A Study of MAC Protocols for WBANs

Sana Ullah, Bin Shen, S.M. Riazul Islam, Pervez Khan, Shahnaz Saleem, Kyung Sup Kwak
2009 Sensors  
The seamless integration of low-power, miniaturised, invasive/non-invasive lightweight sensor nodes have contributed to the development of a proactive and unobtrusive Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN). A WBAN provides long-term health monitoring of a patient without any constraint on his/her normal dailylife activities. This monitoring requires low-power operation of invasive/non-invasive sensor nodes. In other words, a power-efficient Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol is required to satisfy
more » ... the stringent WBAN requirements including low-power consumption. In this paper, we first outline the WBAN requirements that are important for the design of a low-power MAC protocol. Then we study low-power MAC protocols proposed/investigated for WBAN with emphasis on their strengths and weaknesses. We also review different power-efficient mechanisms for WBAN. In addition, useful suggestions are given to help the MAC designers to develop a low-power MAC protocol that will satisfy the stringent WBAN requirements.
doi:10.3390/s100100128 pmid:22315531 pmcid:PMC3270832 fatcat:roem35m7tfecxfjos5mcyevjxi