Efficient Resource Scheduling for Interference Alleviation in Dynamic Coexisting WBANs

Interference is a serious problem in Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) and heavily weakens system performance. In this paper, we propose an exchange-free resource scheduling scheme to overcome the interference of dynamic coexisting WBANs. For each data transmission period, we design a transmission channel/slot allocation scheme based on a Latin square, where each character denotes a specific combination of a channel and a time slot. For each data retransmission period, we design a retransmission time-slot selection scheme based on a hash function, in which the unique identity information of the collided node is used to calculate the retransmission slot. Compared with existing solutions, our work has two key advantages. First, all nodes can independently allocate and coordinate resources rather than exchange information with each other in traditional methods, and thus guaranteeing strong adaptability to the fast changes of WBANs. Second, the contention-free resource allocation pattern is implemented for both the data transmission period as well as the data retransmission period, and thus guaranteeing no intra-WBAN interference and extremely low probability of inter-WBAN interference. Our simulation results show that interferences can be well addressed based on the metrics of the packet loss rate, throughput, power dissipation, and data delivery delay.