QPRD: QoS-Aware Peering Routing Protocol for Delay-Sensitive Data in Hospital Body Area Network

Abstract

Consistent performance, energy efficiency, and reliable transfer of data are critical factors for real-time monitoring of a patient’s data, especially in a hospital environment. In this paper, a routing protocol is proposed by considering the QoS requirements of the Body Area Network (BAN) data packets. A mechanism for handling delay-sensitive packets is provided by this protocol. Moreover, linear programming based modeling along with graphical analysis is also done. Extensive simulations using the OMNeT++ based simulator Castalia 3.2 illustrate that the proposed algorithm provides better performance than other QoS-aware routing protocols in terms of higher successful transmission rates (throughputs), lower overall network traffic, no packets dropped due to MAC buffer overflow, and fewer numbers of packet time outs in both the mobile and static patient scenarios. The scalability of the protocol is demonstrated by simulating a 24-bed real hospital environment with 49 nodes. It is shown that, even in the larger real hospital scenario requiring the transmission of delay-sensitive data packets with stringent delay requirements, QPRD outperforms comparable protocols.