Textile Artificial Magnetic Conductor waveguide sheet with monopole antennas for body centric communication

A textile Artificial Magnetic Conductor (AMC) sheet-like waveguide made of fleece fabric with a wideband coplanar monopoles were designed. The AMC surface is designed to have in-phase reflection at 2.45GHz with the aim to improve the transmission between antennas. The S11 and S21 performances of two antennas with textile AMC sheet was investigated in a free space environment as well as near to human body setting. The effect of different antennas' orientations was also considered. Compared to free space environment, S21 transmission between two antennas was enhanced up to maximum -5.7dB when textile AMC waveguide sheet was placed beneath them. Significant transmission improvement has been observed for both off-body and on-body placements. The in-phase reflection characteristic of the AMC contributes to the transmission enhancement.