Implementation of a self-organizing, adaptive, flexible and ultra low-power MAC protocol for wireless Body Area Networks

Abstract

Wireless communications for Body Area Network (BAN) applications require an adaptable, dynamic and flexible Medium Access Control (MAC) to cope with a variety of application requirements. This protocol enables to collect multiple real-time motional and emotional sensors information at different places on the human body and to wirelessly transmit it towards dedicated devices or computers. The key requirements in BAN applications are low power consumption, low latency and high reliability of communications. As body posture highly affects MAC protocols performances, we propose and have implemented a protocol based on BATMAC which automatically detects the shadowing effect and quickly adapts the relaying scheduling to BAN changes. Our protocol makes a trade-off between the quality of service and the energy consumption depending on the environment conditions and user activities and needs. Finally, we evaluate the performance of a heterogeneous network designed especially for BAN from a networking and radio perspective in different environments.