The present invention provides an adaptive
microwave oven capable of entering an
operation mode which avoids interference with a
communication device either upon detection of a communication from a
communication device (e.g., a
cordless telephone) operating in a
microwave frequency range, or upon
receipt of a command indicating the operation of a
microwave device such as a
cordless telephone through a suitable network (e.g., a
piconet using
BLUETOOTH Technology). In one embodiment, a cooking mode of a
microwave oven is paused (or significantly reduced) to best avoid interference with
microwave signals between a remote
handset and a matching base unit of a
cordless telephone. The activity of microwave communications within the vicinity of the adaptive
microwave oven can be determined, e.g., using a passive
cordless telephone receiver which detects communication activity in the
microwave range, or using direct communications from the
cordless telephone using a suitable
wireless network, e.g., a
piconet using
BLUETOOTH technology. In another embodiment, the frequency of an adaptive
microwave oven capable of generating microwave energy at any of a plurality of
microwave frequency ranges is controlled in accordance with the
microwave frequency used by an electronic device (e.g., a
cordless telephone) in the vicinity of the adaptive microwave oven. In this embodiment, a cordless telephone
receiver can provide a controller for the adaptive microwave oven with passively detected information regarding the frequency of communication traffic in the vicinity of the microwave oven, or a
wireless network can be used to provide frequency information directly between the relevant electronic device (e.g., cordless telephone) and the adaptive microwave oven.