Broadband CP Wearable Antenna for WBAN Applications

Abstract

In this paper, a compact and simple broadband wide-slot circularly polarized antenna array using a 2×2 artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) is presented for wireless body area network (WBAN) applications. An inverted L-shaped parasitic strip at the open end of a microstrip line extension with a modified slot is introduced improve the wideband CP wearable antenna. The antenna system was conformed over a human body model with optimum separation distance. The simulation results indicate that the antenna has an impedance bandwidth of 60% (3.1-5.74 GHz) and an axial ratio bandwidth of 24% (4.3-5.5 GHz). Furthermore, at the distance of 3 mm away from the human body, the antenna achieved a peak gain of 10.9 dBi and total efficiency of 84.8%. The compact size and high gain of the proposed design, along with its low specific absorption rate, make it a suitable candidate for off-body wearable applications.