Modelling the energy consumption of memory equipped wireless sensor nodes for healthcare

Abstract

The ever increasing number of people who need continuous medical attention coupled with the rising costs of healthcare have triggered the concept of remote patient monitoring. This can be achieved using wireless sensor nodes attached to the human body. Such technology is mainly limited by the amount of available energy. Thus efficient power consumption estimation in the early stage of the design is necessary. In this work, we aim to create a Matlab based model that helps the designer during that process. We will not only be able to determine the power consumption of the node based on the components used, but also on the daily routine of the patient. Moreover, the designer will be guided to the data backup strategy that suits his application best. He will also simulate memory usage and power consumption during the whole monitoring period. Future works will aim to upgrade the model in order to include several sensors operating within a network.