On channel adaptation in IEEE 802.15.4 mobile body sensor networks: What can be Gained?

One of the main problems affecting reliable transmission in wireless body sensor networks based on IEEE 802.15.4 is interference caused by sharing the unlicensed 2.4 GHz ISM band with other technologies such as Wifi. One possible approach to deal with this problem is to allow a body sensor network to change its operating frequency in response to changes in the observed interference. We assess the potential performance gains of different frequency channel adaptation schemes, both idealistic and realistic ones, in a scenario where a human carrier of a body sensor network walks through an area with scattered Wifi interferers, for example in densely populated urban areas. Our results show that substantial gains in delivery rate can be achieved by frequency adaptation. Furthermore, relatively simple “realistic” schemes are able to achieve the performance of an “ideal” adaptation scheme.