Evaluation of Human Body Communications Pathloss using Capacitive Coupling

Human Body Communications (HBC), standardized around 21 MHz by the IEEE 802.15.6 standard dedicated to Body Area Networks (BAN), are part of emerging techniques exploiting the human body as a propagation channel. HBC can use several coupling techniques, including capacitive coupling (HBC-CC). However, due to the sensitivity of this coupling type to the nearby environment, the determination of the signal attenuation using laboratory measuring equipment is difficult since they alter the propagation path. Therefore, to prevent parasitic coupling and properly evaluate pathloss, dedicated battery-powered portable devices have been developed. In this study, it is then proposed to model a transceiver prototype proposed in literature under the electromagnetic simulator software CST Studio Suite, and to compare for various configurations (emitter-receiver distance, ground electrodes size, and carrier frequency) simulated and measured pathloss obtained with this device. Finally, by following the methodology described in this work, simulation results show a difference of less than 2 dB compared to the measured ones.