A Virtual Reality Platform to study RF propagation in body area networks

In-depth understanding of the propagation media is essential for the design of efficient wireless communication protocols for body area networks. Obtaining sufficient amount of data for different scenarios via physical experiment is either difficult or in the case of implant communication, nearly impossible. Therefore, a detailed 3D virtual reality platform can be extremely useful in highlighting the RF propagation characteristics inside and around the human body. Such a platform provides necessary insight into radio wave propagation for body area networks. It can also be used to identify the best scenarios for limited physical experimentation and measurements. In this paper, a virtual reality platform that gives us the ability to observe three-dimensional RF propagation from implantable and wearable sensors is presented. We have used this virtual environment as a scientific instrument to study various Radio Frequency communication channels inside or on the surface of a human body.