Identification key scheme to enhance network performance in wireless body area network

Abstract

Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) refers to a group of small intelligent electronic devices placed on the human body to monitor its vital signals. the efficiency of network performance in health care applications is one of the most important prerequisites for designing an effective surveillance system. However, none of the previous studies have succeeded in proposing an effective scheme that could cover the requirements for effective network performance or the development of the WBAN system capable of sending and receiving vital patient data efficiently. The aim of this paper is to enhance the performance of the network in WBAN. In addition, to verify the transfer of patient data from sensors on the body to receivers with the least value of possible packet loss, a solution is developed that can reduce the value of packet loss, end to end delay and increase the value of throughput, relying on confirmation and matching data between the sender and receiver devices. A new scheme known as the Identification Key Scheme (IKS) is proposed based on the newly available 402–405 MHz Medical Implant Communication Service (MICS). The analysis of the network performance was implemented in real WBAN dataset and used the Multi-Parameter Intelligent Monitoring for Intensive Care (MIMIC) database. MIMIC database included the data recorded from 90 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients. In this study, OMNET++ was used as the network simulation tool to design and evaluate the proposed scheme. The results showed that IKS was able to reduce number of packet loss and end to end delay with increased throughput. This is an indicator of the ability of IKS in providing efficient network performance between devices in the WBAN application.