WLAN Signal Detection in Weather Radar Data

Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) devices and C-band weather radars share the same frequency band. When WLAN devices transmit at the same or close frequency as weather radar the resulting interference can severely limit the usefulness of radar images.This paper proposes an algorithm for WLAN packets detection in weather radar data based on the location of the preamble of these packets, taking advantage of its deterministic structure. The theoretical guidelines that define the detection algorithm and the reference signal are presented. The performance of the detector is evaluated using numerical simulations and is tested with real data obtained from the Argentinian weather radar RMA1, located in Córdoba city. The probability of detection obtained when processing radar data is consistent with the numerical simulations results and with the predictions of the theoretical model.