ISM Band
The industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands are radio bands (portions of the radio spectrum) reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency (RF) energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications. Examples of applications in these bands include radio-frequency process heating, microwave ovens, and medical diathermy machines. The powerful emissions of these devices can create electromagnetic interference and disrupt radio communication using the same frequency, so these devices were limited to certain bands of frequencies. In general, communications equipment operating in these bands must tolerate any interference generated by ISM equipment, and users have no regulatory protection from ISM device operation.
Despite the intent of the original allocations, in recent years the fastest-growing uses of these bands have been for short-range, low power communications systems. Cordless phones, Bluetooth devices, near field communication (NFC) devices, and wireless computer networks all use the ISM bands.
Famous quotes containing the words ism and/or band:
“Grandpa: Penny, why don’t you write a play about ism-mania?
Penny: Ism-mania?
Grandpa: Yeah, sure. You know, communism, fascism, voodooism. Everybody’s got an ism these days.
Penny: It sounds like an itch or something.
Grandpa: It’s just as catching. When things go a little bad these days, you go out and get yourself an ism and you’re in business.”
—Robert Riskin (1897–1955)
“Citizen’s Band radio renders one accessible to a wide variety of people from all walks of life. It should not be forgotten that all walks of life include conceptual artists, dry cleaners, and living poets.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)