CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

The "Antenna Design for Human Body Applications" project is aimed at designing an antenna which could be used in the presence of human body. This project exploits the fact that antenna measurements deviate from the original designed free-space measurements, in the presence of human tissue. Hence enough compensation has to be provided in the design methods to nullify the deviation caused by the human tissue. These antennas thus designed can be used for body applications.

1.1 - MOTIVATION The demand for wireless on-the-body communications is rapidly increasing due to the revolution in wearable systems demonstrated by the penetration of on-the-body sensors in hospitals, sports medicine and general healthcare practices. Whereas conventional wearable systems are interconnected by wires that restrict a subject's movements, wireless sensors will relay the same physiological data to a network while giving greater flexibility and mobility to users. The antenna is an essential component of building wireless communication links. Antennas used in this kind of applications require a low-profile, compact size, tolerable power consumption, low manufacturing cost and must have little effects on the human body. In this project, we will develop antennas for on-the-body sensors with these properties. On-the-body sensors are usually applied to monitoring various physiological parameters in biomedical applications. These sensors are either placed outside or implanted inside the human body. The type of antenna used in the sensors depends on the sensors' location. Here we consider sensors located on the surface of the human skin. The specifications are listed below : Antenna Dimensions Frequency of operation Radiation range Power consumption Distance to the body Conducting properties of the human skin Bandwidth of the antenna

The critical parameter at this stage is the size of the antenna, i.e., the antenna dimensions. In order to provide mobility the antenna size should be as small as possible.

FIG 1.1 WIRELESS BODY SENSOR NETWORKS

1.2 - PROJECT OVERVIEW In Chapter 2, the selection of the antenna is reasoned based on literature study of various antennas, and the selection of operating frequency is reasoned based on research of the radio-communication regulations and the industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) frequency bands allocation. Fundamentals of antenna design and characterization follow to give an idea of what types of antenna to consider and how to design them. Finally, the effects of the human body on antenna performances are discussed. In Chapter 3, a thorough discussion on microstrip patch antennas is made. This chapter gives an insight on the microstrip antenna topic, since this antenna forms the central aim to be achieved. In Chapter 4, the design considerations are discussed, by specifying various hardware and software components used in the project. This is followed by the design of the antenna selected, keeping the design considerations in view. This designed antenna is tested, through

simulations, in free-space and later in the presence of human tissue. The deviations observed are noted, and proper adjustments are made accordingly. Chapter 5 deals with the simulations, observations and results obtained during the process of designing the antenna, and after the design of the antenna. Chapter 6 gives a qualitative analysis of the results obtained. The investigation results of this project are summarized and the inferences made out are stated, corroborated with proper results. And the future scope of the project is discussed and a proposal for extension of this project is made.

CHAPTER 2 ANTENNAS
An antenna (or aerial) is an electrical device which couples radio waves in free space to an electrical current used by a radio receiver or transmitter. In reception, the antenna intercepts some of the power of an electromagnetic wave in order to produce a tiny voltage that the radio receiver can amplify. Alternatively, a radio transmitter will produce a large radio frequency current that may be applied to the terminals of the same antenna in order to convert it into an electromagnetic wave (radio wave) radiated into free space. Antennas are thus essential to the operation of all radio equipment, both transmitters and receivers. Typically an antenna consists of an arrangement of metallic conductors (or "elements") with an electrical connection to the receiver or transmitter. A current forced through such a conductor by a radio transmitter will create an alternating magnetic field according to Amperes law. Or the alternating magnetic field due to a distant radio transmitter will induce a voltage at the antenna terminals, according to Faraday's law, which is connected to the input of a receiver. In the so-called far field, at a considerable distance away from the antenna, the oscillating magnetic field is coupled with a similarly oscillating electric field; together these define an electromagnetic wave which is capable of propagating great distances.

2.1 THE OPERATING FREQUENCY It is important to consider the potentially hazardous effects associated with electromagnetic (EM) radiation interaction with human tissue, and medical radio protocols should be selected with caution, where the frequency band is an essential factor. 2.1.1 The available frequency bands Several frequency bands are specially licensed for medical applications. In order to cut down costs, many applications are operated in the industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) bands, where no license is required to operate a device. Such ISM bands are integral to the general wireless transmission marketplace and the wireless sensor networking arena. Due to the limited size of their power supply and the fact that they operate in and around living tissue, radio ICs must be low powered. Most low-power ICs operate in the frequency band ranging

from 300MHz to 1GHz. Many licensed and unlicensed frequency bands in this range are available for medical applications. Frequency range [Hz] 6.7656.795 MHz 13.55313.567 MHz 26.95727.283 MHz 40.6640.70 MHz 433.05434.79 MHz 902928 MHz 2.4002.500 GHz 5.7255.875 GHz 2424.25 GHz 6161.5 GHz 122123 GHz 244246 GHz Center frequency [Hz] 6.780 MHz 13.560 MHz 27.120 MHz 40.68 MHz 433.92 MHz 915 MHz 2.450 GHz 5.800 GHz 24.125 GHz 61.25 GHz 122.5 GHz 245 GHz

TAB 2.1 ISM BANDS AND THEIR CENTRAL FREQUENCIES

Our target frequency should be around where medical devices operate. The 402405MHz frequency band is licensed for medical implants. The 2.4GHz ISM band has been popular for the last 5 years. A lot of wireless activities share this spectral space, for example the 802.11 WiFi communication protocols, HomeRF and Bluetooth. This band not allows higher radiation power. Moreover, this band of frequencies is unlicensed and can be used for research and experimental purposes. 2.1.2 The selected frequency An important determination of the antenna size is wavelength. It is inversely proportional to the frequency and is calculated from, =

where c is the velocity of wave (c = 3 108 / in free space) and f is the frequency. Expressing frequency in MHz, the wavelength in centimetres will be,

30000 [ ]

If the centre frequency of the ISM Band is 2.45 GHz, than the antenna height will be comparable to the . The antenna size for our application must be comparable to /4 , which comes out to be comparable to 3 cm. Therefore, 2.45 GHz is a good choice, because 3 cm of antenna length is easy to fabricate and can be worn on the body.

2.2 ANTENNA CHARACTERISTICS To simplify the design we will consider that sensor nodes in a body sensor network can serve only as transmitters, and that communication will be with one central transceiver only. Hence, we will concentrate on characterizing a transmit antenna at this stage. 2.2.1 The transmitting antenna The transmitting antenna is a device that converts the energy of a guided wave into the energy of a free space wave, with the radiation power distributed in a certain pattern in space. The Thevenin equivalent circuit can be used to analyze the performance of electrically small transmitting antennas, where, is the radiation resistance, which is related to the radiated power as,
2 = .

is the loss resistance, which is related to conduction and dielectric losses; is the antenna reactance, which represents the power stored in the near field of the antenna; The antenna can then be represented by the impedance given by,

= + + where, is the antenna input impedance.

2.2.2 Field Regions of Antennas The space surrounding an antenna is normally subdivided into three regions: Reactive near field, Radiating near field and Far field regions, 1. Reactive Near Field : Reactive near field is defined as the portion of the near field region that immediately surrounds the antenna wherein the reactive fields predominate. The outer boundary of this region is taken at the distance 1 from the antenna surface. For most antennas, 1 is given by,

1 = 0.62

where D is the largest dimension of the antenna, and is the wavelength.

2. Radiating Near Field : The radiating near field is the region of the field an antenna between the reactive near field region and the far field region, wherein the radiating fields predominate. In this region, the angular field distribution is dependent upon the distance from the antenna. If the maximum overall dimension of an antenna is very small compared to the wavelength, this region may not exit. The inner and outer boundaries for this region are at the distance of 1 , and 2 from the antenna surface, respectively, and 2 is calculated from, 22 ;

2 = 3. Far Field Region :

>

The far field region is the region of the field of an antenna where the angular field distribution is independent of the distance from the antenna. If the maximum overall dimension of an antenna is bigger than the wavelength, the inner boundary of this region is at the distance 2 from the antenna surface, and the outer boundary at infinity. In this project, the maximum size of the antenna was given by the dimension constraints in the design specification.

2.3 TYPES OF ANTENNAS A brief introduction to some forms of basic antenna types is given in this section, including wire antennas, aperture antennas, array antennas, reflector antennas, lens antennas, and microstrip antennas. 2.3.1 Wire Antennas Straight wire (monopole/dipole), loop, and helix antennas are all members of this family. There are various shapes in each group. Loop antennas may take the form of a circle, rectangle, square, ellipse, or any other configuration. Wire antennas are easy to make, while their dimensions are commensurable with the wavelength.

FIG 2.1 WIRE ANTENNA CONFIGURATIONS 2.3.2 Aperture Antennas Aperture antennas are generally used in aircraft and spacecraft applications. They have sophisticated forms. Figure 2.8 shows some of them. This kind of antennas is preferable in the high frequency range up to 20GHz.

FIG 2.2 PYRAMIDAL HORN, CONICAL HORN, RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE 2.3.2 Array Antennas Single element antennas may not fulfil all the radiation characteristic requirements of an antenna. To obtain the desired pattern, an aggregate of antennas can be arranged in certain advantageous formations. For example, the Yagi-Uda is known as the most common kind of

terrestrial TV antenna on the rooftops of houses. It consists of a driven element (usually a dipole) which is the only elements connected to the transmitter, a reflector behind the driven element which is 5% longer than the driver and prevents radiation of the back of the array, and directors in front of the driven element which are shorter than the driver and focus the radiation in the forward direction.

FIG 2.3 TYPICAL ARRAY ANTENNAS 2.3.4 Reflector Antennas Reflector antennas are used to transmit and receive signals on long distances, which make them a candidate for space radar system. This kind of antennas have very high gain and directivity, and their size is usually very big ( 300m) as well.

FIG 2.4 TYPICAL REFLECTOR ANTENNAS 2.3.6 Microstrip Antennas Microstrip antennas consist of a metallic patch on a dielectric substrate, which has a grounded metallic plane at the opposite side. The patch has great variety of geometries, usually square, rectangular, circular, triangular, and elliptical or some common shape. This type of antenna is low-profile and is easily fabricated using modern printed-circuit technology. They can be mounted on different surfaces from mobile phones to spacecrafts. They are also versatile in terms of resonance frequency, polarization, radiation pattern, and impedance.

The major disadvantages of this type of antenna are low efficiency, low power, high Q, poor polarization purity, poor scan performance, spurious feed radiation and very narrow frequency bandwidth. Methods exist to extend the efficiency and bandwidth of these antennas such as increasing the height of the substrate.

FIG 2.5 RECTANGULAR MICROSTRIP ANTENNA The most typical substrates have a dielectric constant in range of 2.2 < < 12. Thick substrates with low dielectric constant are desirable as they provide better efficiency, larger bandwidth and loosely bound fields for radiation into space. Thin substrates with high dielectric constant are usually applied in microwave circuitry because of their minimized undesired radiation and coupling, and the smaller sizes of their elements; they are however less efficient and have relatively smaller bandwidths.

FIG 2.6 GEOMETRIES OF PATCH IN MICROSTRIP ANTENNAS

2.3.7 Summary The antennas applied in body-worn applications are usually in the categories of monopole/dipole, loop, and microstrip antennas. In our project, having narrowed down antenna requirements, the desired antennas are planar and small. Therefore the types of antenna considered in this project will be microstrip patch antennas.

2.4 ANTENNAS AND HUMAN BODY With the development of mobile phones and other body area wireless applications, Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) calculations of the human head when exposed to EM radiation from hand-held devices have been heavily researched. The research interest is in examining the effect of the human body on these SAR values and their distribution in the human head. When an antenna is operating at 900MHz, placed more than 4cm from human head, differences of up to 53% are observed in SAR values. There is not much research on the effects on other parts of the human body, or at a closer distance to the human body. The interaction between the antennas and the human body consists of two main research interests: the effect the human body has on the field strength of the antennas, and the electromagnetic energy coupled into body tissues. Here we consider only the influence from the human body on the antenna performance.

TAB 2.6 ELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF SPECIFIC HUMAN TISSUES WITHIN THE VISIBLE MAN MODEL AT 2.45 GHz ( IS THE TISSUE CONDUCTIVITY, IS THE DIELECTRIC CONSTANT, AND IS THE PENETRATION DEPTH)

(A)

(B) FIG 2.7 RADIATION PATTERN OF MONOPOLE ANTENNA : (A) OVER PERFECT GROUND PLANE, (B) OVER HUMAN TISSUE

(A)

(B)
FIG 2.7 RADIATION PATTERN OF SQUARE LOOP ANTENNA : (A) OVER PERFECT GROUND PLANE, (B) OVER HUMAN TISSUE

2.6 SUMMARY In this chapter, we first selected the operating frequency for our antenna design to be 2.45 GHz of the unlicensed ISM Band before going further into the designing part of the project. The antenna's fundamentals were then discussed to identify the important parameters for characterizing an antenna. The types of the antennas suitable for on-the-body sensors were selected to be the microstrip patch antennas out of the five common types of antennas, since it promised a planar structure required by our dimension constraints. The chapter was concluded with a study on the effects of the human body on antenna performances: the human body reflected the fields generated by the antennas. A complete picture of the effect should be taken with practical implementations.

CHAPTER 3 MICROSTRIP PATCH ANTENNAS

Microstrip antennas (MSAs) are attractive due to their light weight, conformability and low cost. These antennas can be integrated with printed strip-line feed networks and active devices. This is a relatively new area of antenna engineering. The radiation properties of microstrip structures have been known since the mid 1950s. The application of this type of antennas started in early 1970s when conformal antennas were required for missiles. Rectangular and circular micro strip resonant patches have been used extensively in a variety of array configurations. A major contributing factor for recent advances of microstrip antennas is the current revolution in electronic circuit miniaturization brought about by developments in large scale integration. As conventional antennas are often bulky and costly part of an electronic system, micro strip antennas based on photolithographic technology are seen as an engineering breakthrough. A complete picture of the effect should be taken with practical implementations.

3.1 INTRODUCTION In its most fundamental form, a Microstrip Patch antenna consists of a radiating patch on one side of a dielectric substrate which has a ground plane on the other side. The patch is generally made of conducting material such as copper or gold and can take any possible shape. The radiating patch and the feed lines are usually photo etched on the dielectric substrate.

FIG 3.1 MICROSTRIP ANTENNA

In order to simplify analysis and performance prediction, the patch is generally square, rectangular, circular, triangular, and elliptical or some other common shape. For a rectangular patch, W is the width of the patch, the length L of the patch is usually, 0.3333 0 < L < 0.5 0 where 0 is the free-space wavelength. The patch is selected to be very thin such that t << 0 (where t is the patch thickness). The height h of the dielectric Substrate is usually, 0.003 0 h 0.05 0 The dielectric constant of the substrate ( ) is typically in the range 2.2 12. Microstrip patch antennas radiate primarily because of the fringing fields between the patch edge and the ground plane. For good antenna performance, a thick dielectric substrate having a low dielectric constant is desirable since this provides better efficiency, larger bandwidth and better radiation. However, such a configuration leads to a larger antenna size. In order to design a compact Microstrip patch antenna, substrates with higher dielectric constants must be used which are less efficient and result in narrower bandwidth. Hence a trade-off must be realized between the antenna dimensions and antenna performance.

3.2 ADVANTANGES AND DISADVANTAGES Microstrip patch antennas are increasing in popularity for use in wireless applications due to their low-profile structure. Therefore they are extremely compatible for embedded antennas in handheld wireless devices such as cellular phones, pagers etc. The telemetry and communication antennas on missiles need to be thin and conformal and are often in the form of Microstrip patch antennas. Another area where they have been used successfully is in Satellite communication. Some of their principal advantages discussed by Kumar and Ray are given below: Light weight and low volume Low profile planar configuration which can be easily made conformal to host surface Low fabrication cost, hence can be manufactured in large quantities Supports both, linear as well as circular polarization

Can be easily integrated with microwave integrated circuits (MICs) Capable of dual and triple frequency operations Mechanically robust when mounted on rigid surfaces

Microstrip patch antennas suffer from some drawbacks as compared to conventional antennas. Some of their major disadvantages are given below: Narrow Bandwith Low efficiency Low gain Extraneous radiation from feeds and junctions Poor end fire radiator except tapered slot antennas Low power handling capacity Surface wave excitation

Microstrip patch antennas have a very high antenna quality factor (Q). It represents the losses associated with the antenna where a large Q leads to narrow bandwidth and low efficiency. Q can be reduced by increasing the thickness of the dielectric substrate. But as the thickness increases, an increasing fraction of the total power delivered by the source goes into a surface wave. This surface wave contribution can be counted as an unwanted power loss since it is ultimately scattered at the dielectric bends and causes degradation of the antenna characteristics. Other problems such as lower gain and lower power handling capacity can be overcome by using an array configuration for the elements.

3.3 FEED TECHNIQUES Microstrip patch antennas can be fed by a variety of methods. These methods can be classified into two categories- contacting and non-contacting. In the contacting method, the RF power is fed directly to the radiating patch using a connecting element such as a microstrip line. In the non-contacting scheme, electromagnetic field coupling is done to transfer power between the microstrip line and the radiating patch. The four most popular feed techniques used are the microstrip line, coaxial probe (both contacting schemes), aperture coupling and proximity coupling (both non-contacting schemes).

3.3.1 Microstrip Line Feed In this type of feed technique, a conducting strip is connected directly to the edge of the Microstrip patch. The conducting strip is smaller in width as compared to the patch and this kind of feed arrangement has the advantage that the feed can be etched on the same substrate to provide a planar structure.

FIG 3.2 MICROSTRIP LINE FEED

The purpose of the inset cut in the patch is to match the impedance of the feed line to the patch without the need for any additional matching element. This is achieved by properly controlling the inset position. Hence this is an easy feeding scheme, since it provides ease of fabrication and simplicity in modelling as well as impedance matching. However as the thickness of the dielectric substrate being used, increases, surface waves and spurious feed radiation also increases, which hampers the bandwidth of the antenna. The feed radiation also leads to undesired cross polarized radiation. 3.3.3 Coaxial Feed The Coaxial feed or probe feed is a very common technique used for feeding Microstrip patch antennas. As seen from Figure 3.3, the inner conductor of the coaxial connector extends through the dielectric and is soldered to the radiating patch, while the outer conductor is connected to the ground plane.

FIG 3.3 PROBE FED RMSA

The main advantage of this type of feeding scheme is that the feed can be placed at any desired location inside the patch in order to match with its input impedance. This feed method is easy to fabricate and has low spurious radiation. However, a major disadvantage is that it provides narrow bandwidth and is difficult to model since a hole has to be drilled in the substrate and the connector protrudes outside the ground plane, thus not making it completely planar for thick substrates (h >= 0.02 0 ). Also, for thicker substrates, the increased probe length makes the input impedance more inductive, leading to matching problems. It is seen above that for a thick dielectric substrate, which provides broad bandwidth, the microstrip line feed and the coaxial feed suffer from numerous disadvantages. The non-contacting feed techniques which have been discussed below solve these issues. 3.3.4 Aperture Couple Feed In this type of feed technique, the radiating patch and the microstrip feed line are separated by the ground plane. Coupling between the patch and the feed line is made through a slot or an aperture in the ground plane.

FIG 3.4 APERTURE COUPLE FEED

The coupling aperture is usually centred under the patch, leading to lower cross polarization due to symmetry of the configuration. The amount of coupling from the feed line to the patch is determined by the shape, size and location of the aperture. Since the ground plane separates the patch and the feed line, spurious radiation is minimized. Generally, a high dielectric material is used for bottom substrate and a thick, low dielectric constant material is used for the top substrate to optimize radiation from the patch. The major disadvantage of this feed technique is that it is difficult to fabricate due to multiple layers, which also increases the antenna thickness. This feeding scheme also provides narrow bandwidth. 3.3.5 Proximity Couple Feed This type of feed technique is also called as the electromagnetic coupling scheme. Two dielectric substrates are used such that the feed line is between the two substrates and the radiating patch is on top of the upper substrate. The main advantage of this feed technique is that it eliminates spurious feed radiation and provides very high bandwidth (as high as 13%), due to overall increase in the thickness of the microstrip patch antenna. This scheme also

provides choices between two different dielectric media, one for the patch and one for the feed line to optimize the individual performances.

FIG 3.4 PROXIMITY COUPLED FEED

Matching can be achieved by controlling the length of the feed line and the width-toline ratio of the patch. The major disadvantage of this feed scheme is that it is difficult to fabricate because of the two dielectric layers which need proper alignment. Also, there is an increase in the overall thickness of the antenna.

3.4 METHODS OF ANALYSIS The preferred models for the analysis of Microstrip patch antennas are the transmission line model, cavity model, and full wave model (which include primarily integral equations/Moment Method). The transmission line model is the simplest of all and it gives good physical insight but it is less accurate. The cavity model is more accurate and gives good physical insight but is complex in nature. The full wave models are extremely accurate, versatile and can treat single elements, finite and infinite arrays, stacked elements, arbitrary shaped elements and coupling. These give less insight as compared to the two models mentioned above and are far more complex in nature.

3.4.1 Transmisison Line Model This model represents the microstrip antenna by two slots of width W and height h, separated by a transmission line of length L. The microstrip is essentially a non-homogeneous line of two dielectrics, typically the substrate and air.

FIG 3.5 A MICROSTRIP LINE

FIG 3.6 ELECTRIC FIELD LINES IN A MICROSTRIP

Hence, as seen from Figure 3.6, most of the electric field lines reside in the substrate and parts of some lines in air. As a result, this transmission line cannot support pure transverseelectric-magnetic (TEM) mode of transmission, since the phase velocities would be different in

the air and the substrate. Instead, the dominant mode of propagation would be the quasi-TEM mode. Hence, an effective dielectric constant ( ) must be obtained in order to account for the fringing and the wave propagation in the line. The value of is slightly less then because the fringing fields around the periphery of the patch are not confined in the dielectric substrate but are also spread in the air as shown in Figure 3.6 above. The expression for is given as, + 1 1 = + 1 + 12 2 2
1 2

Where,

Effective Dielectric Constant Dielectric Constant of the substrate Height of the Dielectric Substrate Width of the patch

Consider Figure 3.7 below, which shows a rectangular microstrip patch antenna of length L, width W resting on a substrate of height h. The co-ordinate axis is selected such that the length is along the x direction, width is along the y direction and the height is along the z direction.

FIG 3.7 MICROSTRIP PATCH ANTENNA

In order to operate in the fundamental TM10 mode, the length of the patch must be slightly less than /2 where is the wavelength in the dielectric medium and is equal to 0 /reff where 0 is the free space wavelength. The TM10 mode implies that the field varies one /2 cycle along the length, and there is no variation along the width of the patch. In the Figure 3.8 shown below, the microstrip patch antenna is represented by two slots, separated by a transmission line of length L and open circuited at both the ends. Along the width of the patch, the voltage is maximum and the current is minimum due to the open ends. The fields at the edges can be resolved into normal and tangential components with respect to the ground plane.

FIG 3.8 TOP VIEW & SIDE VIEW OF MICROSTRIP PATCH ANTENNA

It is seen from Figure 3.8 that the normal components of the electric field at the two edges along the width are in opposite directions and thus out of phase since the patch is /2 long and hence they cancel each other in the broadside direction. The tangential components (seen in Figure 3.8), which are in phase, means that the resulting fields combine to give maximum radiated field normal to the surface of the structure. Hence the edges along the width can be represented as two radiating slots, which are /2 apart and excited in phase and radiating in the half space above the ground plane. The fringing fields along the width can be modelled as radiating slots and electrically the patch of the microstrip antenna looks greater than its physical dimensions. The dimensions of the patch along its length have now been extended on each end by a distance L, which is given empirically as:

+ 0.3

+ 0.264 0.3 + 0.8

The effective patch length now becomes, = + 2 For a given resonant frequency 0 , the effective length is given as, = 20

For a rectangular microstrip antenna, the resonant frequency for any mode is given as, 0 = 2
2

1 2 2

For effective radiation, the width W ig given by, = 20 3.4.2 Cavity Model Although the transmission line model discussed in the previous section is easy to use, it has some inherent disadvantages. Specifically, it is useful for patches of rectangular design and it ignores field variations along the radiating edges. These disadvantages can be overcome by using the cavity model. A brief overview of this model is given below. In this model, the interior region of the dielectric substrate is modelled as a cavity bounded by electric walls on the top and bottom. The basis for this assumption is the following observations for thin substrates (h << ). Since the substrate is thin, the fields in the interior region do not vary much in the z direction, i.e. normal to the patch. The electric field is z directed only, and the magnetic field has only the transverse components Hx and Hy in the region bounded by the patch + 1 2

metallization and the ground plane. This observation provides for the electric walls at the top and the bottom.

FIG 3.9 CHARGE DISTRIBUTION AND CURRENT DENSITY CREATION

Consider Figure 3.9 shown above. When the microstrip patch is provided power, a charge distribution is seen on the upper and lower surfaces of the patch and at the bottom of the ground plane. This charge distribution is controlled by two mechanisms, an attractive mechanism and a repulsive mechanism. The attractive mechanism is between the opposite charges on the bottom side of the patch and the ground plane, which helps in keeping the charge concentration intact at the bottom of the patch. The repulsive mechanism is between the like charges on the bottom surface of the patch, which causes pushing of some charges from the bottom, to the top of the patch. As a result of this charge movement, currents flow at the top and bottom surface of the patch. The cavity model assumes that the height to width ratio (i.e. height of substrate and width of the patch) is very small and as a result of this the attractive mechanism dominates and causes most of the charge concentration and the current to be below the patch surface. Much less current would flow on the top surface of the patch and as the height to width ratio further decreases, the current on the top surface of the patch would be almost equal to zero, which would not allow the creation of any tangential magnetic field components to the patch edges. Hence, the four sidewalls could be modelled as perfectly magnetic conducting surfaces. This implies that the magnetic fields and the electric field distribution beneath the patch would not be disturbed. However, in practice, a finite width to height ratio would be there and this would not make the tangential magnetic fields to be completely zero, but they being very small, the side walls could be approximated to be perfectly magnetic conducting. Since the walls of the cavity, as well as the material within it are lossless, the cavity would not radiate and its input impedance would be purely reactive. Hence, in order to account for radiation and a loss mechanism, one must introduce a radiation resistance RR and a loss

resistance RL. A lossy cavity would now represent an antenna and the loss is taken into account by the effective loss t angent eff which is given as: = 1

where is the total antenna quality factor expressed as, 1 1 1 1 = + + represents the quality factor of the dielectric and is given by, = where, is the angular frequency, is the total energy stored in the patch at resonance, is the dielectric loss. tan is the loss tangent of the dielectric 1 = tan

represents the quality factor of the conductor and is given by, =

where, is the height of the substrate, is the skin depth, is the conductor loss. represents the quality factor for radiation and is given by, =

where, is the power radiated from the microstrip patch. so, using the three equations, we get, = tan + +

Thus, the above equation describes the total effective loss tangent for the microstrip patch antenna.

CHAPTER 4 ANTENNA DESIGN

In this chapter, the design procedure of microstrip patch antenna is explained and applied to construct specific design satisfying all the constraints outlined in Chapter 2. After this, in later part of the project the computer simulation results of these designs are tried out. Finally, the best designs are selected and sent for fabrications. But before proceeding with the design, it is always important to know about the hardware and software specifications of the project. 4.1 HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS Any antenna must be measured on a microwave test bench. The microwave test bench consists of : Gunn/Klystron Tube Oscillator Klystron Mount Wave guides Matched Termination Movable shorts Phase shifters Tunable Probes Slide Screw tuners PIN modulators Direct Reading Frequency Meters Wave guide adapters Fixed and tunable attenuators E & H plane bends Wave guide twists Directional & Cross couplers E plane, H Plane, Hybrid and Magic Tees Detector Mount Slotted Section

As of the simulation part, a computer with Processor o 2.9 GHz o Pentium IV o 32 bit processor RAM ( 512 MB) Monitor Keyboard Mouse Graphic Adapter

4.2 SOFTWARE SPECIFICATIONS Since, the project involves good amount of simulation exercise, careful chosing of the software must be done. The software used in this project are, IE3D Simulator (Zeland) Operating System (Windows XP and above) Graphic Accelerator software

4.2.1 About IE3D The IE3D by Zeland Software Inc. has been recently considered as the benchmark for electromagnetic simulation packages. It is a full wave, method of moment (MOM) simulator solving the distribution on 3D and multilayered structures of general shape. The primary formulation of the IE3D is an integral equation obtained through the use of Greens functions. In the IE3D, it is possible to model both the electric current on a metallic structure and a magnetic current representing the field distribution on a metallic aperture. The software is widely used in the design of MMIC, RFIC, LTCC circuits, microwave/millimetre-waves circuits, IC interconnects and packages, HTS circuits, patch antennas, wire antennas, and other RF/wireless antennas. Numerical simulation requires sub-dividing a circuit into small cells. Both rectangular and triangular cells are employed in IE3D. Rectangular cells are used in the regular region for

the best efficiency (each rectangular is equivalent to at least 2 triangular cells). Triangular cells are utilized to fit the irregular boundary. The efficiency of rectangular and triangular cells and flexibility of triangular cells are automatically combined to yield the best result. The solution time for full matrix solver (FMS) is proportional to N 3. Symmetrical matrix solvers (SMS and SMSi) reduce the RAM requirement to half. Partial matrix solver (PMS) only considers the strong coupling and reduces the RAM requirement and simulation time significantly. Iterative matrix solver (IMS) performs iterations based upon the PMSs result. The simulation time for PMS and IMS is proportional to N 2. It saves time and yields accurate results. The newly implemented AIMS III and AIMS III can solve large planar structures using much less time and RAM. For example, simulating an 8-by-8 patch antenna array with feed network may take 2 GB RAM and more than 10 hours on the advanced symmetrical matrix solver SMS (default matrix solver on IE3D). However, the AIMS III matrix solver can solve the same problem with the same accuracy in 1 hour using less than 120 MB RAM. The primary simulation results of IE3D are the parameters S. The S parameters can be optionally converted into a spice netlist. The spice netlist could be imported into a spice simulator for time-domain simulation. IE3D allows users to define the shape of a circuit as optimization variables. The built-in optimizer will be able to optimize the shape of a structure for best performance. The implementation of the Genetic EM optimizer allows robust and efficient electromagnetic optimization for a large number of optimization variables and goals.

4.3 NUMERICAL DESIGN Microstrip line or patch is an inhomogeneous configuration with a dielectric substrate between the ground and patch and air above the patch. As a result, the effective dielectric constant is less than . The fringing fields along the edge of the microstrip patch extend beyond the physical dimensions, thereby increasing the effective width W e . Before going on with the calculations, it would be good to know what values/parameters are already known to us. Some of the parameters that are prescient to us are :

= 2.55 (It is the standard substrate used in microstrip patch antennas). , = 0.002 (The fabrication standard [minima] ). , = 1.59 (standard thickness) 0 = 2.45 , as already discussed, the cenrtre frequency of ISM Band. = 3 108 /, standard constant of speed of light.

The design equations for the rectangular patch antenna, which are also valid for planar transmission lines, are given below. 4.3.1 Patch width For the fundamental TM10 mode, the length W should be slightly less than 2, where is the wavelength in the dielectric medium. Here, is equal to 0 , where0 is the free2 space wavelength and is the effective dielectric constant of the patch, which can be safely estimated as the average of the two dielectric media air and substrate. For an RMSA to be an efficient radiator, W should be taken equal to a half wavelength corresponding to the average of the two dielectric mediums (i.e., substrate and air). = 20 1 + 2

substituting the corresponding values, we get W = 0.045922 m. The effective Width due to fringing fields, is obtained from the equation, = ln + 2 1+ 2
2

where, 4 2 = 6 + 2 6 exp [ 3 and 4 ]

3

 = +

1 +

4
2

1 2 + 1.1

After careful calculations, we get: = 0.045928 , = 6.098489 and = 0.0516

4.3.2 Effective Dielectric Due to dispersion effect, the effective dielectric constant is obtained by, = 0.5[ + 1 + 1 ] where, 10 = 1 +

ln

= 1 +

1 ln 49

4 2 + 1 52 + ln 1 + 4 18.7 18.1 + 0.432 = 0.564exp 0.2 + 0.3

The above equations for obtaining with an accuracy of 0.2% for, 0.01 / 100 and 50 From the above equations, through careful calculations, we get, = 1.086699 = 0.525777 = 1.18505

and finally, = 2.69355

4.3.3 Patch Length For RMSA, generally W >> h, so for quick analysis or design, the extension in length may be approximately calculated by the following simple formula: =

Here, is the change in the electrical length due to fringing field effects. So the Effective electrical length, is, = + 2 Here, L is the actual physical length of the antenna. Another equation contributing to L is given as, = 0 2

So, from the above equations and careful calculations, we obtain, = 9.68801 104 = 0.03730 So, = 0.03536 4.3.4 Summary of physical dimensions and other antenna parameters of RMSA = 0.045922 = 0.0353623 = 0.00159 = 0.002 103 = 2.55

0 = 2.45 The simulations results from IE3D can be seen in 5.1 (Chapter 5, Section 1)

4.4 NUMERICAL DESIGN (EXTENDED) The results obtained by the Rectangular Microstrip Patch Antenna are not upto the satisfactory levels. Through some more literature study, it could be found out that the performance of a square patch antenna is better. The RMSA could not satisfy on these counts: The shift in the resonant frequency came out to be too large. Large deviations from expected values. High VSWR. Low gain. High return loss. Low efficiency.

So, now square patch design is discussed for the same parameters : 0 = 2.45 = 2.55 = 0.002 103 = 0.00159 4.4.1 Patch Dimensions (Length) The resonant length determines the resonant frequency and is about /2 for a rectangular patch excited in its fundamental mode. The patch is, in fact, electrically a bit larger than its physical dimensions due to the fringing fields. The deviation between electrical and physical size is mainly dependent on the PC board thickness and dielectric constant. 0.49 = 0.49 0

Where, L Resonant Length of the square patch antenna Wavelength in the Printed Circuit Board 0 Wavelength in free space Effective dielectric constant of the substrate From the above equations, through careful substitution and calculation, we get = 0.03655 The length is approximated as 36 mm So the dimensions of the square patch are 36 mm X 36 mm.

4.4.2 Summary of physical dimensions and antenna parameters of square patch = 0.03655 = 0.00159 = 0.002 103 = 2.55 0 = 2.45 The simulations results from IE3D can be seen in 5.2 (Chapter 5, Section 2)

4.5 EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS It can be seen that the VSWR of the square patch antenna is not upto the satisfactory levels. Through literature study, we observed that as height of the patch increases, the VSWR decreases.

The VSWR or impedance BW of the MSA is defined as the frequency range over which it is matched with that of the feed line within specified limits. The BW of the MSA is inversely proportional to its quality factor Q and is given by, = 1

So, BW is related to the square root of VSWR. So, if we need to improve the VSWR, we may as well improve the BW. But, the relation between BW and the height of the patch substrate is found experimentally. Figure 4.1 shows the relation of BW vs. Normalised height (/0 ).

FIG 4.1 BW vs. NORMALISED THICKNESS

Simulations og varying (increasing) height of the substrate (h) and the results are tabulated in TAB 5.1. We could clearly see that VSWR decreased and reached a tipping point as the height of the substrate increased from 1.59 mm to 2.8 mm. The simulated results are shown in 5.3 (Chapter 5, Section 3)

4.6 SIMULATING ON HUMAN TISSUE The resultant 36 mm X 36 mm square patch, modified to 2.8 mm of substrate thickness is now simulated with human tissue in place. The human tissue is taken as an infinite ground plane, and simulated accordingly. The simulation results can be seen in 5.4 (Chapter 5, Section 4).

4.7 EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS ON HUMAN TISSUE The results of the simulations on human tissue fails in these aspects : Shifting of the resonant frequency to 2.075 GHz Very Low efficiency

We have aimed at improving on of the qualities, which the 36 mm X 36 mm patch failed on human tissue. We chose to minimise the shift in frequency. It is empirically observed that, the resonant frequency shifted to higher frequencies, on reducing the patch dimensions (especially Length). Theoretically, it can be supported by : 0.49 = 0.49 0

Here, Length of the patch is inversely proportional to the resonant frequency. The simulations are done for various decreasing lengths, in order to shift the resonant frequency to 2.45 GHz from 2.075 GHz. The final length is fixed at 29 mm X 29 mm. The simulated results can be seen in 5.5 (Chapter 5, Section 5).

CHAPTER 5 SIMULATIONS AND RESULTS

Microstrip patch antennas with different patch geometries, feeding techniques, and substrates modelled in IE3D V12 simulation software.

5.1 RECTANGULAR PATCH The feed is a single point probe feed; the simulated results are shown below. The plots are self explanatory. = 0.045922 = 0.0353623 = 0.00159 = 0.002 103 = 2.55 0 = 2.45

FIG 5.1 3D VIEW

FIG 5.1 VSWR vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.2 RETURN LOSS (dB) vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.3 3D RADIATION PATTERN

FIG 5.4 TOTAL FIELD DIRECTIVITY (dB) vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.4 SMITH CHART

5.2 SQUARE PATCH The feed is a single point probe feed at the point 7.2 on X axis with center of the square at the origin. The following are simulation plots for the specified antenna obtained using IE3D software. = 0.03655 = 0.00159 = 0.002 103

 = 2.55

FIG 5.5 3D VIEW OF SQUARE PATCH

FIG 5.5 VSWR vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.6 RETURN LOSS (dB) vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.7 3D RADIATION PATTERN

FIG 5.8 TOTAL FIELD DIRECTIVITY (dB) vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.9 TOTAL FIELD GAIN vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.10 SMITH CHART

5.3 SQUARE PATCH (extended) Now, with support that VSWR decreases with increase in the substrate height, a few observations are made. The observations are tabulated in TAB 5.1.

HEIGHT OF SUBSTRATE (h) 5 mm 3 mm 2 mm 1.8 mm 1.9 mm 2.1 mm 2.2 mm 2.3 mm

RETURN LOSS (dB) -4.5 -5.75 -9 -10.5 -12.5 -13 -13.5 -13.75 VSWR 5 3.1 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.55 1.5 1.5

2.4 mm 2.5 mm 2.6 mm 2.7 mm 2.8 mm 2.9 mm

-14 -14.3 -15 -15.75 -16.25 -16.8

1.55 1.5 1.45 1.39 1.36 1.38

TAB 5.1 OBSERVATIONS MADE WITH VARYING h

The simulations for the following parameters (with h changed to 2.8 mm) are shown below. The diagrams are self explanatory. = 0.03655 = 0.00280 = 0.002 103 = 2.55

FIG 5.11 3D VIEW OF SQUARE PATCH

FIG 5.12 VSWR vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.13 RETURN LOSS (dB) vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.14 3D RADIATION PATTERN

FIG 5.15 TOTAL FIELD DIRECTIVITY (dB) vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.16 RADIATION EFFICIENCY vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.17 SMITH CHART

5.4 SIMULATIONS ON HUMAN TISSUE (SQUARE PATCH) Next, the 36 mm X 36 mm square patch is simulated on human tissue (dry skin), with the following electric properties, , = 1.44 / , = 38.06 = 22.96 = 1.5

FIG 5.18 VSWR vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.19 RETURN LOSS(dB) vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.20 3D RADIATION PATTERN

FIG 5.21 TOTAL FIELD DIRECTIVITY (dB) vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.22 RADIATION EFFICIENCY vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.23 SMITH CHART

5.5 SIMULATIONS ON HUMAN TISSUE (MODIFIED SQUARE PATCH) Various square patches of decreasing size from 36 mm X 36 mm are simulated, we could observe least shift at 26 mm X 26 mm. Here are the simulations of this modified square patch. = 0.02900 = 0.00280 = 0.002 103 = 2.55 , = 1.44 /

 , = 38.06 = 22.96 = 1.5

FIG 5.24 3D VIEW OF SQUARE PATCH

FIG 5.25 VSWR vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.26 RETURN LOSS(dB) vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.27 3D RADIATION PATTERN

FIG 5.28 TOTAL FIELD DIRECTIVITY (dB) vs. FREQUENCY

FIG 5.29 SMITH CHART

CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS & FUTURE SCOPE

In this chapter, the investigation was summarized, the work for this project concluded and the possible future research will be proposed.

6.1 CONCLUSIONS The purpose of this project was to investigate, design, and characterize suitable antennas for wireless on-the-body sensors, which are promising components in the Wireless Body Sensor Networks.

The work started by specifying the antenna with dimensions, the operating frequency, the limitations on radiation power and range, the antenna/human-body interaction was studied by modelling the body tissue in layers as substrates of the antennas. The industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands were originally reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency (RF) energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications. Examples of applications in these bands include radio-frequency process heating, microwave ovens, and medical diathermy machines. The powerful emissions of these devices can create electromagnetic interference and disrupt radio communication using the same frequency, so these devices were limited to certain bands of frequencies.[citation needed] In general, communications equipment operating in these bands must accept any interference generated by ISM equipment. It is still a challenge to make a compromise between the size and the radiation performance: too low efficiency will reduce the battery lifetime significantly.

We first studied the antennas at a high level and enumerated the characteristics and the parameters that describe their performance. We then focused on the antennas potential for satisfying the design specifications. With the present thickness constraints, we considered only the antennas with planar structures. Therefore, the investigation narrowed to microstrip patch antennas. Antennas with different configurations in this category were then characterized by both numerical estimations and computer simulations. These estimations and simulations

revealed the performance of the antennas and their dependency on the geometry, the feeding method, and substrate characteristics. With reference to above set of arguments, we finally focused our attention on the design of RMSA (Rectangular Micro strip antenna). After solving the equations, we came up with design values that can a near good performance but not very much desired. With some literature survey, we came to know that square patches give desired results satisfying the specification with little margin to error. So we went for the square patch and ended up with 36mm X 36 mm square patch antenna which is working at the designed frequency and is giving good return loss and other results. Later, we simulated the same patch by taking influence of human tissue on the antenna into consideration. The performance slightly distorted and even the resonant frequency of operation has changed. By taking the square patch dimension vs. frequency relation, we correspondingly modified the design by taking the shift into consideration. And finally we got the desired results. All the above has been simulated for single probe feed which meant linear polarization. So, for the last design we simulated with orthogonal double feed probe and got satisfactory results with respect to specifications.

6.2 FUTURE SCOPE In order to complete the analysis, the antennas should be tested with the 1-Port S11 measurement. For those antennas revealing good performances during measurements, should then be tested in the radiation pattern measurement. Parameters like radiation pattern, radiation efficiency, gain, directivity, etc. can be obtained from the radiation pattern measurement. With these parameters we will be able to evaluate the antenna at a system level in order to be sure that the antenna meets the radiation range and radiation power constraints. It is more convenient to perform antenna measurements with the test antenna in its receiving mode. The antenna characteristics in the receiving mode are identical to those of the transmitting mode due to reciprocity.

To learn more about the human body and the antenna interaction, antennas should be located in different part of the human body, and with the body in different positions. For example, the wrist should be considered as a finite substrate to our antennas while the chest can be seen as an infinite one. The adhesives may also have an influence on the antenna performance as they absorb water and salt. It will be interesting to see how the antenna

performs in different scenarios such as varying the wearing duration or varying the subjects' activity level (at rest versus during a session of sports) which influences sweat production. Right now the antennas were designed as transmitting antennas. It is possible to try designing the antenna as a transceiver, which will increase the mobility in the WBSN. If more than one antenna design passes the S11 measurement as well as the radiation pattern measurement, the compatibility of the antenna in the entire on-the-body sensor configuration should be considered. The resonance capacitor or the matching network can be integrated with other electronics in the sensors. Again a compromise between size and efficiency will be made to keep the performance of the sensor satisfying with compact size, low power consumption and low cost.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
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13. Bandwidth Enhancement of the Square Rectangular Patch Antenna for Biotelemetry Applications-M.S. Karoui, H. Ghariani, M. Samet, M. Ramdani, R. Perdriau. 14. Comparison Between Two Different Antennas for UWB On-Body Propagation Measurements- A. Alomainy, Y. Hao , Member, IEEE, C. G. Parini, Member, IEEE, and P. S. Hall, Fellow, IEEE 15. Analysis of the Performance of IEEE 802.15.4 for Medical Sensor Body Area Networking- Nicholas F. Timmons, William G. Scanlon. 16. Statistical Analysis and Performance Evaluation for On-Body Radio Propagation With Microstrip Patch Antennas-Akram Alomainy, Yang Hao, Abdus Owadally, Clive G. Parini, Akram Alomainy, Yang Hao, Abdus Owadally, Clive G. Parini. 17. Modelling and Characterisation of a Compact Sensor Antenna for Healthcare Applications- Akram Alomainy, Yang Hao and Frank Pasveer. 18. Antennas And Propagation For Body Centric Communications- Hall P S and Hao. 19. Broadband Microstrip Antennas- Girish Kumar, K. P. Ray. 20. Handbook of microstrip antennas- J R James and P S Hall. 21. Microwave antenna theory and design- Samuel Silver Antenna simulations softwares: 22. Evaluation software: IE3D v11, Zeland software, Inc., http://www.zeland.com/

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