Performance exploration of on-body WBAN using CM3A-IEEE 802.15.6 channel model

Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) is an upcoming technology for comprehending effective healthcare. In order to enhance the enactment of the WBAN system, performance evaluation under diverse working scenarios is important. This paper proposes a novel approach to explore the performance of a WBAN operating at the IEEE 802.15.6 standard. The investigation has been performed for non-cooperative and cooperative scenarios. IEEE 802.15.6 CM3A path loss modelling has been implemented to formulate and further evaluate link quality metrics like: Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) and Bit Error Rate (BER). Energy consumption and throughput have been analyzed. Critical comparative analysis has been performed for three IEEE 802.15.6 narrow bands: W-ISM (Worldwide Industrial, Scientific and Medical band)-(2.4 GHz), U-ISM (US-Industrial, Scientific and Medical band)-(902–928MHz) and WMTS (Wireless Mobile Telemetry Services band)-(420–450 MHz). From the scrutiny of simulation results, it is observed that comparative energy consumptionis lowest in WMTS and U-ISM band wrt distance and antenna gain respectively in non-cooperative as well as cooperative scenarios. Link quality evaluation reveals that the U-ISM band exhibits better performance as it offers highest SNR and lowest BER for the considered scenarios. W-ISM exhibits the highest throughput compared to U-ISM and WMTS. Cooperative communication offers better link quality and throughput compared to non-cooperative scenario. The evaluation results aid a WBAN implementer to choose a preferable and permissible frequency band as per design requirements.