Current characterisation for ultra low power wireless body area networks

The emerging area of body area networks (BAN) imposes challenging requirements on hardware and software to achieve the desired lifetimes for certain devices such as long term medical implants. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to the measurement and characterisation of the energy consumption of BAN devices. The approach uses a low cost energy auditing circuit and addresses the problem of accurately measuring low-level current consumption. This new technique will allow precise and analytical measurements of systems and components in terms of energy. This will help circuit designers minimise power consumption in BAN devices. Software engineers might use this approach to validate and optimise embedded code. Network engineers can optimise network parameters to reduce the power consumption of a single node. Adoption of the proposed technique will aid the development of ultralow power wireless BANs. Results are presented on current characterisation for two wireless motes. Index Terms-Power Consumption, Current characterization, Energy efficiency, Embedded system design, Body Area Networks, Wireless Network software