On PHY and MAC Performance in Body Sensor Networks

Abstract

The last few decades have seen considerable research progress in microelectronics and integrated circuits, system-on-chip design, wireless communication, and sensor technology. This progress has enabled the seamless integration of autonomous wireless sensor nodes around a human body to create a Body Sensor Network (BSN). The development of a proactive and ambulatory BSN induces a number of enormous issues and challenges. This paper presents the technical hurdles during the design and implementation of a low-power Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol for in-body and on-body sensor networks. We analyze the performance of IEEE 802.15.4 protocol for the on-body sensor network. We also provide a comprehensive insight into the heterogeneous characteristics of the in-body sensor network. A low-power technique called Pattern-Based Wake-up Table is proposed to handle the normal traffic in a BSN. The proposed technique provides a reliable solution towards low-power communication in the in-body sensor network.

Impact of the environment and the topology on the performance of hierarchical body area networks

“…In this scenario, E[P(d)] ≈ P env (for both the intended transmitter and interferers) and the link probability of success can be expressed as follows: It can be observed that the terms in the second and third lines at the right-hand side of (20) are similar to (15) and (16). Therefore, by using the same derivation of Section 3-A, with…”

“…The slotted ALOHA multiple access scheme [19] was recently proposed by the IEEE 802.15.6 working group as one of the reference medium access control (MAC) schemes for the wireless body networks in the context of the narrowband communications [20]. In particular, in each time slot, the nodes are assumed to transmit independently with a certain fixed probability [21].…”

Research directions in energy-sustainable cyber–physical systems

“…Similar concept exists in the domain of wireless communication where the wireless radio is turned on and off depending on whether there is any communication to be performed or not, respectively. For example, radio sleep scheduling has been considered for BSNs [8,9].…”

“…Towards this objective, one option is to reduce the power demand of the computing operations so that it is always within the available power (or reduces the grid power demand as far as possible). In this regard, strategies for sustainable computing have focused on processor level power management schemes such as frequency control, voltage control, or sleep state scheduling [7], Medium Access Control (MAC) sleep scheduling of the wireless radio [8,9] communication among the sensors, and amortization of the wireless communication energy in sensor networks with less expensive computation [10]. However, design of sustainable CPSs requires a holistic approach which is aware of the limited available energy from the scavenging sources.…”

Multi-Body, Multi-Function Body Sensor Networks

“…These traffic patterns are periodic, so TDMA-based MAC protocols [27,28,29] are usually used in BSNs to reduce packet collisions. However, these protocols cannot avoid the interference between nearby BSNs.…”