Table 1.

Main characteristics of WBAN.

Feature	WBAN
Reliability	It refers to the ability of WBAN to consistently and accurately transmit and deliver data from medical sensors to the intended destinations without loss, or corruption. The reliability of WBAN should be higher than that of regular sensor networks due to the importance of medical data.
Energy	Deployed devices in WBAN are battery-operated, which puts many constraints on the network design. Batteries may be easily swapped out in the not implanted sensor; however, it is complicated for sensors implanted surgically in the patient’s body.
Human-centric	WBANs are attached directly to body parts in order to capture data as a collection of sensed information. The human body is both exceedingly sensitive and receptive to these sensors. Therefore, these sensors must be safe and simple for the human body to accept.
Availability	WBANs should support high availability since medical data are critical. Links between devices and the network sink should always be available.
Mobility	WBAN should support moderate-to-high mobility since devices are attached to humans. Based on daily life activities, the mobility of sensor nodes changes, and thus the network should provide stable performance for different mobilities.
Scalability	Unlike wireless sensor networks, WBANs are small-scale networks dedicated to specific medical applications. Depending on their size, up to fifteen sensors are affixed in, on, or around the user’s body.
Deployment	Numerous sensors are connected directly to exit sites and gateways in these networks, localizing sensors to form a dense network. Unlike WSNs, WBANs have no constraints in terms of dense deployment scenarios. However, WBANs suffer from interferences between nearby WBANs, which are limited in large-scale WSNs.
Topology	WBAN does not have constraints on network topology, and thus there is no fixed topology associated with it. Dynamic, efficient topologies, including stars, meshes, hybrids, and clusters, are all useful in WBANs.
Bandwidth	The bandwidth of WBANs varies depending on the specific technology and protocol used. Short-range communication technologies, including Bluetooth, Zigbee, and Wi-Fi, are commonly used for WBANs; however, battery usage is challenging with such interfaces. Therefore, the bandwidth of WBANs can range from hundreds of kbps up to a few Mbps, depending on the deployed technology and protocol.