Validation of statistical channel models for 60 GHz radio systems in hospital environments.

Statistical channel models for 60 GHz communications systems in hospital environments are validated using channel capacity and throughput of a physical layer as figures of merit. The channel models are validated by comparing the performance figures with channels from the measurements and the channel models. The throughput evaluation is based on system specifications given by the IEEE 802.15.3 c standard for high data rate wireless personal area networks, namely orthogonal frequency division multiplexing and single carrier transmissions. The channel capacity serves as a metric of the potential of the two transmission schemes since it defines the upper bound of the throughput. The capacity is derived based on the signal formats of the transmission schemes. The capacity shows that 97 % of the measurement results are within 2σ range of the modeled results. The throughput shows that the channel models predict the maximum achievable throughput of the measured channels precisely, while the mean throughput in some cases shows difference because of the interpolation effect of the small-scale fading in the statistical channel models. Due to the interpolation effect, the channel model is more suitable for a precise analysis of the outage performance than the measurements where the number of channel samples is limited and the worst faded channels are not necessarily included.

Interoperable and diligent body area networks over IEEE802.15.6 for real-time monitoring.

Currently, there are no standardization efforts to define interfaces and verify interoperability among implementations for body area networks (BANs) on IEEE802.15.6. A BAN consists of small and lightweight sensors, such as the ring-type SpO2 sensor, and a coordinator that collects vital data from the sensors and transfers them to a backend system for real-time monitoring and analysis. It is important for sensors to be easy-to-use, light for wearing and that they are long-lived using a small rechargeable battery. IEEE802.15.6 provides basic features for these sensors. We establish an industry-driven standardization association for healthcare/medical services on IEEE802.15.6. Industry standardization targets current and emerging small sensors, not those for fixed medical devices in hospitals, such as those in the ISO/IEEE11073 family, and deals with time-driven data. We propose a combination of various layers of power-saving functions for a sensor that satisfies the interfaces. We discuss these functions and evaluate them. As a feasibility study, we then test a false-alert system using a BAN configuration following the standard interfaces, though the standardizations and evaluations are still in progress along with the IEEE802.15.6 standardization activity.