Body Mass Index Effect on Ultrawideband MIMO BAN Channel Characterization

摘要

This paper presents a detailed description of a measurement campaign for wireless Body Area Network (BAN) propagation channels in both an anechoic chamber and an indoor Lab environment. We use a self-developed 4 x 4 Ultrawideband (UWB) Multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) array channel sounding system operating in the 2 - 10 GHz frequency band. The main goal of the measurement is the determination of the impact of body mass index (BMI) on the on-body propagation channels. Using a total of 60 test subjects, we determine the BMI-dependence of channel parameters such as pathloss (G0), frequency-dependent decay factor (κ) and shadowing gain (χσ). We find that in particular, BAN channels of test subjects with BMI > 30 show considerable difference to those of subjects with typical BMI.