Wireless sensed environment for body area networks

In low power wireless body area networks it is envisaged that there will be communication between on-body devices and wireless nodes placed in the environment (sensed environment) to provide a range of applications including health monitoring. However, there remain major challenges to realise this scenario such as decisions on the optimal node location, node orientation, transmit power level, and the number of nodes to cover the area of interest (sensed environment) which if not correct can lead to poor coverage or over-provisioned, oversized networks. In this paper we experiment with a BAN device and nodes deployed in a variety of locations throughout an office environment to represent a sensed environment. Packet loss rates (PLR) were analysed to explore trade-offs between node densities and transmit power levels. We determine that the deployment location, the density, and BAN transmission power level are important factors to be considered in the scenario where a mobile BAN communicates with a sensed environment. We found that deploying the environment nodes at chest height on the surrounding wall yielded the best results in terms of coverage and node density providing an optimal link between the BAN and the sensed environment.