Conductive Fabric Garment for a Cable-Free Body Area Network

Author

Wade, Eric ; Asada, Harry

Author_Institution

Massachusetts Inst. of Technol., Cambridge, MA

Volume

6

Issue

1

fYear

2007

Firstpage

52

Lastpage

58

Abstract

Theoretical analysis and experimentation show that a prototype body area network composed of 20 electrically conductive fabric sheets can transmit both signals and DC power sufficient for implementing a cable-free network in a garment. This wearable system has broad applications. The applications presented represent just two areas where our garment technology can be useful in the health-monitoring domain. As wearable computing matures, alternative electronic systems like ours can play a larger role in applications. Meanwhile, the DC-PLC system we´ve developed presents a workable model for the design of CF garments

Keywords

carrier transmission on power lines; clothing; fabrics; health care; patient monitoring; wearable computers; DC power line communication system; conductive-fabric garment design; electronic system; garment cable-free body area network; garment technology; health-monitoring domain; wearable computing; Analog-digital conversion; Batteries; Biomedical monitoring; Body area networks; Clothing; Conductivity; Fabrics; Frequency shift keying; Modems; Sensor systems; Wearable; conductive textiles; health monitoring; power-line communication;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Pervasive Computing, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1536-1268

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/MPRV.2007.8

Filename

4101142