Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 3
Design and Simulation of a MAC Protocol
for WBAN Communication Scenarios
Abstract A Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol acts as the core of a WBAN
communication system. It determines important factors that affect the efficiency of
a WBAN communication system, such as throughput capability, power con-
sumption and latency. Ultra-wideband (UWB) is a suitable wireless technology for
the use in WBAN applications due to its inherent properties such as high data rate
capability, low power consumption and small form factor. Although UWB
transmitters are designed based on simple techniques, UWB receivers require
complex hardware and consume comparatively higher power. In order to achieve
reliable low power two-way communication, a sensor node can be constructed
using a UWB transmitter and a narrow band receiver. This chapter presents design
and simulation of a MAC protocol based on a dual-band physical layer technology.
Co-simulation models based on MATLAB and OPNET have been developed to
analyses the performance of the MAC protocol. The performance of the MAC
protocol is analyzed for a realistic scenario where both implantable and wearable
sensor nodes are involved in the data transmission. Priority based packet trans-
mission techniques have been used in the MAC protocol to serve different sensors
according to their Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirements. Analysis is done with
regard to important network parameters, such as packet loss ratio, packet delay,
percentage throughput, and power consumption.
Keywords MAC
UWB
Narrowband
WBAN
BER
QoS
Energy con-
sumption
Throughput
Packet delay
PRF
Dynamic pulses per bit
3.1 Introduction
Impulse Radio-Ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) is an attractive wireless technology for
WBAN applications due to its inherent features, such as low power consuming
transmitter design, low complexity hardware implementation, possibility of
developing sensor nodes with small form factors and high data rate capability.
