FLUORESCENT LIGHT INTERACTION WITH PERSONAL COMMUNICATION SIGNALS

Personal communication system within office buildings are designed on the premise of slow (< 10 Hz) amplitude and phase variations. The ubiq uitous presence of fluorescent lights in that environment introduces v ariations at twice the line frequency, however, when propagation is vi a multipath reflections from such fixtures and when the direct path is blocked. The mechanisms responsible for these effects are the time-va rying dielectric properties of the ionized gas in the tube, which caus e the path length and strength of multipath components to be variable. Measurements in an office showed peak-to-peak variations up to 3 dB a nd 90 degrees.