Subject-specific analysis of the on-body radio propagation channel adopting a parallel FDTD code

The paper presents the analysis of the subject-specificity of the radio channel in wireless body area networks using a simulation tool based on the parallel finite-difference time-domain technique. This technique is well suited to model the radio propagation around irregularly shaped, inhomogeneous objects such as the human body. The impact of different digital phantoms on the on-body radio channel was analysed at 2.4 GHz. The analysis demonstrated that the characteristics of the on-body radio channel are subject-specific and are associated with human genders, height, and body mass index.