A Comprehensive Survey of QoS-Aware Routing Protocols in Wireless Body Area Networks

Abstract

Recent developments in wireless communications, MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) technology and integrated circuits have enabled low-power, intelligent, miniaturized, invasive/non-invasive micro sensor nodes strategically placed in or around the human body which forms Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANS) to be used in various applications including remote health monitoring. Due to inherent issues and specific challenges, routing protocols designed for Mobile Adhoc Networks (MANETs) and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are not applicable to WBANs. QoS-Aware Routing protocols mainly provide a modular approach by presenting separate modules for different QoS metrics that operate in coordination with each other. These approaches aim at providing higher reliability, lower end-to-end delay and higher packet delivery ratio. In this paper various issues and challenges in pursuit of effective QoS-Aware routing are identified and detailed literature survey of the various existing QoS-aware routing protocols, their strengths and weaknesses are discussed.