Performance Evaluation of SDN Controllers: RYU and POX for WBAN-based Healthcare Applications

Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) have made it easier for healthcare workers and patients to monitor patients' status continuously in real time. WBANs have complex and diverse network structures; thus, management and control can be challenging. Therefore, considering emerging Software-defined networks (SDN) with WBANs is a promising technology since SDN implements a new network management and design approach. The SDN concept is used in this study to create more adaptable and dynamic network architectures for WBANs. The study focuses on comparing the performance of two SDN controllers, POX and Ryu, using Mininet, an open-source simulation tool, to construct network topologies. The performance of the controllers is evaluated based on bandwidth, throughput, and round-trip time metrics for networks using an OpenFlow switch with sixteen nodes and a controller for each topology. The study finds that the choice of network controller can significantly impact network performance and suggests that monitoring network performance indicators is crucial for optimizing network performance. The project provides valuable insights into the performance of SDN-based WBANs using POX and Ryu controllers and highlights the importance of selecting the appropriate network controller for a given network architecture.