Robust coding and modulation for body-area networks

We consider channel modeling for transmission over body-area networks. Due to the difficulty in assessing an accurate statistical model valid for multiple scenarios, we advocate a technique that favors robustness. Our calculations, which follow in the footsteps of the results in [9], and generalize them, allow us to determine the variation of a performance metric when the nominal statistical distribution of fading is replaced by the worst distribution within a given Kullback-Leibler divergence from it. The sensitivity of the performance metric to the divergence from the nominal distribution can be used as an indication of the model robustness. This concept is applied by evaluating error probability for binary uncoded modulation and outage probability-the first parameter is useful to assess system performance with no error-control coding, while the second reflects the performance when a near-optimal code is used.