Human body communication: Channel characterization issues

Human Body Communication (HBC) is a promising wireless technology that uses the human body tissues as a signal propagation medium. In HBC, the information signal is coupled to the body through an electrostatic or magnetostatic field via electrodes and is captured in another part of the body using si...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE instrumentation & measurement magazine 2019-10, Vol.22 (5), p.48-53
Main Authors: Alvarez-Botero, German A., Hernandez-Gomez, Yicely K., Tellez, Camilo E., Coronel, Juan F.
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Baluns
Battery charge measurement
Body area networks
Communication
Couplings
Earphones
Electrodes
Energy management
Human body
Instruments
Integrated circuit modeling
Magnetostatic fields
Power consumption
Power efficiency
Power management
Radio frequency
Tissues
Transceivers
Watches
Wearable technology
Wireless communication systems
Wireless communications
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Summary:Human Body Communication (HBC) is a promising wireless technology that uses the human body tissues as a signal propagation medium. In HBC, the information signal is coupled to the body through an electrostatic or magnetostatic field via electrodes and is captured in another part of the body using similar electrodes. HBC has lower power consumption than conventional radio frequency (RF) approaches, because it operates at lower frequencies, usually between 0.1 MHz and 100 MHz, avoiding the body shadowing effects, complex and power hungry RF circuits and antennas. In addition, the signal is mainly confined to the human body, guaranteeing high data communication security and high efficiency in the network utilization. Designs have already been shown to achieve energy efficiency of pJ/bit and power of micro-Watts, paving the way for autonomous, energy harvested powered devices [1]. With these characteristics, HBC helps to reduce the battery volume and consequently the size and the weight of wearable devices such as watches, earphones, glasses, shoes or clothes. Overall, HBC presents itself as an interesting alternative to implement Body Sensor Networks (BSN) or Body Area Networks (BAN), especially since it is supported by the IEEE standard 802.15.6 for short-range, low-power and highly reliable wireless communication systems for use in close proximity to or within the human body [2].
ISSN:1094-6969
1941-0123
DOI:10.1109/IMM.2019.8868277