A Miniaturized FSS-Based Eight-Element MIMO Antenna Array for Off/On-Body WBAN Telemetry Applications

Abstract

In this paper, a compact multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna for an off/on-body wireless body area network (WBAN) is presented. The proposed antenna comprises eight elements arranged in a side-by-side, orthogonal, and across configuration on a planar laminate. This MIMO system achieves wideband impedance matching, i.e., fractional bandwidth (FBW) = 111% (7600 MHz) when placed off-body and FBW = 110% (7500 MHz) when placed on-body. The achieved bandwidth covers the ultrawideband (UWB) ranges 3.1–10.6 GHz for UWB-WBANs. To isolate the antenna elements, a Jerusalem cross (JC)-shaped frequency-selective surface (FSS) and meandered structure (MS) was designed and optimized. This proposed isolation mechanism offers at least 20 dB of isolation while maintaining an overall compact profile. Moreover, MIMO performance parameters for off/on-body and the specific absorption rate (SAR) were also evaluated. Stable MIMO performance, acceptable limits of SAR, and optimum radiation characteristics verify its suitability for wideband biotelemetry applications.