UWBAN

Ultra Wideband (UWB) is emerging as a sound technological solution for the newly emerging areas of body area networking (BAN). For example, the IEEE802.15.6-2012 standard for WBANs has defined UWB as a mandatory technology. Due to its very wide bandwidth, as well as low transmit power, UWB is a serious contender for a number of applications including remote monitoring of both vital signs (temperature, pulse oximetry, etc.) as well as other medically significant data, such as ECG and EMG. The wide bandwidth of UWB signals also makes high-resolution ranging and localization possible, particularly in indoor areas, thereby enabling indoor tracking solutions for disabled patients and children in hospitals. UWB also holds promise for medical implant applications, such as capsule endoscopy, and may even be an enabler of next-generation micro-robotic surgery applications. The first of these applications would benefit from the very high bandwidth of UWB signals in transmission of very high resolution images and video of human body organs, and the second would benefit from the high ranging and localization accuracy provided by UWB signaling. The primary goal of this workshop is to explore the state of the art in the development of UWB technology for body area networking, ranging from fundamental physical layer concepts, such as channel modeling and system architecture, to development of prototypes and clinical trials.