A compact RF switching system for wearable microwave imaging

In this paper, a compact and lightweight RF switching system for wearable microwave imaging device is proposed. The switching system provides wideband performance which covers frequency ranges from DC to 8GHz. A low power microcontroller is integrated with the switch to act as a control unit. By using Bluetooth connection, the switching system can be controlled using an Android mobile phone. An array of eight UWB monopole antennae were connected to the proposed system and its overall performance was evaluated. The measured insertion losses of each of the port show an average loss of 2.14dB at 2GHz. As for the impedance matching of the antennae, the measured return loss values are all below -10dB from 1.5GHz to 4GHz. The size of the circuit is 50 mm × 50mm × 15mm.