Ultra wideband body area network channel measurement and analysis using textile antennas

Measurements of the ultra-wideband (UWB) propagation channel are presented for different body area network (BAN) configurations using flexible textile antennas, which operate in the 4-9 GHz band. The experiments involve two static and contrasting environments: an anechoic chamber, and a small communications laboratory. Analysis of the channel statistics of the two environments indicate that models solely based on anechoic chamber measurements can underestimate the length of the channel impulse response (CIR) by a significant amount. Path loss was found to better fit a single slope model when the antenna separation is measured around the body and not through it. This result is due to the high attenuation of UWB signals by the body.