Design rules for efficient compact W-BAN antennas

Antennas are an important element of Wireless Body Area Network equipments, as the quality of the antenna and its coupling to the channel will be a key component of the quality of the overall link. Indeed, the antenna and its interaction with the body of the wearer will influence the reading distance, the emitted or received power, but also issues like the specific absorption rate. The design of an efficient antenna is thus one of the keys to the design of an efficient W-BAN links. In this contribution, the specificities of antennas dedicated to W-BAN applications will be reviewed, and then some design rules will be proposed.