MAC Protocols for UWB-Based WBAN Applications

Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) is a networking concept that has evolved with the idea of monitoring vital physiological signals from low-power and miniaturized in-body or on-body sensors. In a WBAN, data collected from the sensor nodes are transferred to a remote node via a wireless medium, where the data is forwarded to a higher layer application to be interpreted. A WBAN system might require both real time and periodic data transfer. Since WBAN sensor nodes are battery powered, they should be low-power devices. The sensor tier communication of a WBAN involves the co-existence of WBAN hardware and Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol that enable the efficient communication of sensor data. The main focus of this chapter is to investigate key aspects of MAC protocols used in WBAN systems focusing on UWB as the wireless technology. This chapter also discusses the wireless technologies used for WBAN applications, paying attention to their ability to cater to the need of high data rate while operating at a low power. Key advantages of Ultra-wide band (UWB) over the other wireless technologies for WBAN applications are highlighted herein.