Dual-band antenna based on epsilon-negative transmission line for body-centric communication

In this paper, a dual-band low-profile antenna based on the epsilon negative (ENG) meta-structured transmission line (MTL) for wireless body centric communications is presented. It is composed of four unit-cells with modified mushroom-like structures. The physical size and operational frequencies of the antenna are both determined by the epsilon negative unit-cell. More importantly, besides low profile and simplicity of the antenna configuration, its admirable radiation characteristics, i. e., Omni-directional pattern in azimuth plane at low frequency band (for on-body communication) and Uni-directional pattern in elevation plane at upper frequency band (for off-body communication), could be well obtained, which is quite suitable for body-centric communication applications.