A conformable dual-band antenna equipped with AMC for WBAN applications

A novel dual-band antenna is investigated for wireless body area network (WBAN) applications. The design begins with a ring-shaped printed monopole antenna, operating in the Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) bands of 2.45 GHz and 5.8 GHz. To reduce the backward scattering wave towards the human body, the monopole antenna is set above a circular-shaped Artificial Magnetic Conductor (AMC) structure. The configuration of the AMC-integrated antenna is low profile with a thickness of 3.7 mm and compact with the area of 102 × 102 mm
²
. Due to introducing flexible substrate, it can be conformal to the human body. Simulated results show that the proposed antenna combined with AMC has an average gain of 11.8 dBi in lower band, 8 dBi in upper band, and the front-to-back ratio of 10 dB, when placed on the phantom. Compared to conventional monopole antennas, the radiation characteristics are improved, making it a good candidate for WBAN applications.