Dimensioning of WBANs number for cluster-type network structure

A WBANs (Wireless Body Area Networks) number dimensioning technique for cluster-type network structure is proposed in this paper. The WBANs, in this structure, are placed, together with the sink nodes, at the ends of the network. An access scheme is provided so that the sink nodes, which temporarily store the data packets of the WBANs, transmit these packets to the collector nodes. The collector nodes compose a cluster, and they cooperate with each other to send the data packets up to the coordinator node which in its turn has access to the hospital directly or through the Internet. All the transmission links used in this structure are wireless of relatively low capacities. In addition, since the data are medicals, there is a need for such data to reach the hospital as quickly as possible. For the calculation of number of WBANs, the proposed dimensioning technique uses, as main criterion, the limitation of total delay in the network. The results show that link capacities and total network delay are essential for dimensioning the number of WBANs.