Network selection in cognitive radio enabled Wireless Body Area Networks

Abstract In recent years, interest in Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) has increased significantly due to the advancement in wireless communications. In wireless communication, all WBAN nodes that monitor the human body's vital functions transfer information to a central sink node, which is directly connected to a cognitive radio enabled controller called CRC. To transfer this information from a CRC to an e-health server, it requires long-range wireless networks, such as UMTS, LTE, WiMAX, WiFi, and satellite internet provider. It is challenging for a CRC to select the best networks for different WBAN data traffic, such as emergency mandatory, delay sensitive, and general monitoring. This paper proposes a scheme for selecting the best network from the available networks depending on the QoS requirements for different WBAN applications. Different multiple attribute decision-making algorithms are used in the proposed scheme. Numerical results and discussion reveal that the proposed scheme is effective in making a good network selection in situations where there is a conflict between different QoS requirements for different WBAN applications.