The study of wireless local area networks and wireless personal area networks

There are two prevailing technologies which support the information exchange via radio links in the industrial, scientific, medical (ISM) 2.4-GHz frequency band for which no license is required to use. One is IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN), and the other is IEEE 802.15 wireless personal area network (WPAN) or Bluetooth. Although operating in the same frequency band and targeting similar devices, WLANs and WPANs are evolving towards complementarities rather than competitors, and many applications have been envisioned for them to operate simultaneously and in close proximity. In such occasions, however, they might interfere each other and degrade the service. This paper reviews the two technologies in comparison and discusses the mechanisms that reduce interference and allow them to coexist.