A Novel Design and Study of a Self-Complimentary Miniaturized Millimeter Wave Antenna for Body-Centric Networks

Abstract

A new self-complimentary compact antenna operating at 60 GHz within the millimeter wave frequency range has been presented in this paper. The design is intended for the wireless body-centric network (WBCN). The proposed compact design has a dimension of 4.5 × 6.03 × 1.59 mm3. The antenna was designed with multiple geometrical structures held upon a narrow feed line with a rectangular slot and parasitic elements to increase bandwidth. Free space simulations of the antenna produced optimistic results in terms of gain, radiation efficiency, and bandwidth; a maximum gain of 6.7 dB was achieved with an efficiency of 84.5%. Parametric studies were carried out to better understand its nature by modifying the key design aspects and comparing the outcomes. A 3D human torso phantom was virtually created with natural human body properties, and the on-body performance of the design was tested by placing the antenna in its near field. With some slight deviation from their peak performance, on-body simulations displayed better results in most of the cases. The antenna was positioned five different gaps from the torso for future investigations. The result of the distance-based study was amazingly good as the antenna performance was consistent throughout all distances. 10.77 GHz of bandwidth is found for the closest distance to the human torso, while the on-body radiation efficiency is also outstanding; the minimum radiation efficiency recorded is 73.78 when the antenna is just a couple of millimeters away. Overall, the comparison shows that the antenna worked best when it was placed only 2 mm apart from the body. Investigation indicates the antenna is a promising candidate for BCN applications because of its wider bandwidth and better on-body efficiency.