Dong, JieSmith, David2015-12-100013-5194http://hdl.handle.net/1885/63816Performance of cooperative communications receive diversity, with relays, for the everyday body-area-network (BAN) radio channel is determined, based on extensive BAN measurements. In accordance with an option for physical layer transmission in the IEEE 802.15.6 BAN draft standard, BCH-coded Gaussian frequency-shift keying (GFSK) modulation is considered at 2.4GHz carrier frequency. Large improvements over single-link communications are demonstrated with the use of one and two on-body relays, with cooperative selection combining and maximum-ratio combining. The importance of careful relay placement is also demonstrated.Keywords: Carrier frequency; Cooperative communication; Draft standard; Gaussian frequency-shift keying; Maximum-ratio combining; On-body; Physical layers; Radio channels; Receive diversity; Selection combining; Network layers; Wireless sensor networks201110.1049/el.2011.16472016-02-24