Research Article
Body-Coupled Communication for Body Sensor Networks
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.4108/ICST.BODYNETS2008.2964, author={Adam T Barth and Mark A. Hanson and Harry C. Powell Jr. and Dincer Unluer and Stephen G. Wilson and John Lach}, title={Body-Coupled Communication for Body Sensor Networks}, proceedings={3rd International ICST Conference on Body Area Networks}, publisher={ICST}, proceedings_a={BODYNETS}, year={2010}, month={5}, keywords={Body-coupled communication body sensor network low power privacy}, doi={10.4108/ICST.BODYNETS2008.2964} }- Adam T Barth
Mark A. Hanson
Harry C. Powell Jr.
Dincer Unluer
Stephen G. Wilson
John Lach
Year: 2010
Body-Coupled Communication for Body Sensor Networks
BODYNETS
ICST
DOI: 10.4108/ICST.BODYNETS2008.2964
Abstract
Body sensor networks (BSNs) offer a wealth of opportunities for precise, accurate, continuous, and non-invasive sensing of physiological phenomena, but their unique operating environment, the body-area, poses unique technical challenges. Popular communications solutions that utilize 2.4 GHz radio transmission suffer from significant and highly variable path loss in this setting. To compensate for such loss, radio transceivers often transmit at power levels at or above 1 mW – a reality that limits battery life. We propose the use of body-coupled communication to address this issue, as it presents several distinct advantages over existing solutions, namely: reduced power consumption, minimal interference, and increased privacy. In this paper, we demonstrate a 23 MHz body-coupled channel that supports reliable data transfer with an average received power of 30 dBm over a 2.4 GHz radio frequency link. This scheme reduces power needed for transmission and increases battery life by up to 100%, while maintaining a favorable environment for application-specific quality of service requirements. Finally, we propose a system-level hardware architecture and explore its implications on BSN infrastructure.