Emergency traffic MAC protocols in wireless body area networks

Abstract

In Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs), emergency traffic handling is essential for saving human life. The traffic must be delivered instantaneously without loss and with least delay since a delay may endanger human life. Because of the importance of emergency traffic handling, several researchers have explored and proposed different emergency traffic protocols. In this paper, we provide a thematic review of the emergency traffic Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols in WBANs. Zigbee standard and baseline MAC as used in WBANs are also analyzed in terms of emergency traffic handling. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of the existing emergency traffic MAC protocols is made and their performance analysis is performed based on delay, Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR), and energy consumption. Currently, no review work has been done on emergency traffic MAC protocols in WBANs. This paper, therefore, serves as the first, and adds enhancement to the emergency traffic handling at MAC layer in WBANs. We believe the paper will stimulate a better way of solving the emergency traffic handling problem.