IB-MAC: Transmission Latency-Aware MAC for Electro-Magnetic Intra-Body Communications
Intra-body Communication (IBC) is a communication method using the human body as a communication medium, in which body-attached devices exchange electro-magnetic (EM) wave signals with each other. The fact that our human body consists of water and electrolytes allows such communication methods to be...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/2/341 |
| _version_ | 1798035310388445184 |
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| author | Seungmin Kim JeongGil Ko |
| author_facet | Seungmin Kim JeongGil Ko |
| author_sort | Seungmin Kim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Intra-body Communication (IBC) is a communication method using the human body as a communication medium, in which body-attached devices exchange electro-magnetic (EM) wave signals with each other. The fact that our human body consists of water and electrolytes allows such communication methods to be possible. Such a communication technology can be used to design novel body area networks that are secure and resilient towards external radio interference. While being an attractive technology for enabling new applications for human body-centered ubiquitous applications, network protocols for IBC systems is yet under-explored. The IEEE 802.15.6 standards present physical and medium access control (MAC) layer protocols for IBC, but, due to many simplifications, we find that its MAC protocol is limited in providing an environment to enable high data rate applications. This work, based on empirical EM wave propagation measurements made for the human body communication channel, presents IB-MAC, a centralized Time-division multiple access (TDMA) protocol that takes in consideration the transmission latency the body channel induces. Our results, in which we use an event-based simulator to compare the performance of IB-MAC with two different IEEE 802.15.6 standard-compliant MAC protocols and a state-of-the art TDMA-based MAC protocol for IBC, suggest that IB-MAC is suitable for supporting high data rate applications with comparable radio duty cycle and latency performance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:56:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-548a79514b43451ea118ea9520365dd3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:56:27Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-548a79514b43451ea118ea9520365dd32022-12-22T04:03:40ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202019-01-0119234110.3390/s19020341s19020341IB-MAC: Transmission Latency-Aware MAC for Electro-Magnetic Intra-Body CommunicationsSeungmin Kim0JeongGil Ko1Department of Computer Engineering, Ajou University, Suwon 16499, KoreaDepartment of Computer Engineering, Ajou University, Suwon 16499, KoreaIntra-body Communication (IBC) is a communication method using the human body as a communication medium, in which body-attached devices exchange electro-magnetic (EM) wave signals with each other. The fact that our human body consists of water and electrolytes allows such communication methods to be possible. Such a communication technology can be used to design novel body area networks that are secure and resilient towards external radio interference. While being an attractive technology for enabling new applications for human body-centered ubiquitous applications, network protocols for IBC systems is yet under-explored. The IEEE 802.15.6 standards present physical and medium access control (MAC) layer protocols for IBC, but, due to many simplifications, we find that its MAC protocol is limited in providing an environment to enable high data rate applications. This work, based on empirical EM wave propagation measurements made for the human body communication channel, presents IB-MAC, a centralized Time-division multiple access (TDMA) protocol that takes in consideration the transmission latency the body channel induces. Our results, in which we use an event-based simulator to compare the performance of IB-MAC with two different IEEE 802.15.6 standard-compliant MAC protocols and a state-of-the art TDMA-based MAC protocol for IBC, suggest that IB-MAC is suitable for supporting high data rate applications with comparable radio duty cycle and latency performance.http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/2/341wireless body area networksintra-body communicationsMAC layer protocol |
| spellingShingle | Seungmin Kim JeongGil Ko IB-MAC: Transmission Latency-Aware MAC for Electro-Magnetic Intra-Body Communications Sensors wireless body area networks intra-body communications MAC layer protocol |
| title | IB-MAC: Transmission Latency-Aware MAC for Electro-Magnetic Intra-Body Communications |
| title_full | IB-MAC: Transmission Latency-Aware MAC for Electro-Magnetic Intra-Body Communications |
| title_fullStr | IB-MAC: Transmission Latency-Aware MAC for Electro-Magnetic Intra-Body Communications |
| title_full_unstemmed | IB-MAC: Transmission Latency-Aware MAC for Electro-Magnetic Intra-Body Communications |
| title_short | IB-MAC: Transmission Latency-Aware MAC for Electro-Magnetic Intra-Body Communications |
| title_sort | ib mac transmission latency aware mac for electro magnetic intra body communications |
| topic | wireless body area networks intra-body communications MAC layer protocol |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/2/341 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT seungminkim ibmactransmissionlatencyawaremacforelectromagneticintrabodycommunications AT jeonggilko ibmactransmissionlatencyawaremacforelectromagneticintrabodycommunications |