Diversity Performance Analysis for On-Body Communication Channels at 2.45 GHz

Body-centric communications is an important part of fourth-generation personal communications systems. Like the mobile cellular communication channel, on-body communication channels are affected by fading. In this paper, the effect of diversity for on-body communication channels is investigated. Measurements were taken in both an anechoic and typical indoor environments, with random body movements. Three different types of antennas were used. The diversity gain was calculated by plotting the cumulative distribution functions (CDF) for five body channels. Significant diversity gain values are observed for the nonline-of-sight channels and dynamic channels involving large body movements. The uplink and downlink diversity performance was found to be similar.