System level dimensioning of low power biomedical Body Sensor Networks

Recent advances in miniaturized sensors, low-power electronics and wireless communications have enabled the development of Body Sensor Networks (BSNs). These networks composed of intelligent communicating nodes are mainly dedicated to healthcare monitoring in order to study different pathologies or to detect and correct health problems. The objective of this article is to demonstrate the need of a system level dimensioning in order to design performing biomedical BSNs. Using the simulation tool OSCCAR developed by authors, this paper analyses the impact on the system performance of technology and strategy choice in early stages of BSN design flow, highlighting at the same time the need of a tradeoff between specifications such as Quality of Service and node autonomy.