A Critical Evaluation for the Energy Efficient Routing Protocols in Wireless Body Area Sensor Networks (WBAN)

Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) is a promising technology for providing intelligent healthcare services in remote locations. A review of the literature shows that researchers have primarily focused on Quality of Service (QoS)-aware energy-efficient routing techniques, network topology, and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers in WBANs. QoS-aware routing techniques are based on a set of protocols that efficiently maintain routes and effectively facilitate data exchange between sensor nodes. This research introduces WBAN and discusses its medical applications in detail. It provides a classification of routing protocols in WBAN and addresses the challenges researchers face in QoS-aware routing. Additionally, a framework for an energy-efficient routing protocol in WBAN is developed, aimed at healthcare authorities for use in emergency rescue operations.