Wearable Magnetoinductive Waveguide for Low-Loss Wireless Body Area Networks

A novel approach of wearable magnetoinductive waveguide (MIW) is introduced for wireless body area network (WBAN) communications that brings forward significant advances over state-of-the-art. The MIW consists of series of electrically small resonant loops worn upon the human body to support magneto...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on antennas and propagation 2021-05, Vol.69 (5), p.2864-2876
Main Authors: Mishra, Vigyanshu, Kiourti, Asimina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bit error rate
Body area networks
Dispersion
Electrically small resonant loops
Error analysis
Frequencies
Magnetic confinement
Magnetic resonance
magneto-inductive waveguide (MIW)
magneto-inductive waves (MI waves)
Radio frequency
Specific absorption rate
Waveguides
Wearable technology
wireless body area network (WBAN)
Wireless communication
Wireless communications
Wireless networks
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Summary:A novel approach of wearable magnetoinductive waveguide (MIW) is introduced for wireless body area network (WBAN) communications that brings forward significant advances over state-of-the-art. The MIW consists of series of electrically small resonant loops worn upon the human body to support magnetoinductive waves (MI waves) for low-loss/low-power WBANs. Compared to previous approaches, the proposed MIW exhibits 63 dB lower loss, translating conventional power levels of mW down to \mu \text{W} or nW. In this work, we introduce the operating principle of MIW WBAN through underlying theory and dispersion diagrams. The proof-of-concept numerical and experimental results are reported for frequency bands centered around 40.4 and 80.7 MHz for a cylindrical human limb and are found to be in excellent agreement. Design guidelines are extensively discussed to accommodate several possible scenarios (frequency selection, gap between the loops, number of loops, and loop radius) along with practical considerations including loop tilts, anatomical limbs, limb movements, unequal loop gaps, and loop failure. Specific absorption rate (SAR) calculations confirm that this technology is highly safe for human use. A bit error rate (BER) analysis further demonstrates that the MIW can form a high-quality communication channel for WBAN. Overall, the reported approach unveils a new possibility of low-loss and seamless WBANs.
ISSN:0018-926X
1558-2221
DOI:10.1109/TAP.2020.3030987