A Study of MAC Protocols for WBANs

doi:10.3390/s100100128

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Sensors 2010, 10(1), 128-145; doi:10.3390/s100100128

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A Study of MAC Protocols for WBANs

Sana Ullah* , Bin Shen, S.M. Riazul Islam, Pervez Khan, Shahnaz Saleem and Kyung Sup Kwak

UWB-ITRC Center, Inha University, 253 Yonghyun-dong, Nam-gu, Incheon, 402-751, Korea

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 26 November 2009; in revised form: 7 December 2009 / Accepted: 20 December 2009 / Published: 28 December 2009

(This article belongs to the Section Physical Sensors)

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Abstract: The seamless integration of low-power, miniaturised, invasive/non-invasive lightweight sensor nodes have contributed to the development of a proactive and unobtrusive Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN). A WBAN provides long-term health monitoring of a patient without any constraint on his/her normal dailylife activities. This monitoring requires the low-power operation of invasive/non-invasive sensor nodes. In other words, a power-efficient Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol is required to satisfy the stringent WBAN requirements, including low-power consumption. In this paper, we first outline the WBAN requirements that are important for the design of a low-power MAC protocol. Then we study low-power MAC protocols proposed/investigated for a WBAN with emphasis on their strengths and weaknesses. We also review different power-efficient mechanisms for a WBAN. In addition, useful suggestions are given to help the MAC designers to develop a low-power MAC protocol that will satisfy the stringent requirements.

Keywords: MAC; WBAN; BSN; low-power

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Ullah, S.; Shen, B.; Riazul Islam, S.; Khan, P.; Saleem, S.; Sup Kwak, K. A Study of MAC Protocols for WBANs. Sensors 2010, 10, 128-145.

AMA Style

Ullah S., Shen B., Riazul Islam S., Khan P., Saleem S., Sup Kwak K. A Study of MAC Protocols for WBANs. Sensors. 2010; 10(1):128-145.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ullah, Sana; Shen, Bin; Riazul Islam, S.M.; Khan, Pervez; Saleem, Shahnaz; Sup Kwak, Kyung. 2010. "A Study of MAC Protocols for WBANs." Sensors 10, no. 1: 128-145.

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