Does the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC Protocol Work Well in Wireless Body Area Networks

Abstract

The IEEE 802.15.4 MAC protocol is the standard for Low-rate wireless personal area networks and is widely used in testbeds and simulation for wireless body area networks. Due to effective handling of some features such as low power communication and low data rates, this protocol is widely used for WBAN applications. However, it is not enough to support high data rates applications (>250 Kbps). In this article, feasibility of IEEE 802.15.4 MAC in the areas of Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) will be studied. By presenting the challenging issues of WBAN and by giving extensive reasoning, it can be concluded that IEEE 802.15.4 MAC can be used in WBAN to some extent but to guarantee near optimum result, still some modifications are required.