Will the next generation of wireless infrastructure be worn by people?

Researchers in Ireland are studying how to make people the next generation of wireless infrastructure, and they want people to wear sensors, radio transmitting devices, and gateways to build a "body-to-Body" network.

By redeploying the device's antennas, low-power transmitters, and new network protocols, a frequently-moving body network will create a "ultra-high bandwidth Mobile Infrastructure ". Using Parallel Transmission and physical node networks for routing, this network can even download large files from the cellular network. When necessary, the physical node can be connected to a fixed access point, gateway, or cellular network.

"Physically centered" communication has become a key research project for electronic communication and information technology at Queen's University of England in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Researchers have received $0.8 million in funding from the Royal Institute of Engineering and the British Council for Engineering and Physical Science Research.

The school's researcher, Dr. Simon Cotton, said the researchers will use the new network to conduct a five-year exploration of "physical-to-physical" wireless communication, these include questions about how the human body and movements will transmit wireless signals.

The concept of body network is an extension of wireless medical sensors and battlefield sensors. Today wireless medical sensors can be placed or implanted into the patient's body, and battlefield sensors can also be worn or carried by soldiers. These sensors can monitor many special activities and thresholds, collect data, and then transmit information to the fixed system.

Cotton said that the current research work of the school is mainly to create a wireless sensor network inside the body, while the network can also work together with the network infrastructure to communicate with the outside of the body.

Cotton said: "The original idea was to replace communication with the cellular network base station, because the cellular network base station needs to be built every 1 to 2 km away. In densely populated areas, information can be transmitted by people around you through cooperative communication. All users need to set aside a certain amount of bandwidth for other network users until the information reaches the specified receiver or is forwarded to the cellular network ."

Similar to the IEEE 802.15.4 standard network, the physical network has low power and the signal can only be transmitted from 10 to 100 meters.

Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is currently studying how thousands of wireless sensors collaborate intelligently.

"Another benefit is that the frequency distribution of the network is re-used within a short distance, which means that valuable radio spectrum can be used more effectively," Cotton said ."

Cotton predicts that a fully functional and reliable body-to-body network can even make some cellular network base stations redundant in densely populated areas. He also predicted that the Network could even be used to transmit HD videos. Cotton explained: "software on your device can intelligently divide a file into many small data streams, and then use multiple people around you to transmit content, these people will transmit these data streams to others, just like network nodes. These data streams reassemble the files at the specified receiver ."

To meet these requirements, a network software stack must handle dynamically changing network configurations. As a result, the network is already focusing on their new research.

Antenna design is the key

The key to wireless body networks is the design of antennas. According to the school's website, the ideal antenna used by WBAN (Wireless body Network) is small, and the power is least affected by physical tissue, so users' movements will not adversely affect it.

The school is conducting antenna design and R & D, ranging from 2.4 MHz to GHz. It can connect sensors on the body or communicate with the outside of the body in various directions.

The signal will be affected by the body itself. For example, when we touch the AM/FM antenna by hand, we will find that the signal strength changes. Body movements also affect signals, such as breathing. In addition, the radio signal reflection in the constantly changing network will also have an impact. For example, a living "Node" is constantly moving through buildings and streets.

Cotton said the new funding will help Queen's University Research Team evaluate the technology of high-bandwidth communication from the 2.4GHz microwave frequency in the ISM band to the 60 GHz high-bandwidth communication in the millimeter wave frequency. The antenna technology should be MIMO (multiple inputs and multiple inputs) technology, using the IEEE 802.11n Wireless LAN standard.