Channel Occupancy Measurements in 868 MHz ISM Band in Residential Areas

The rapid development of Internet of Things (IoT) has led to more and more devices using ISM frequency bands. Because they are not time synchronized, medium access collisions are unavoidable. The probability of such a collision is usually reasonably low; however, it increases with the number of transmitters competing for the same frequency channel. For this reason, ISM bands’ occupancy is regularly monitored by researchers. This paper presents the results of the measurement campaign during which a selected part of the 868 MHz ISM frequency band was monitored for the presence of transmissions in six locations in various residential areas in Warsaw, Poland. For the purpose of the campaign, a dedicated measurement set-up comprising a software-defined radio (SDR) module was assembled. The measurements results showed that the channel occupancy is in most cases lower than 1% with a maximum observed value of 2%. The paper presents selected characteristics of the detected signals. Additionally, distribution over time of the detected signals was used together with the Monte Carlo simulations to analyze how long idle time blocks are available for new transmitters that could be deployed in the band under testing.