Performance evaluation of a Transport System supporting the MobiHealth BANip: Methodology and Assessment

MobiHealth is a European project (IST-2001-36006) that explores the possibilities of 2.5G and 3G networks to supportnew m-health services. Standard TCP/IP based Internet networking protocols are used to transport the m-health servicedata over these next generation broadband wireless networks.The MobiHealth m-health service is based on a telematics system that consists of three major building blocks: 1) BAN(Body Area Network), 2) BEsys (Back-End system) and 3) transport service (i.e. data communication system). TheBAN can be used for example as a healthcare monitoring tool to measure vital sign data of ambulatory patients. TheBEsys controls a BAN and makes the vital sign data available to a (remote) healthcare provider (e.g. hospital).Transportation of vital sign data and control data is handled by the MobiHealth BAN Interconnect Protocol which inturn is supported by the transport service. The usability of the MobiHealth service depends on a minimum guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS) of the transportservice. The transport service is provided by a data communication system. This system consists of various subsystemswith discrete performance characteristics (e.g. speed, delay) that influence the overall system performance. ObjectiveThe objective of this final project is to apply an appropriate performance evaluation of a transport service supporting theMobiHealth BAN Interconnect Protocol. The assignment includes the methodology for the setup of a measurementsstrategy to assess the performance characteristics of a particular (i.e. reliable, unreliable) transport service underpredefined loads. Measurement results are used to create a high level abstract model of the transport service, in order toassess the scalability of the MobiHealth system. Of particular interest is the scalability of the MobiHealth system inrelation to the number of BANs in the system. RolesStudent ing. R.G.A. Bults is responsible for the methodology phase of the assignment, while student K.E.Wac isresponsible for the assessment phase of the assignment. Approach• Study relevant transport service technologies (e.g. GPRS/UMTS, UDP, TCP, wireless TCP/IP)• Survey and selection of performance evaluation methodology• Perform performance measurements on selected MobiHealth transport service• Derive a performance model of the transport system and assess the scalability of the transport service• Write thesis External/InternalInternalPeriodGraduation committee1 Feb, 2003 – 1 November, 2004(chairman) Prof. Dr. ir. D. Konstantas Date of report(1 coordinator) Dr. ir. A.T. van Halteren October 2004(2 coordinator) Dr. ir. V. Nicola Approval of supervisor UT