Mobile telemedicine sensor networks with low-energy data query and network lifetime considerations

In this paper, we use an integrated architecture that takes advantage of the low cost mobile sensor networks and 3G cellular networks to accommodate multimedia medical calls with differentiated Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirements. We propose a lowenergy, distributed, and concentric-zone-based data query mechanism that takes advantages of hierarchical ad hoc routing algorithms to enable a medical specialist to collect physiological data from mobile and/or remote patients. The medical specialist uses cellular network to report patients' data to the medical center. Moreover, we propose a transmission scheme among different zones with balance-based energy efficiency, which can extend network lifetime. We evaluate the validity of our proposals through simulations and analyze their performance. Our results clearly indicate the energy efficiency of the proposed sensor network query algorithms and the efficiency of our multiclass medical call admission control scheme in terms of meeting the multimedia telemedicine QoS requirements.