Shadowing-Fading BER Characterization of a BAN Diversity Antenna Based on Statistical Measurements of the Human Walking Motion

This paper presents the shadowing analysis of a body area network (BAN) diversity antenna based on the statistical measurements of the human walking motion. First, the dynamic characteristics of the armswing motion were measured using human subjects, and a statistical analysis was then carried out using the measured data to extract useful information for the analysis of a BAN diversity antenna. Second, the analytical results of the shadowing effects of the BAN antenna were shown based on the statistical data of the swing motion. The difference between the typical and the realistic arm-swinging models significantly affected the bit error rate (BER) characteristic of the BAN antenna. To eliminate the shadowing caused by the movement of the arms, a BAN diversity antenna was used. Particular emphasis was placed on the evaluation of the spatial separation of the diversity antennas to attain reduction of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) required to achieve a specific BER performance, considering the combined outcome of shadowing and multipath fading unique to BAN antenna systems. We determined that an antenna angle separation of greater than 80◦ is required to reduce the shadowing effects when the diversity antenna is mounted at the left waist in a symmetrical configuration. Further, an antenna angle separation of 120◦ is required when the diversity antenna is mounted in an asymmetric configuration. key words: body area network (BAN), diversity antenna, walking motion, shadowing, multipath fading, BER analysis