  The overlap of transmission ranges among multiple Wireless Body Area Networks
(WBANs) is referred to as coexistence. The interference is most likely to
affect the communication links and degrade the performance when sensors of
different WBANs simultaneously transmit using the same channel. In this paper,
we propose a distributed approach that adapts to the size of the network, i.e.,
the number of coexisting WBANs, and to the density of sensors forming each
individual WBAN in order to minimize the impact of co-channel interference
through dynamic channel hopping based on Latin rectangles. Furthermore, the
proposed approach opts to reduce the overhead resulting from channel hopping,
and lowers the transmission delay, and saves the power resource at both sensor-
and WBAN-levels. Specifically, we propose two schemes for channel allocation
and medium access scheduling to diminish the probability of inter-WBAN
interference. The first scheme, namely, Distributed Interference Avoidance
using Latin rectangles (DAIL), assigns channel and time-slot combination that
reduces the probability of medium access collision. DAIL suits crowded areas,
e.g., high density of coexisting WBANs, and involves overhead due to frequent
channel hopping at the WBAN coordinator and sensors. The second scheme, namely,
CHIM, takes advantage of the relatively lower density of collocated WBANs to
save power by hopping among channels only when interference is detected at the
level of the individual nodes. We present an analytical model that derives the
collision probability and network throughput. The performance of DAIL and CHIM
is further validated through simulations.
