HeWi Bridge: compact heterogenous wireless network bridge for healthcare applications

Abstract

A Single Board Computer (SBC) is used to develop a prototype for the wireless network bridge. The novelty of this product is that it integrates two different wireless technologies the IEEE 802.15.4/Zigbee (WSN) and the IEEE 802.11x (Wi-Fi) into one compact bridge. Reducing the network complexity and power source is the main contribution of this product. Figure 1 shows an example of independent living space incorporating a WSN coexisting with the existing installed infrastructure. The more common existing infrastructure is the WLAN or the Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) which is universally used for local access. The WMN and wired Ethernet are normally used as the uplink for connecting to the Internet or to the central server for augmenting data collection and real-time response.