Medium Access Control (MAC) for Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN): Superframe structure, multiple access technique, taxonomy, and challenges

Health monitoring using biomedical sensors has witnessed significant attention in recent past due to the evolution of a new research area in sensor network known as Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs). In WBANs, a number of implantable, wearable, and off-body biomedical sensors are utilized to monitor various vital signs of patient’s body for early detection, and medication of grave diseases. In literature, a number of Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols for WBANs have been suggested for addressing the unique challenges related to reliability, delay, collision and energy in the new research area. The design of MAC protocols is based on multiple access techniques. Understanding the basis of MAC protocol designs for identifying their design objectives in broader perspective, is a quite challenging task. In this context, this paper qualitatively reviews MAC protocols for WBANs. Firstly, 802.15.4 and 802.15.6 based MAC Superframe structures are investigated focusing on design objectives. Secondly, different multiple access techniques such as TDMA, CSMA/CA, Slotted Aloha and Hybrid are explored in terms of design goals. Thirdly, a two-layered taxonomy is presented for MAC protocols. First layer classification is based on multiple access techniques, whereas second layer classification is based on design objectives and characteristics of MAC protocols. Critical and qualitative analysis is carried out for each considered MAC protocol. Comparative study of different MAC protocols is also performed. Finally, some open research challenges in the area are identified with initial research directions.

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