Abstract
In Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs), every healthcare application that is based on physical sensors is responsible for monitoring the vital signs data of patient. WBANs applications consist of heterogeneous and dynamic traffic loads. Routine patient’s observation is described as low-load traffic while an alarming situation that is unpredictable by nature is referred to as high-load traffic. This paper offers a thematic review of traffic adaptive Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols in WBANs. First, we have categorized them based on their goals, methods, and metrics of evaluation. The Zigbee standard IEEE 802.15.4 and the baseline MAC IEEE 802.15.6 are also reviewed in terms of traffic adaptive approaches. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of the protocols is made and their performances are analyzed in terms of delay, packet delivery ratio (PDR), and energy consumption. The literature shows that no review work has been done on traffic adaptive MAC protocols in WBANs. This review work, therefore, could add enhancement to traffic adaptive MAC protocols and will stimulate a better way of solving the traffic adaptivity problem.
Highlights
In recent years, the advancement of Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) and sensing technologies has led to the emergence of Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs), which are used in advancing human health
Some traffic adaptive Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols are proposed for IEEE 802.15.6 such as [25, 26]. We summarize these works and analyze the current research trends that focused on traffic adaptivity issues in WBAN MAC layer
There is no survey work that focuses on the specific protocols such as traffic adaptive MAC protocols in WBANs, and this paper focuses on filling this gap
Summary
The advancement of Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) and sensing technologies has led to the emergence of WBANs, which are used in advancing human health. The sensor nodes are small and lightweight and consume low power The network of these small, intelligent devices allows users and medical staff to continuously monitor the health of patients and obtain real-time feedback. A large number of energy-efficient MAC protocols for WBANs have been proposed These include [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19]. Some traffic adaptive MAC protocols are proposed for IEEE 802.15.6 such as [25, 26]. MAC protocols in WBANs. in Section 4, a comparative analysis of traffic adaptive MAC protocols is presented.
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