Performance evaluation of IEEE 802.11a wireless LANs in the presence of ultra-wideband interference

The performance of an IEEE 802.11a wireless receiver, in the presence of multiple users transmitting ultra-wideband (UWB) interfering signals, is evaluated. The frequency band of interest for the 802.11a system is 5.21-5.23 GHz. The coexistence of the two systems is characterized in terms of 802.11a receiver's bit error rates and throughputs. Our simulations indicate that UWB interferers can cause severe degradation in the attainable throughput of the 802.11a system. However, as the UWB interferers move away from the 802.11a receivers, so does their negative effect on the throughput performance of the 802.11a system.