Effect of Geometric Nodes Distribution on Performance of Wireless Body Area Network in Wearable Jackets

Wireless Body area networks (WBANs) and wearable sensing materials are at the forefront of advanced wireless and health care, military, and industrial applications for the purpose of monitoring and support. The objective of this work is to present designs with analysis of effect of node placement and distribution on energy consumption and path loss parameters. These parameters affect communication channel properties and energy source lifetime. As it is critical to preserve energy, which is related to path loss coefficient, the work shows that the Back-to-Back V-Shape without center nodes design is a more efficient design in terms of energy consumption and path loss effect. Such a design is more stable as a result of supporting nodes. The 16-node WBAN covers a wearable jacket of 1m by 0.5 m dimension. The work also emphasize the importance of jacket materials, by simulation using three different path loss coefficients. In addition, the work shows that data delivery effectiveness is affected by the way nodes are placed.

I. Introduction

The growth of wireless networks and the ongoing reduction of electrically invasive and non-invasive devices have allowed for the development of Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs). A WBAN can be used to monitor a patient's continuing health without interfering with daily activities. Numerous technologies have proven successful in allowing WBANs applications by satisfying the special quality of service (QoS) requirements of these applications, such as remote monitoring, biofeedback, and assisted living. Given the wide variety of technologies that are currently available, selecting the optimal one for a medical application might be challenging [1]–[3].