Non-line-of-sight on-body ultra wideband (1ߝ6 GHz) channel characterisation using different antenna polarisations

Ultra wideband (UWB) is a promising technology for wireless body area networks (WBANs). The authors investigate the wave propagation in the frequency range of 1-6-GHz for non-line-of-sight (NLOS) channels from the front to back of a human body by considering different wave polarisations: perpendicular and tangential with respect to the body. Time domain electromagnetic (EM) simulation using the anatomical model of a human body assuming frequency-dependent tissue properties is conducted. Radiographs of the energy density and delay spread of the NLOS channels are provided. The energy fading of UWB signals for the on-body channel suggests that the optimisation of the receiving antenna position for efficient signal transmission can be useful. A significant enhancement of the on-body communication link is identified by exploiting the transceiver antennas at the perpendicular to body polarisations. The impacts of body environment reflections on the channel characteristics of different polarisations are studied. The results show that the perpendicular polarisation channel characteristics are less influenced by the body environment reflections and are more stable regarding energy density and delay spread than tangential polarisation. The frequency-dependent propagation loss of on-body UWB channels is derived, where the efficient communication bandwidths for both perpendicular and tangential wave polarisations are given.