Interference in body area networks: Distance does not dominate

Abstract

Inter-network interference is a significant source of difficulty for wireless body area networks. Movement, proximity and the lack of central coordination all contribute to this problem. We compare the interference power of multiple Body Area Network (BAN) devices when a group of people move randomly within an office area. We find that the path loss trend is dominated by local variations in the signal, and not free-space path loss exponent.