2017 IEEE International Conference on Telecommunications and Photonics (ICTP) 190

26-28 December, 2017, Dhaka, Bangladesh

A Flexible Polymer Substrate Based Wideband

Antenna for WBAN Applications
1
Emranul Haque,2Subaha Mahmuda and 3Feroz Ahmed
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
1,3
Independent University, Bangladesh
2
Primeasia University
1
emran1612@gmail.com, 2subaha2007@yahoo.com and 3fahmed@iub.edu.bd

Abstract—A compact and broadband wearable antenna is The demand of liquid crystal polymer (LCP) is increasing
presented in this paper. The coplanar waveguide (CPW) feed day by day as a powerful high-performance microwave
antenna is composed of a modified rectangle patch with substrate and packaging material [10-12]. Several antennas on
truncated top and bevelled bottom corners which operates from LCP substrate have been studied in [14-18]. Considering
3.2 to 14 GHz frequency band. The proposed antenna is different bending conditions, a LCP based patch antenna is
employed on flexible Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) substrate proposed in [15] whereas, the effect of human body on the
and has a compact dimension of 37.91×28.39×0.88 mm3. The antenna radiation is overlooked. Besides in [17], SAR analysis
fractional bandwidth of the antenna is about 125.58% by taking has not been done in the modeling of the mentioned multi
-10dB reflection coefficient into consideration. The performance
frequency antenna.
of the antenna under structural deformation, humid condition
and on-body placement are also evaluated. The wideband In this paper, a compact wideband flexible antenna which
operation, compact size, resilient to frequency de-tuning in on- fulfills the requirement of WBAN applications such as
body configuration with low specific absorption rate make the compact size, resilient under humid and different bending
proposed antenna suitable for the wireless body area network conditions, human body loading effect and low SAR is
(WBAN) applications. proposed. By using a modified rectangle patch with truncated
top and bevelled bottom corners, the developed antenna can
Keywords— WBAN; Wearable antenna; wideband;LCP
operate from 3.2 to 14 GHz frequency band for VSWR ≤
2.These features of the designed antenna make it a well-fitted
I. INTRODUCTION candidate for various WBAN applications.
An antenna is the requisite part of the WBAN system
which demands light weight, compact size, mechanical II. ANTENNA DESIGN AND PARAMETER STUDY
robustness, directivity and physical comfort for excellent
The framework of the presented antenna is shown in Fig.
operations. For narrowband operation, such antennas show a
1. The 50 ohm coplanar waveguide (CPW) feed antenna is
shift of resonant frequency when in close contact with human
composed of a modified rectangle patch with truncated top
body [1-4]. Simultaneously, antenna may experiences
and bevelled bottom corners which ensure broadband
different bending situations when human body moves.
impedance transitions. This antenna is printed on a
Therefore maintaining balanced electrical and mechanical
37.91×28.39mm2 flexible LCP substrate with tangent loss of
features under distinct bending situations are also the major
0.009, relative permittivity of 2.9 and thickness of 0.88mm.
discretions in the study of the wearable antenna. On the other
Partial ground planes are printed on the front face of the
hand, computing the impact of these antennas on the human
antenna which are lying symmetrically on each side of the
body regarding maximum allowable specific absorption rate
feed line with 0.21mm gap. CST microwave studio is used to
(SAR) is important too [5].
simulate and analyze the proposed antenna. The optimized
Various low-profile antennas along textile substrates are values of some parameters are tabulated in Table I.
investigated in [6,7, 8]. Disrupted substrate material of an
antenna can be easily affected by the humidity. Thus an
expensive substrate is used to fabricate a miniacape-like
monopole antenna in [9]. In [10] and [11], a dual band circular
radiator antenna is designed with area size of 3846 mm2 on the
Roger Duriod 5870 substrate and 2500 mm2 on expensive
velcro substrate respectively. A 931 mm2 coplanar waveguide
(CPW)-fed tri-band antenna of 3-GHz, 5-GHz and UWB
upper band on FR4 substrate has been introduced in [12]
where bending conditions are ignored. A complex structured
textile based dual band coplanar antenna is proposed in [13]
on an electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) substrate. (a) (b)

Fig. 1. Structure of the antenna (a) front view, (b) side view.

978-1-5386-3374-8/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE

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TABLE I. PARAMETERS OF THE PROPOSED ANTENNA C. Bending the antenna

Considering human body shape and movement, holding
the body worn antenna in a flat position is quite challenging.
Hence it is necessary to study the wearable antenna’s
performance under different bending conditions for WBAN
applications. The proposed antenna is bended with three radii
of curvature values, namely, 600, 400 and 200 along the x-axis
for horizontal and y-axis for vertical bending. Fig. 5
(a,b,c,d,e,f) presents the six bended antenna.
III. RESULT ANALYSIS, PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND
COMPARISON WITH OTHER RELATED WORK

A. Return loss and VSWR of the proposed antenna

The return loss and VSWR of the simulated antenna are
given in Fig. 2 and 3 respectively. Considering -10 dB level, (a) (b) (c)
the antenna covers from 3.2 to 14 GHz frequency band. From
Fig. 3, it is clearly seen that VSWR≤ 2 in the operating band.

(d) (e) (f)

Fig. 5. Different bending at (a) 600 horizontal, (b) 400 horizontal (c) 200
horizontal (d) 600 vertical, (e) 400 vertical, (f) 200 vertical.

Fig. 2. The return loss of the flat antenna. Fig. 6 (a, b) displays the simulated return loss and VSWR
of the antenna under the four radii bending values. From Fig.
6(a), it is examined that the antenna maintains its resonant
frequency by exhibiting -10dB return loss for the entire
operating frequency bands. However, at extreme 20 degree
bending condition the starting of the lower frequency band has
been shifted to 3.17 GHz from 3.2 GHz due to the change in
the impedance path of the antenna. Besides, Fig. 6(b) shows
that VSWR≤ 2 in the operating frequency band.
Fig. 3. VSWR of the flat antenna.

B. Current distribution of the proposed antenna

It can be noticed from Fig. 4(a) that for lower frequency
band, the electric current is concentrated mostly on the edge of
the bottom corner of the radiating patch, edge of the ground
and feed line. In Fig. 4(b), currents are concentrated mostly on
the edge of top and bottom corners of the radiating patch, edge
of the ground and feed line for higher frequency band. So (a)
ground plane and feed line also have effects on both the lower
and higher frequency bands. Current distribution on the
antenna at 4 GHz and 13 GHz is shown in Fig. 4 (a,b).

(b)
Fig. 6. (a) Return loss under different bending conditions. (b)VSWR
under different bending conditions.
(a) (b)

Fig. 4. Current distribution at (a) 4 GHz, (b) 13 GHz.


D. Human body loading and humid condition
Human body can degrade the performance of the worn
antenna due to presence of the biological tissues beneath the
antenna [19].Therefore, the wearable antenna should be
resilient to human body loading effects and withstand the
degrading factors. To evaluate the human body loading effect,
the proposed antenna is placed on the right arm and leg of the
realistic human Hugo voxel model shown in Fig. 7 provided
by CST microwave studio [21]. Moreover, to analyze the
performance under humid condition, the proposed antenna
(except the waveguide port area) is submerged in the water
vapor environment as shown in Fig 8 to simulate humid
environment.
The simulated free space as well as on-body and humid
condition reflection co-efficient and VSWR of the antenna are
presented in Fig. 9 (a,b).
Fig. 7. Antenna on human voxel model (HUGO).
Fig. 8. Antenna in the water vapor .
It can be depicted from Fig. 9(a) that the resonant
frequency of the suggested antenna remain unchanged by
maintaining -10dB return loss. However, depth of the return
loss has been deceased due to presence of the human tissue
and water vapor. On the other hand, Fig. 9(b) shows VSWR is
also in the acceptable range.
(a)
192
(b)
Fig. 9. Effect of human body and humidity on (a) Return loss (b) VSWR.
E. Specific Absorption Rate Analysis
Since wearable antennas operate in the proximity of the
human body, it is important to consider the amount of
radiation absorbing by the body. According to the
specifications of FCC, maximum SAR value can be 1.6 W/kg
averaged over 1 g of tissue [4]. To investigate the SAR, the
antenna is placed on a single layer muscle phantom model
(400x400x80m3) maintaining a distance of 5 mm. The SAR
value is found to be less than 1.6 W/Kg at different
frequencies. The computed value of SAR at 13 GHz is
depicted in Fig. 10 as an example.
Fig. 10. SAR at 13 GHz
F. Radiation pattern analysis
The radiation pattern of the presented antenna is also
evaluated in different situations. These include free space,
different bending radii curvature, humid condition and on
human body placement. The simulated radiation pattern is
calculated in the E and H plane for different frequencies.
1) free space (flat and bended condition): Fig. 11 and 12
show E and H plane radiation patterns respectively, for 4 GHz,
8 GHz and 12 GHz. From figure 11 it is seen that in the E
plane quasi-omnidirectional pattern is seen at 4 GHz and 12
GHz for both flat and bended conditions. Dipole like radiation
pattern is seen at 8 GHz. A small distortion is visible at 12
GHz when the antenna is being bended by 20 degree.
(a) (b)

(c)
Fig. 11. E plane at (a) 4 GHz, (b) 8 GHz, (c) 12 GHz.
(a) (b)
(c)
Fig. 12. H plane at (a) 4 GHz, (b) 8 GHz, (c) 12 GHz.
Figure 12 represents that in the H plane, the radiation pattern
is nearly omnidirectional under all conditions. However, a
discrepancy is seen when the antenna is 20 degree bended at
12 GHz
2) On-body placement: It is realized from the Fig. 13(a)
that the on-body configuration has degraded the radiation
pattern in E plane by means of changing the quasi-
omnidirectional radiation pattern of the antenna into
directional pattern. This is happened due to radiation from
human body and superposition of the back radiation [12]. In
the H plane, the radiation pattern is still nearly omnidirectional
for the on-body configuration which is given in Fig 13 (b).
(a) (b)
Fig. 13.On-body placement (a) E plane, (b) H plane
193
3) humid condition: It is seen from the figure 14 that the
radiation pattern is nearly omnidirectional for both the E and
H plane under humid condition. A small discrepancy is visible
at 4 GHz for both E and H plane.
(a) (b)
Fig. 14. Humid condition (a) E plane, (b) H plane
G. Gain and Radiation Efficiency analysis
TABLE II. GAIN AND EFFICIENCY OF THE PROPOSED ANTENNA IN
FREE SPACE
Table II represents antenna gain and radiation efficiency
for 4 GHz, 8 GHz and 12 GHz frequency under different
bending and moisture conditions. Maximum and minimum
gains are found at 12 GHz with 600 horizontal bending and at
8 GHz in humid condition, respectively. Gain is decreased at
mid frequency band, perhaps due to the mismatched
impedance which could be improved by optimizing the
impedance matching technique for mid frequency bands. On
the other hand, highest efficiency can be examined at 4GHz
with 400 and 600 horizontal bending. At 8GHz frequency,
lowest efficiency is noticed under all conditions.
Higher frequencies (5, 10, 14 GHz) are considered for
computing gain and efficiency of the antenna on the human
body. Human body back scatters high amount of energy at
higher frequencies which leads to change in directivity and
induced current on the antenna [20].
TABLE III. GAIN AND EFFICIENCY OF THE PROPOSED
ANTENNA ON THE HUMAN BODY
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It can be seen from Table III that the proposed antenna

shows high gain on both hand and leg placement case at 14
GHz due to the reflection of the signal by the human tissues
[12]. Efficiency seems to be decreased for on-body placement
due to the high tissue absorption [12].

H. Comparison with other related work

In order to demonstrate the novelty of this work, the
proposed antenna is compared with the recent works in terms
of dimension, gain, efficiency and the bands covered by the
antenna. From Table IV, it can be noticed that the suggested
antenna has a wide multiband operation while maintaining a
small dimension with high efficiency.
TABLE IV. COMPARISON OF THE PROPOSED ANTENNA WITH
OTHERS IN TERMS OF ANTENNA SIZE AND FREQUENCY BAND

IV. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a flexible wideband wearable antenna has
been presented for WBAN application. Modified rectangle
patch with truncated top and bevelled bottom corners and
partial ground ensure broadband impedance bandwidth of 10.8
GHz ranging from 3.2 to 14 GHz frequency band for VSWR ≤
2. Considering -10dB bandwidth, the antenna maintains its
resonant frequency and sustains in humid and different
bending conditions as well as on-body placement. Besides,
low SAR confirms its competence for WBAN application.

V. REFERENCES