Fortifying m-health data delivery : context-aware vertical handover mechanisms

Abstract

Mobile patient monitoring refers to continuous or frequent measurement and analysis of biosignals of a patient by employing mobile computing and wireless communication technologies ‿ irrespective of patient’s location. Some of the common biosignals are ElectroEncephaloGram (EEG), MagnetoEncephaloGram (MEG), Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), ElectroCardioGram (ECG) and Heart Rate Variability (HRV). Common problems observed during the trials of mobile patient monitoring systems are as follows: 1) Due to patient mobility and wireless networks availability changes, continuity of patient monitoring is affected; 2) The QoS offered by currently deployed wireless networks is variable ‿ and hence it may not be sufficient to transmit higher amount of biosignals data; and 3) The duration of a mobile patient monitoring session is affected due to limited battery capacity of a mobile device. This thesis researches solution to these problems using context‿aware computing paradigm and vertical handover technique. Herewith, we propose two context‿aware vertical handover mechanisms which address wireless network connectivity problems resulting from patient mobility and select the wireless network that best satisfies QoS requirements of continuous biosignals delivery. Following the context‿aware computing paradigm, we also adapted proposed handover mechanism to use a wireless network interface the use of which reduces power consumption of certain types of handheld mobile devices used in a mobile patient monitoring system.