Title: Overview of four emerging mechanisms for e-health communications

Authors: Hend Fourati; Hanen Idoudi; Leila Azouz Saidane

Addresses: National School of Computer Sciences, University of Manouba, Tunisia ' National School of Computer Sciences, University of Manouba, Tunisia ' National School of Computer Sciences, University of Manouba, Tunisia

Abstract: The ever-advancing miniaturisation and low-power consumption of electronic devices led to the emergence of wireless body area networks. This revolutionary technology provides new possibilities for high-quality medical and healthcare services. In this paper, we expose an overview of the main standards adopted for WBANs particularly: ANT, Bluetooth low energy (BLE), IEEE 802.15.4 and IEEE 802.15.6. We perform subsequently a comparison between these different standards in order to provide useful insights about their main differences and facilitate standard choice depending on WBAN application requirements.

Keywords: IEEE 802.15.6; Bluetooth low energy; BLE; wireless BANs; body area networks; WBANs; MAC protocol; medium access control; IEEE 802.15.4; ANT; e-health communications; electronic healthcare; WBAN standards; medical services; healthcare services.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSCC.2016.079434

International Journal of Systems, Control and Communications, 2016 Vol.7 No.4, pp.337 - 359

Received: 02 Jun 2015
Accepted: 28 Jan 2016
Published online: 28 Sep 2016 *

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