Collaborative Body Sensor Networks: Taxonomy and Open Challenges

Single Body Sensor Networks (BSNs) have gained a lot of interest during the past few years. However, the need to monitor the activity of many individuals to assess the group status and take action accordingly has created a new research domain called Collaborative Body Sensor Network (CBSN). In such a new field, understanding CBSN's concept and challenges over the roots requires investigation to allow the development of suitable algorithms and protocols. Although there are many research studies in BSN, CBSN is still in its early phases and studies around it are very few. In this paper, we define and taxonomize CBSN, describe its architecture, and discuss its applications. The differences between CBSN and other sensor networks are highlighted to justify the need to develop new protocols and schemes appropriate for this type of networks. The major challenges are discussed, and open research issues are outlined to help in identifying new research directions in CBSN. To the best of our knowledge, this article is the first to define CBSN as a standalone domain that is distinct from other sensor networks and to develop its taxonomy.