Antennas Challenges for Body Centric Communications

Communications using antennas on the body is now of interest to enable systems to be developed for a number of applications, including personal entertainment, communications and health related needs. This paper discusses some of the challenges facing designers developing antennas for these applications. For communications links on the body from different equipment, such as a mobile phone, headset or health sensor, channels are currently being characterised and antennas are required that operate well in such a varying environment. Some requirements and early types are discussed. Antennas using fabric materials are also being studied and some examples are shown.