A dual-band dual-polarized antenna for body area network

A novel dual-band dual-polarized antenna with separated input-ports is proposed for off-body communication in ISM 2.4 GHz band (2.400~2.485 GHz) and also on-body communication in ISM 5.8 GHz band (5.725~5.825 GHz) simultaneously. It is operated as a circular patch-type antenna with the polarization parallel to body surface to radiate unidirectional beam normal to the body for the off-body links; while, as a disc-top-loaded monopole-type antenna with the polarization normal to the body to radiate omni-directional pattern along the body surface for the on-body application. This antenna possesses good performances of impedance matching (≥8.5 % for VSWR≤2:1) and isolation between two feeding ports are better than 20 dB over both ISM bands by means of a bandstop filter. The performances of the antenna worn on the human body are also investigated by simulation and measurement, the results shown that antenna is available for the body area network application.