Smart Spectrum Switching and Beamforming for Wireless Body Area Networks in Dynamic Environment

Wireless body area networks (WBANs) would benefit reasonably after the introduction of mmWaves in the communication. The characteristics like high data rate and reduced antenna size are crucial benefits. However, the drawbacks of mmWaves like high pathloss and high interference can be reduced by use of spectrum switching. The paper proposes a method of spectrum switching for indoor applications over the frequency range of 5 GHz to 60 GHz based on SNR as a threshold. This helps to maximize the throughput and minimize the pathloss over varied distance between the transreceivers. The paper further discusses the effects of this frequency on beamforming. The accuracy of the object tracking during the beam alignment despite of the narrow bandwidth is maintained due to prediction of the mobile user equipment by Kalman filter. The results are supported by Matlab simulation of a mobile UE over a range of 100 m and the corresponding spectrum switching and beam alignment results are discussed. The object tracking model is built with the help of Gaussian random walk and the results show an error margin of less than 1 m which is within the threshold designed for the system. The paper also presents the challenges reflected on secondary parameters like directivity, energy consumption, and beamforming array structures.