Abstract
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have emerged as a viable technology for a vast number of applications, including health care applications. To best support these health care applications, WSN technology can be adopted for the design of practical Health Care WSNs (HCWSNs) that support the key system architecture requirements of reliable communication, node mobility support, multicast technology, energy efficiency, and the timely delivery of data. Work in the literature mostly focuses on the physical design of the HCWSNs (e.g., wearable sensors, in vivo embedded sensors, et cetera). However, work towards enhancing the communication layers (i.e., routing, medium access control, et cetera) to improve HCWSN performance is largely lacking. In this paper, the information gleaned from an extensive literature survey is shared in an effort to fortify the knowledge base for the communication aspect of HCWSNs. We highlight the major currently existing prototype HCWSNs and also provide the details of their routing protocol characteristics. We also explore the current state of the art in medium access control (MAC) protocols for WSNs, for the purpose of seeking an energy efficient solution that is robust to mobility and delivers data in a timely fashion. Furthermore, we review a number of reliable transport layer protocols, including a network coding based protocol from the literature, that are potentially suitable for delivering end-to-end reliability of data transmitted in HCWSNs. We identify the advantages and disadvantages of the reviewed MAC, routing, and transport layer protocols as they pertain to the design and implementation of a HCWSN. The findings from this literature survey will serve as a useful foundation for designing a reliable HCWSN and also contribute to the development and evaluation of protocols for improving the performance of future HCWSNs. Open issues that required further investigations are highlighted.
Highlights
The budget for health care accounts for a significant portion of several economies around the world
We review the state-of-the-art in wireless sensor network research and highlight the gaps between the existing technologies and the needs of a Health Care Wireless Sensor Network (HCWSN), with special emphasis on reliable communication
We reviewed a number of medium access control (MAC) protocols from the literature that struck a good balance between energy efficiency and low latency packet transmission
Summary
The budget for health care accounts for a significant portion of several economies around the world. By surveying a multitude of different routing protocols optimized for operation in health care applications, we can work closer towards the ultimate goal of producing an effective, efficient, robust, reliable communication layer for HCWSNs. Energy efficiency is an underlying fabric to the success of deploying WSNs. A significant proportion of energy consumption can be tied to the medium access control (MAC) layer, where energy consuming functions such as idle listening, overhearing, collisions, protocol overhead, and over emitting take place.
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