Time domain characterisation of ultra wideband wearable antennas and radio propagation for body-centric wireless networks in healthcare applications

The increase percentage of ageing population in the world, specifically western Europe and United States, is pushing academical and industrial researchers and developers to source out and provide efficient and reliable technologies for healthcare applications such as remote monitoring and drug-delivery. The paper presents transient characterisation of UWB body-worn antennas and on-body radio propagation channels for body-centric wireless communications. Various compact UWB antennas are presented and experimentally analysed in both spectral and transient domains for wearable applications. Fidelity analysis is applied to characterise the radio propagation channels for indoor body-centric wireless communications and to provide a measuring factor of the suitability of the proposed antennas for such applications.