Antennas and human in personal communications: applications of modern EM computational techniques

The evolution of wireless personal communications has necessitated the comprehensive understanding of electromagnetic (EM) interactions between handset antennas and a nearby human body. These human-antenna interaction affects the electromagnetic performance of the antenna by changing antenna input impedance, by modifying the antenna radiation patterns and by absorbing antenna delivered power. Recently, the advanced numerical techniques-e.g. the Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) and the Eigenfunction Expansion Method (EEM)-have allowed the detailed study of the antenna properties In the vicinity of human tissues with various antenna configurations. Currently, several research groups around the world have undertaken the assessment of technical requirements for the compliance testing of the handset antennas. Accurate investigation of these EM interactions will lead to new antenna designs which are less susceptible to the human biological tissue. In this paper, we discuss the computed EM interaction results from the FDTD method with an anatomical human tissue model. In addition, useful engineering data for the antenna design are provided based on the EEM computation.