A Performance Evaluation of Cooperative Schemes for On-Body Area Networks Based on Measured Time-Variant Channels

In this paper we present a performance evaluation of cooperative approaches in Body Area Networks (BANs). A full-mesh topology of the on-body network is considered. The performance analysis, in terms of Packet Error Rate (PER), is based on measured time-variant channels at 2.45 GHz. Relaying schemes have been addressed to improve the robustness of the communication between two on-body nodes, then they are compared to better understand their effective usefulness.