Compact EBG-Backed Planar Monopole for BAN Wearable Applications

This paper presents a planar monopole backed with a 2 x 1 array of electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structures. The reflection phase of a single EBG unit cell has been studied and exploited toward efficient radiation of a planar monopole antenna, intended for wearable applications. The shape of the EBG unit cell and the gap between the ground and the EBG layer are adjusted so that the antenna operates at 2.45 GHz. The proposed antenna retains its impedance matching when placed directly upon a living human subject with an impedance bandwidth of 5%, while it exhibits a measured gain of 6.88 dBi. A novel equivalent array model is presented to qualitatively explain the reported radiation mechanism of the EBG-backed monopole. The proposed antenna is fabricated on a 68 x 38 x 1.57 mm(3) board of semiflexible RT/duroid 5880 substrate. Detailed analysis and measurements are presented for various cases when the antenna is subjected to structural deformation and human body loading, and in all cases, the EBG-backed monopole antenna retains its high performance. The reported efficient and robust radiation performance with very low specific absorption rate, compact size, and high gain make the proposed antenna a superior candidate for most wearable applications used for off-body communication.