End-Fire Antenna for BAN at 60 GHz: Impact of Bending, On-Body Performances, and Study of an On to Off-Body Scenario

A compact end-fire wearable Yagi-Uda antenna covering the entire 57-64 GHz frequency band is characterized in free space, in the presence of a skin-equivalent phantom and under bending conditions. The results demonstrate that, when placed on the body and/or bended, the antenna preserves satisfactory performances. The possibility of its use for an on/off-body communications at 60 GHz is investigated numerically and experimentally in a representative scenario in terms of E-field and power flow distributions, as well as in terms of path gain. It is shown that this antenna is a suitable candidate for high-data-rate short-range on/off-body transmissions.