WiserBAN - Ultra-miniature smart wireless microsystems hold key for wearable and implanted body area networks

The WiserBAN project will address primarily the following wearable & implantable use cases: hearing instruments, cardiac implants, insulin pumps and cochlear implants. In such applications where miniaturization and unobtrusiveness are a must, only limited wireless connectivity and autonomy can be achieved using today's wireless solutions because of their excessive size and power consumption. WiserBAN will push wireless microsystem technology beyond state of the art by delivering an ultra-tiny and ultra low-energy radio that will enable WBAN capability and novel product perspectives for wearable and implanted devices for use in lifestyle and bio-medical applications.

The WiserBAN project will therefore generate a major impact on the quality of life of European citizens, in particular for improving the comfort and access to ICT for impaired and disabled people of all ages carrying implants or wearing medical devices, as well as reducing the risk of social exclusion. The research plan concerns the extreme miniaturization of BAN devices, and will focus on the areas of ultra low-power MEMS-based radio SoC (System on Chip), RF and low-frequency MEMS and miniature components, miniature reconfigurable antennas, miniaturized and cost-effective SiP (System in Package), sensor signal processing and flexible communication protocols.

The project will also enable major technological breakthroughs in the BAN area and will provide an innovative solution by pushing the state-of-the-art much further through a comprehensive top-down system approach. Specifically, WiserBAN will develop highly integrated radio & antenna & data processing microsystems which will reduce significantly the barriers in terms of size and power consumption of existing wireless solutions.