Evaluating relaying scheme for BAN TDMA MAC using a space-time dependent channel model

Abstract

Wireless communications for body area network (BAN) applications require a dynamic and flexible medium access control (MAC) to cope with a variety of application requirements. MAC layer solution should be specified and evaluated specifically in the BAN context. In this paper, accordingly with measurements made in an anechoic chamber, we first define a BAN channel model useable in network simulations embedding a spatial and temporal dependency using ray tracing techniques. It is applied to the body postures and movements of a walking person. As body posture highly affects the performance of the MAC protocol, we focus on the relay election and the reinforcement of the beacon reception thanks to relaying. We further evaluate the gain and the cost of relaying purpose in our beacon enabled TDMA MAC. Finally, the superframe size is studied in order to found a trade off between the energy consumption and the latency.