Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 September 2018
A planar inverted F-Antenna with the dual band-dual polarization property is presented for medical body area networks applications. The designed antenna covers the 2.45 GHz industrial, scientific and medical, 4 G long term evolution (2.5–2.69 GHz) bands for ON body communication and Wi-Fi and WLAN (3.5–3.6 GHz) bands for OFF body communication. At the lower band, an equivalent offset fed magnetic microstrip type dipole has been utilized that generate field parallel to the surface of the body for supporting ON body communication. The broadside radiation pattern has been realized using the slotted patch counterpart for supporting OFF body communication. This technique has resulted in a design of dual band dual mode property using a single radiator. The footprint of the antenna is only 0.35λg × 0.17λg × 0.08λg. Owing to its compactness, lightweight, and easy mountable property (due to foam substrate), the proposed antenna is found to be robust for MBAN applications. The maximum permissible transmitted power for the 1st band is 25.78 and 20.3 dBm for the 2nd one to maintain standard specific absorption rate limitations of 1.6 W/Kg. Experimental investigations over human body showed minimal deviations from the free space conditions which makes it a potential candidate for body-centric communications.