Novel Cooperative MAC Aware Network Coding Under Log-Normal Shadowing Channel Model in Wireless Body Area Network

Abstract

Cooperative communications exploit intermediate nodes in order to forward information and they have been used as a successful method in combating channel fading and enhancing network performance. Network coding combines several data packets to be sent, and it is very useful in minimizing network redundancy and improving the overall throughput and energy efficiency. Therefore, combining the cooperative communications and network coding allows the relay node to help other nodes while serving its own traffic concurrently. In this paper, a novel Two Master Nodes – Cooperative Network Coding (TMN-CNC) protocol is proposed, based on the IEEE 802.15.6 CSMA policy under log-normal shadowing channel model, for the wireless body area network (WBAN). The design objective of the TMN-CNC is to increase throughput and maximise energy efficiency. The numerical results show that the TMN-CNC can enhance network performance under general conditions compared to direct transmission IEEE 802.15.6 CSMA and incremental conventional cooperative communication (iCCC). In order to achieve this, it has been shown that the energy saving of the TMN-CNC is 60% compared to direct transmission IEEE 802.15.6 CSMA and 50% compared to iCCC.