Editing ISM radio band (section)

== Applications ==
''' Industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) applications (of radio frequency energy)''' (short: '''ISM applications''') are – according to ''article 1.15'' of the [[International Telecommunication Union|International Telecommunication Union's]] (ITU) [[ITU Radio Regulations]] (RR)<ref>ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems – Article 1.15, definition: '' Industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) applications (of radio frequency energy) / ISM application''</ref> – defined as «''Operation of equipment or appliances designed to generate and use locally [[radio frequency]] energy for industrial, scientific, medical, domestic or similar purposes, excluding applications in the field of [[Telecommunications in the United Kingdom|telecommunications]]''.»

The original ISM specifications envisioned that the bands would be used primarily for noncommunication purposes, such as heating.  The bands are still widely used for these purposes.  For many people, the most commonly encountered ISM device is the home [[microwave oven]] operating at 2.45&nbsp;GHz which uses microwaves to cook food.  Industrial heating is another big application area; such as [[induction heating]], microwave heat treating, plastic softening, and [[plastic welding#High frequency welding|plastic welding]] processes.  In medical settings, shortwave and microwave [[diathermy]] machines use radio waves in the ISM bands to apply deep heating to the body for relaxation and healing.  More recently [[hyperthermia therapy]] uses microwaves to heat tissue to kill cancer cells.

However, as detailed below, the increasing congestion of the radio spectrum, the increasing sophistication of [[microelectronics]], and the attraction of unlicensed use, has in recent decades led to an explosion of uses of these bands for short range communication systems for [[wireless device]]s, which are now by far the largest uses of these bands.  These are sometimes called "non ISM" uses since they do not fall under the originally envisioned "industrial", "scientific", and "medical" application areas. One of the largest applications has been [[wireless networking]] ([[Wi-Fi]]). The [[IEEE 802.11ah|IEEE 802.11]] wireless networking protocols, the standards on which almost all wireless systems are based, use the ISM bands. Virtually all [[laptop]]s, [[tablet computer]]s, [[printer (computer)|computer printers]] and [[cellphone]]s now have 802.11 [[wireless modem]]s using the 2.4 and 5.7&nbsp;GHz ISM bands. [[Bluetooth]] is another networking technology using the 2.4&nbsp;GHz band, which can be problematic given the probability of interference.<ref name="Why does Bluetooth still suck?">{{Cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/why-bluetooth-sucks-bad-problems-issues-disconnects-2018-2 |title=Why does Bluetooth still suck? |last=Eizikowitz |first=Grant |date=2018-03-05 |website=Business Insider |access-date=2018-07-15}}</ref> [[Near-field communication]] (NFC) devices such as [[proximity card]]s and [[contactless smart card]]s use the lower-frequency 13 and 27&nbsp;MHz ISM bands.  Other short-range devices using the ISM bands are: [[wireless microphone]]s, [[baby monitor]]s, [[garage door opener]]s, wireless [[doorbell]]s, [[keyless entry system]]s for vehicles, [[radio control]] channels for [[unmanned aerial vehicle|UAVs]] (drones), wireless [[surveillance]] systems, [[radio frequency identification|RFID]] systems for merchandise, and [[animal tracking|wild animal tracking]] systems.

Some [[electrodeless lamp]] designs are ISM devices, which use RF emissions to [[excited state|excite]] [[fluorescent lamp|fluorescent tubes]]. [[Sulfur lamp]]s are commercially available [[plasma lamp]]s, which use 2.45&nbsp;GHz [[magnetron]]s to heat sulfur into a brightly glowing [[Plasma physics|plasma]].

Long-distance [[wireless power]] systems have been proposed and experimented with which would use high-power transmitters and [[rectenna]]s, in lieu of [[overhead power line|overhead transmission lines]] and [[undergrounding|underground cables]], to send power to remote locations. [[NASA]] has studied using [[microwave power transmission]] on 2.45&nbsp;GHz to send energy collected by [[space-based solar power|solar power satellites]] back to the ground.

Also in space applications, a [[Helicon double-layer thruster|helicon double-layer]] [[ion thruster]] is a prototype spacecraft propulsion engine which uses a 13.56&nbsp;MHz transmission to break down and heat gas into plasma.