Theoretical Analysis of AM and FM Interference Robustness of Integrating DDR Receiver for Human Body Communication

Prolific growth of miniaturized devices has led to widespread use of wearable devices and physiological sensors. The state-of-art technique for connecting these devices and sensors is through wireless radio waves. However, wireless body area wireless body area network (WBAN) suffers from limited security (wireless signals from energy-constrained sensors can be snooped by nearby attackers), poor energy-efficiency (up conversion and down conversion), and self-interference. Human body communication (HBC), which uses human body as a conducting medium, has emerged as a new alternative physical layer for WBAN, as it can enable communication with better energy efficiency and enhanced security. Broadband (BB) HBC uses the human body channel as a broadband communication medium and can enable higher energy efficiency compared to narrowband HBC. However, due to the antenna effect of human body, ambient interferences get picked up from the environment, proving to be one of the primary bottlenecks for BB-HBC systems. In this paper, we analyze the performance of an integrating dual data rate (I-DDR) receiver, which enables interference robust BB-HBC, under continuous wave (CW), amplitude modulated (AM), and frequency modulated (FM) interferences. Theoretical derivations along with simulations provide key insights into the behavior of I-DDR receiver under different interference scenarios, highlighting the efficacy (>22 dB improvement in SIR tolerance for both FM and AM) of the technique. Finally, measurements are carried out by applying the I-DDR principle on signals transmitted through the human body and captured on an oscilloscope. Measurements from an I-DDR receiver fabricated in TSMC 65 nm technology shows <;10
^-4
BER in presence of CW, AM, and FM interference with -21 dB SIR further demonstrating the efficacy of the I-DDR method in interference rejection.