Experimental Study of On-Body Radio Channel Performance of a Compact Ultra Wideband Antenna

In this paper, on-body radio channel performance of a compact ultra wideband (UWB) antenna is investigated for body-centric wireless communications. Measurement campaigns were first done in the chamber and then repeated in an indoor environment for comparison. The path loss parameter for eight different on-body radio channels has been characterized and analyzed. In addition, the path loss was modeled as a function of distance for 34 different receiver locations for propagation along the front part of the body. Results and analysis show that, compared with anechoic chamber, a reduction of 16.34% path loss exponent is noticed in indoor environment. The antenna shows very good on-body radio channel performance and will be a suitable candidate for future efficient and reliable body-centric wireless communications.

Wearable Antenna for Power Efficient On-Body and Off-Body Communications

A novel dual-band and diverse radiation pattern antenna is proposed for power efficient on-body and off-body communications intended for various applications in healthcare and sport monitoring. The antenna is dual band at 2.45 GHz (ISM band) with omnidirectional radiation pattern over the body surface to communicate power efficiently with other co-located body worn devices and at 1.9 GHz (PCS band), it has directive radiation pattern towards off the body to communicate from on-body device to off-body devices. The free space and on-body performances of the antenna are investigated by both simulation and experiment. The antenna shows very good on-body radiation efficiency of 58% at 2.45 GHz and 61% at 1.9 GHz. Good on-body gain is noticed at both frequency bands. Results show that the gain of the proposed antenna increases by 4.7% at 2.45 GHz and 3.2% at 1.9 GHz when placed on the body.

Miniaturized Novel UWB Band-Notch Textile Antenna for Body Area Networks

This paper presents the design and analysis of a miniaturized and novel wearable ultra-wideband(UWB)band-notch textile antenna for Body Area Networks(BANs).The major goal of building the antenna for wearable applications with band notch in X-band is to reject the downlink band(7.25 to 7.75 GHz)of satellite communication in the UWB frequency ranges of 3.1–10.6 GHz to keep away from interference.Computer Simulation Technology(CST)TM Microwave Studio,which is user-friendly and reliable,was used to model and simulate the antenna.The radiating element of the antenna is designed on Jeans’textile substrate,which has a relative permittivity of 1.7.The thickness of the jeans’fabric substrate has been considered to be 1 mm.Return loss,gain,bandwidth,impedance,radiation,and total efficiency,and radiation patterns are presented and investigated.The antenna is simulated placed on the three layers of the human body model,and the on-body results are summarized in comparison with free space.Results and analysis indicate that this antenna has good band-notch characteristics in the frequency range of 7.25 GHz to 7.75 GHz.The parametric study varying the relative permittivity of Jeans’fabric substrate of this antenna is also evaluated.In addition,effects on the antenna parameters of variation of ground plane size have been reported.The antenna is 25 mm×16 mm×1.07 mm in total volume.Results reveal that this antenna achieves the design goal and performs well both in free space and on the body.

Novel Compact UWB Band Notch Antenna Design for Body-Centric Communications

This research analyzes and implements an innovative and tiny ultrawideband(UWB)antenna with band-notched features for body-centric communication.The shape of the designed antenna looks like a‘swan’with a slotted patch.Computer Simulation Technology(CST)is used to assess and investigate the performance of this antenna.With a band notch,this antenna can prevent interference from Wireless Local Area Network(WLAN)(5.15–5.825 GHz)and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX)(5.25–5.85 GHz)systems.At first,the performance parameters like return loss response,gain,radiation patterns,and radiation efficiency of this UWB antenna are evaluated.After that,the human body effects on the antenna performance of the antenna are also examined to place the antenna at various distances away from 3-layers of phantom body model at different frequencies.All the on-body performance parameter results are compared and analyzed with free space performance parameter results.Lastly,by changing patch slot length and ground plane length,parametric studies were done for performance comparison.According to this research,it is noticed that the antenna is tiny and new.It shows good performance in body case as well.Hence,the antenna is very suitable for healthcare applications.

Comparative Design and Study of A 60 GHz Antenna for Body-Centric Wireless Communications

In this paper performance of three different designs of a 60 GHz highgain antenna for body-centric communication has been evaluated. The basic structure of the antenna is a slotted patch consisting of a rectangular ring radiator withpassive radiators inside. The variation of the design was done by changing theshape of these passive radiators. For free space performance, two types of excitations were used—waveguide port and a coaxial probe. The coaxial probe signifi-cantly improved both the bandwidth and radiation efficiency. The centerfrequency of all the designs was close to 60 GHz with a bandwidth of more than5 GHz. These designs achieved a maximum gain of 8.47 dB, 10 dB, and 9.73 dBwhile the radiation efficiency was around 94%. For body-centric applications,these antennas were simulated at two different distances from a human torsophantom using a coaxial probe. The torso phantom was modeled by taking threelayers of the human body—skin, fat, and muscle. Millimeter waves have lowpenetration depth in the human body as a result antenna performance is lessaffected. A negligible shift of return loss curves was observed. Radiation efficiencies dropped at the closest distance to the phantom and at the furthest distance, theefficiencies increased to free space values. On the three layers human body phantom, all three different antenna designs show directive radiation patterns towards offthe body. All three designs exhibited similar results in terms of center frequency andefficiency but varied slightly by either having better bandwidth or maximum gain.

Novel Design of UWB Jeans Based Textile Antenna for Body-Centric Communications

This research presents an ultra-wideband (UWB) textile antenna designfor body-centric applications. The antenna is printed on a 1 mm thick denim substrate with a 1.7 relative permittivity. The jeans substrate is sandwiched between apartial ground plane and a radiating patch with a Q-shaped slot. The slotted radiating patch is placed above the substrate and measures 27.8 mm × 23.8 mm. In freespace, the antenna covers the ultra-wideband spectrum designated by the FederalCommunication Commission (FCC). Various parameters of the antenna designwere changed for further performance evaluation. Depending on the operating frequency, the antenna's realized gain varied from 2.7 to 5 dB. The antenna achievedhigh radiation efficiency with an omnidirectional radiation pattern. A parametricstudy was performed in research on varying antenna substrates and other components of the antenna. The three outermost layers of the human body are used tomodel a human phantom for on-body simulation. After that, the antenna wasplaced at five different distances from the phantom. The findings demonstrate thatat close distances to the phantom, the antenna's gain and efficiency at lower frequencies are reduced. The antenna's radiation efficiency and gain were muchhigher at higher frequencies for distances greater than 6 mm. Compared to freespace, the antenna's radiation pattern was more omnidirectional, especially athigher frequencies. This antenna is novel, compact and has an ultra wide bandwidth, a maximum of 94.60% radiation efficiency and a 5 dBi gain that will makeit a good candidate for body-centric communications.