Developing Wearable Antennas For Military Applications

By Smail Tedjini, Pierre Lemaitre-Auger, and Tsitoha Andriamiharivolamena, LCIS Laboratory – Grenoble Institute of Technology; Franck Tirard, Safran Sagem; and Christophe Mercier, Ardeje

Design considerations for wireless body area networks

Wireless and wearable technologies have been continuously evolving since the beginning of this century [1]. Commonly known as wireless body area networks (WBANs), they have numerous applications in a variety of domains — especially in military communications.

There are various categories of WBANs, including the offbody link that aims to connect wearable clothing, such as a vest, to another item of wearable clothing or a base station. In both situations, the integration of an antenna into the clothing is required. It is worth noting that the proximity of the human body must be taken into account for the design of the wearable antenna. Moreover, the requested radiation features of wearable antennas are closely related to the type and properties of communication they will provide.