Broadband low-loss on-body UHF to millimeter-wave surface wave links using flexible textile single wire transmission lines
Broadband low-loss on-body UHF to millimeter-wave surface wave links using flexible textile single wire transmission lines
On-body transmission represents a challenge due to human body shadowing. This paper proposes a Sommerfeld-Goubau single-wire transmission line (SWTL) implemented using electronic textiles for low-loss on-body links up to millimeter-wave frequencies, overcoming the spherical spreading loss and on-body absorption. The SWTL is fabricated using a conductive thread suitable for embroidery on textiles. A compact tapered launcher is implemented on a flexible polyimide substrate to excite the surface mode along the SWTL. In space, a 3 m-long line maintains a forward transmission over -10 dB between 1 and 3 GHz. The SWTL link is characterized for different body parts showing under 20 dB insertion loss with a 1 cm air gap. Across the torso, a forward transmission over -20 dB is maintained from 0.5 to 2.5 GHz, which represents at least 20 dB improvement over two antennas, of larger dimensions, over-the-air. Directly on-skin, the SWTL can be used around 1 GHz with an S21 over -25 dB, over 50 dB improvement over two on-skin antennas. At 50 GHz, the shielded SWTL exhibits an ultra-low on-body attenuation around 0.11 dB/mm, a four-fold improvement over a microstrip line on the same substrate. It is concluded that SWTLs can enable ultra high-speed future body area networks.
Antennas, body area networks, coplanar waveguides, metamaterials, on-body communications, single wire transmission line, textile metamaterials, textile transmission line, wearables
101-111
Wagih, Mahmoud
7e7b16ba-0c64-4f95-bd3c-99064055f693
1 January 2022
Wagih, Mahmoud
7e7b16ba-0c64-4f95-bd3c-99064055f693
Wagih, Mahmoud
(2022)
Broadband low-loss on-body UHF to millimeter-wave surface wave links using flexible textile single wire transmission lines.
IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation, 3, .
(doi:10.1109/OJAP.2021.3136654).
Abstract
On-body transmission represents a challenge due to human body shadowing. This paper proposes a Sommerfeld-Goubau single-wire transmission line (SWTL) implemented using electronic textiles for low-loss on-body links up to millimeter-wave frequencies, overcoming the spherical spreading loss and on-body absorption. The SWTL is fabricated using a conductive thread suitable for embroidery on textiles. A compact tapered launcher is implemented on a flexible polyimide substrate to excite the surface mode along the SWTL. In space, a 3 m-long line maintains a forward transmission over -10 dB between 1 and 3 GHz. The SWTL link is characterized for different body parts showing under 20 dB insertion loss with a 1 cm air gap. Across the torso, a forward transmission over -20 dB is maintained from 0.5 to 2.5 GHz, which represents at least 20 dB improvement over two antennas, of larger dimensions, over-the-air. Directly on-skin, the SWTL can be used around 1 GHz with an S21 over -25 dB, over 50 dB improvement over two on-skin antennas. At 50 GHz, the shielded SWTL exhibits an ultra-low on-body attenuation around 0.11 dB/mm, a four-fold improvement over a microstrip line on the same substrate. It is concluded that SWTLs can enable ultra high-speed future body area networks.
Text
Wagih21_OJAP_SWTL_Textile
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Submitted date: 14 December 2021
Accepted/In Press date: 16 December 2021
Published date: 1 January 2022
Keywords:
Antennas, body area networks, coplanar waveguides, metamaterials, on-body communications, single wire transmission line, textile metamaterials, textile transmission line, wearables
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 453169
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/453169
ISSN: 2637-6431
PURE UUID: cdf38f68-01e4-4ac7-8028-d15e2a61963c
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Date deposited: 10 Jan 2022 17:51
Last modified: 27 Jul 2024 02:02
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Author:
Mahmoud Wagih
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