Abstract
Cognitive radio (CR) is a promising technology for future body area networks (BodyNets). It enables unlicensed (secondary) users to exploit the spectrum allocated to licensed (primary) users in an opportunistic manner. Innovative, energy efficient medium access control (MAC) and routing protocols must be implemented to improve the coexistence between diferente users, as well as managing the scarce resources in an eficiente way. Besides this verification of spectrum opportunities and sensing methods, this work addresses physical (PHY), MAC and network layer design aspects for BodyNets. Furthermore, based on field trials made in real indoor and outdoor environments, we address existing CR opportunities to be applied to potential applications in body area and sensor networks. Our research includes a scenario where a BodyNet is being sustained by radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting devices, that convert low energy RF to direct current (DC), providing an alternative source to power supply the wireless sensor network (WSN) devices.
Authors: Norberto Barroca, João M. Ferro, Luís M. Borges, Jorge Tavares, Fernando J. Velez