into two parts. Part I provides an overview of typical wireless microphone system components, their performance requirements and technical parameters, and the technologies that are used in current wireless microphones. Part II focuses on the spectrum, sources of interference, and regulations surrounding wireless microphones.