What next for reliable body sensor networking? Addressing the challenges faced by wireless communication systems in close proximity to the human body

The topical interest in wireless devices, sensors and systems operating in close proximity to and in conjunction with the user’s body continues to grow unabated. This presentation show how the unique, and often challenging, characteristics at the physical layer can be used to our advantage in developing new ideas and applications for wireless body sensor networking. This physical layer starting point can both inform, and can be exploited by, all layers of the stack to deliver optimum communications performance even under tight resource constraints. It is clear that further research on antennas and propagation, wireless communication protocols and even localisation and interference sensing and mitigation will be needed to ensure that future generations of body sensor networks will be reliable and robust. Nonetheless, the presentation will examine how the physical layer remains at the heart of efforts to improve wearable applications, for example, by optimising the use of the available spectrum and improving energy efficiency in both devices and systems.