A Statistical Analysis of Indoor Multipath Fading for a Narrowband Wireless Body Area Network

A thorough statistical analysis of multipath effects for on-body propagation channels in wireless body area networks (WBANs) is presented. Experiments were conducted at 868 MHz for both stationary and mobile scenarios in an anechoic chamber and two typical indoor environments. When the WBAN is stationary, fading in bodyworn channels is determined by body-centric processes with Nakagami fading (m Gt 1) shown to provide the optimum fit. Equivalent Rician K_dB-factors for these channels are also shown to be high, peaking at 36.1 dB for channels which cross the anterior chest region. However, mobile fading channels were predominantly Rice distributed in multipath environments. Movement in a multipath environment also caused a reduction in m and K values beyond that observed in anechoic conditions