IEEE 802.19 is the Wireless Coexistence Technical Advisory Group (TAG) within the IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee. The TAG deals with coexistence between unlicensed wireless networks. Many of the IEEE 802 wireless standards use unlicensed spectrum and hence need to address the issue of coexistence. These unlicensed wireless devices may operate in the same unlicensed frequency band in the same location. This can lead to interference between these two wireless networks.
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Background
Two unlicensed wireless networks are said to coexist if they can operate in the same location without causing significant interference to one another. One of the first examples of wireless coexistence was between IEEE 802.11 and Bluetooth both operating in the 2.4 GHz ISM frequency band. Coexistence between these two wireless networks was addressed by the IEEE 802.15 Task Group 2, which produced a Recommended Practice on Coexistence of IEEE 802.11 and Bluetooth.
Overview
Currently the 802.19 TAG addresses coexistence between wireless standards under development within IEEE 802. There are a number of working groups within IEEE 802 which are developing standards for unlicensed wireless network. These include
When a new standard (or amendement to a standard) for an unlicensed wireless network is being developed the working group may develop a Coexistence Assurance (CA) document that is reviewed the IEEE 802.19 TAG.
The TAG is currently evaluating the coexistence between IEEE 802.11y and IEEE 802.16h, both operating in the 3650 MHz frequency band.