Analysis of body communication parameters using Software Radio platform

Advances in wireless communication and embedded systems together with miniaturization technologies have made body area communication and networking a viable solution in military as well as civilian applications. However, the body communication is a singular phenomenon and has not been well defined due to its unconventional communication environment. For example, wireless communication signal can be delivered from an electrode to the other, both of which are attached to the body, through the body surface as well as wirelessly through the air. The former type of body communication can be modeled as a simple circuit, an electrostatic coupling, or a waveguide. This paper presents GNU Radio/USRP (Universal Software Radio Peripheral)-based body communication platform, which is flexi- ble as it is easy to change communication parameters by simply modifying the software code. We conducted experiments using this platform to present the effect of communication parameters such as modulation, frequency, and keying in combination with different types of electrodes on communication efficiency.