IEEE P802.15.6 DRAFT

Description / Abstract: This is a standard for short range, wireless communication in the vicinity of, or inside, a human body (but not limited to humans). It uses existing ISM bands as well as frequency bands approved by national medical and/or regulatory authorities. Support for quality of service, extremely low power, and data rates up to 10 Mbps is required while simultaneously complying with strict non-interference guidelines where needed. This standard considers effects on portable antennas due to the presence of a person (varying with male, female, skinny, heavy, etc.), radiation pattern shaping to minimize specific absorption rate (SAR) into the body, and changes in characteristics as a result of the user motions.

Purpose

The purpose is to provide an international standard for a short range (i.e. about human body range), low power and highly reliable wireless communication for use in close proximity to, or inside, a human body. Data rates, typically up to 10Mbps, can be offered to satisfy an evolutionary set of entertainment and healthcare services. Current Personal Area Networks (PANs) do not meet the medical (proximity to human tissue) and relevant communication regulations for some application environments. They also do not support the combination of reliability, Quality of Service (QoS), low power, data rate and noninterference required to broadly address the breadth of body area network applications.