LEXCOMM: A low energy, secure and flexible communication protocol for a heterogenous body sensor network

Abstract

Body Area Sensor Network(BASN) with application in healthcare domain has garnered significant research interests lately. Despite similarities with Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), BASN has its peculiar design and operational challenges creating interests for focused research. The primary design parameters for BASN are energy consumption, network performance, data heterogeneity and strong security. In our work we have developed a flexible protocol that offers an edge in terms of performances, energy consumption, and security compared to existing systems. This protocol addresses the issues of BASN more precisely and presents a vivid picture on issues of inclusion of security module within BASN protocol. In this paper we describe the protocol and how we address the characteristics of BASN like its heterogeneity to achieve better performance results. We have validated the protocol with real deployment considering selected sensor for patient health monitoring. The protocol has been developed in TinyOS/NesC environment and implemented on Shimmer Motes equipped with health sensors like ECG, EMG, Accelerometer, Temperature and GSR.