An experimental study of interference in Smart Buildings

Smart Building (SB) is a new and exciting concept in which multiple home appliances communicate with each other using short range wireless communication technologies, such as ZigBee, to create smart environments. On the other hand, WiFi plays a leading role in providing wireless data coverage inside buildings and has been one of the most successful technologies of the past decade. However, the coexistence of WiFi and ZigBee is an issue in a SB environment due to excessive interference. To ratify its importance in actual environments, we performed experiments with programmable ZigBee-Pro (ZBP) devices and WiFi routers at the University of Greenwich in Mobile and Wireless Communications Research Laboratory (MWCRL). In this paper, experimental results are presented and interference between ZigBee and WiFi networks is estimated. Based on our study, a recommendation is also made to reduce interference in SBs to improve users´ quality of experience.