Design of Wireless Body Area Network and Its Mitigation Techniques

Abstract

Increasing use of wireless networks and the constant miniaturization of electrical devices has empowered the development of Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs).The sensors of a WBAN measure the heartbeat, the body temperature or record a prolonged electrocardiogram. Using a WBAN, the patient experiences a greater physical mobility and is no longer compelled to stay in the hospital. As WBANs are placed on the human body and often there is a need to transfer private data, security is also required to monitor their condition. This improves quality of patient care and the efficiency of hospital administration capabilities. Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) have gained a lot of research attention in recent years since they offer tremendous benefits for remote health monitoring and continuous, real-time patient care. However, as with any wireless communication, data security in WBANs is also a challenging design issue. The WBAN is worn by a patient and basically consists of a set of lightweight devices that monitor and wirelessly transmit certain bio signals (vital signs) to a Backend System at a Healthcare center. A monitoring healthcare specialist retrieves the patient data over a reliable wired connection. The focus is on the wireless technologies, Bluetooth and Packet Radio Switching (GPRS), because of their important role in communication. newlineCoexisting WBANs have great chance of interference, which might degrade the network performance. If left unchecked, interference can cause serious threat to reliable operation of the network. It could cause loss of critical medical data of patients, which might even prove to be life threatening. There are various mitigation techniques available in wireless communication. They can be applied to combat distortion in Wireless Body area Network. Some of these mitigation techniques are Diversity Techniques, Equalizers and using decoder etc. Users can select best strategy to meet its requirements.