A Review of Protocol Implementations and Energy Efficient Cross-Layer Design for Wireless Body Area Networks

Sensors

Laurie Hughes²  Xinheng Wang¹ 

[1] School of Computing, University of the West Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, Scotland, UK;College of Engineering, Swansea University, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK; E-Mail:

关键词: WBAN;    energy efficient;    cross layer design;    QoS;    protocol stack;    life signs monitoring;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s121114730

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The issues inherent in caring for an ever-increasing aged population has been the subject of endless debate and continues to be a hot topic for political discussion. The use of hospital-based facilities for the monitoring of chronic physiological conditions is expensive and ties up key healthcare professionals. The introduction of wireless sensor devices as part of a Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) integrated within an overall eHealth solution could bring a step change in the remote management of patient healthcare. Sensor devices small enough to be placed either inside or on the human body can form a vital part of an overall health monitoring network. An effectively designed energy efficient WBAN should have a minimal impact on the mobility and lifestyle of the patient. WBAN technology can be deployed within a hospital, care home environment or in the patient's own home. This study is a review of the existing research in the area of WBAN technology and in particular protocol adaptation and energy efficient cross-layer design. The research reviews the work carried out across various layers of the protocol stack and highlights how the latest research proposes to resolve the various challenges inherent in remote continual healthcare monitoring.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.