Specialist Task Force 511:
SmartBAN Performance and Coexistence Verification (PCV)
Who we are:
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What we do
ETSI TC Smart Body Area Networks (SmartBAN) has defined physical (PHY) layer and medium access control (MAC) layer protocols in technical specification (TS) documents. Both TS documents, TS DTS/SmartBAN-007 and TS DTS/SmartBAN-005, have been approved by TC SmartBAN in January 29, 2015. However, the performance of the SmartBAN communication system has not yet been verified using any simulations or real-life demonstrations. In order to maintain high efficiency and quality of the standardisation, this STF is proposed for evaluate the performance and coexistence of the SmartBAN communication system in the targeted environment. In addition to the actual standardisation process, performance evaluation is necessary to achieve recognition among to potential implementers of the communication system among the key players in the industry. If the performance of the system is not evaluated or it is significantly delayed, it will have a high impact on the market potentiality of the SmartBAN communication system utilization.
The objective of this STF is to build the first simulation model based on the SmartBAN communication system with realistic PHY layers. In particular, a realistic radio channel model from open literature will be utilized and on top of that an additional measurement based interference model will be developed. Performance and coexistence evaluation of the SmartBAN PHY will be performed by simulations. Simulation results will confirm the quality of the defined models and may lead to improvement suggestions which can be implemented to the next version of the standard.
For more details, see our Terms of Reference
Why we do it
Modern medical and health monitoring equipment are moving towards the trend of wireless connectivity between the data collection or control centre and the medical devices or sensors. Therefore, the need for a standardized communication interfaces and protocols between the actors are required. This network of actors performing some medical monitoring or functions in this context is called a Smart Body Area Network (Smart BAN).
Most emerging radio technologies for Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN) are designed to operate around the 2.4 GHz ISM band. Since both standardized (such as Bluetooth and IEEE 802.11) and non-standardized (proprietary) devices use the same frequency band, interference may lead to significant performance degradation of medical (and other) devices operating in the band. The main goal of this task group is to describe the interference problem, and to highlight a coexistence framework for the medical information and communication technologies (ICT) to operate in a proximal environment. The measurement campaigns allow to formulate a mathematical model of the interference at the channel in the 2.36 – 2.5 GHz band. The model can be then used by everyone for evaluating the performance of a WBAN in real environments, such as hospital, home and office.
It is highly important to evaluate the performance of the defined SmartBAN PHY in order to convince the device manufactures that the solution is efficient and reliable. By providing the performance and, in the first place, the coexistence results, the success probability of the commercial implementations of the SmartBAN solution will increase and the delay of penetration to commercial solutions will decrease.
How we do it
The actual research work will be organized into two logical tasks. Task 1 produces physical layer channel and interference models that are utilized for coexistence verification. Task 1 will also include additional measurements campaigns in order to better model the interference and the channel, as well as the link budget for proper use of BAN in different environments. In Task 2, a MATLAB simulator according to channel and interference model obtained in Task 1 is built. Performance and coexistence of the SmartBAN communication system is evaluated in Task 3.
Deliverables
DTR/SmartBAN-006 - Measurements and Modelling of SmartBAN RF environment
Scope: To develop the model, a three-stage approach is used where the first two stages use empirical test results to estimate parameters and to substantiate the analytical model.
Measurements are evaluated based on the variations in the operational environment, which takes into account the uncertainty in an installations location. This evaluation points the potential trouble spots and helps in determining strategies for alleviating them.
Time plan
lorenzo.mucchi@unifi.it | matti.hamalainen@ee.oulu.fi
+39 055 2758539 | +358 40 524 3813
This information is based upon STF working assumptions.