L'étude au cours de cette thèse a permis d'aborder en partie les défis des communications BANs à 60 GHz. Cette fréquence présente des intérêts pour les applications BANs, principalement la réduction des interférences, la miniaturisation poussée des antennes, la large bande disponible permettant d'utiliser une technique de communication à faible consommation d'énergie. Pourtant, la forte atténuation à cette fréquence et l'influence du corps, rendent l'établissement d'une liaison BAN fiable et efficace en termes d'énergie à 60 GHz un vrai défi. Pour une analyse détaillée de canal de communication à cette fréquence, une antenne planaire a été conçue et utilisée pour des mesures sur le corps. Les mesures on-body montrent que les liaisons courtes et en conditions LOS (Line Of Sight) sont possibles à 60 GHz, les autres liaisons nécessitent le routage en multi-saut. Pour les scénarios off-body considérés, la faisabilité de l'utilisation des BANs à 60 GHz pour des systèmes de faible consommation d'énergie a été démontrée. En comparaison avec une fréquence dans la bande UWB (4 GHz), la probabilité d'interruption de communication à 60 GHz est toujours inférieure (8%) à celle à 4 GHz (15%), en respectant les standards de puissance pour les deux fréquences. Sur le plan analytique, pour franchir les difficultés de séparation antenne-canal sur le corps (ou " de-embedding "), plutôt que de considérer le gain d'antenne, une approche théorique basée sur la méthode des images complexes est présentée pour comparer deux antennes canoniques sur le corps en termes d'efficacité et de bilan de liaison. / The 60 GHz-band is interesting for BAN applications mainly for less interference than at microwave frequencies, further antenna miniaturization, wide available band adapted to low energy consumption communication. Nevertheless, the high attenuation at this frequency and the body influence on the propagation enhance the link budget. The design of a reliable and effective communications between nodes on body or for off-body links at 60 GHz is a real challenge. It requires a detailed analysis of the communication channel. For that, a planar antenna was designed and used for channel measurements on body. The on-body measurements show that short-distance and LOS (Line Of Sight) links are possible. The other links with high attenuation could be recovered by applying multi-hop routing techniques. In addition, the dynamics of the body is taken into account by statistical channel measurement on-body at 60 GHz and off-body at two frequencies, 60 GHz and 4 GHz. For the considered off-body scenarios, by taking into account transmission power standards and receiver sensitivity, regarding low power consumption receivers in the literature, the outage probability at 60 GHz is always lower than 8 % whereas that at 4 GHz is lower than 15 %. In the channel consideration, difficulties arise to separate the antenna from the channel (de-embedding) because of the strong influence of the body presence on antenna parameters. A theoretical approach based on the complex images method has been presented to compare two canonical antennas on the body in terms of efficiency and link budget. This result is useful to estimate the energy consumption and to choose antennas for BANs.

Předkládaná disertační práce je zaměřena na \uv{Modelování propagačního kanálu pro off-body komunikaci v oblasti milimetrových vln}. Navzdory pokrokům v rámci bezdrátových sítí v přímé blízkosti člověka stále systémy 5. generace postrádají dostatečnou šířku pásma a dostatečně nízkou odezvu. To je způsobeno neefektivním využíváním rádiového spektra. Tento nedostatek je potřeba co nejdříve odstranit a právě z tohoto důvodu je hlavním cílem této práce navrhnout vylepšený model rádiového kanálů pro off-body komunikaci. Úkolem tohoto modelu je umožnit uživatelům efektivněji a přesněji simulovat propagaci signálu v rámci daného prostředí. Navržený model je dále optimalizován a ověřen vůči nejnovějším měřením, získaným z literatury. Nakonec je tento model implementován do simulačního nástroje NS-3, pomocí kterého je následně využit k simulaci množství scénářů. Hlavním výstupem této práce je ověřený model přenosového kanálu pro off-body komunikaci v rámci milimetrových vln, společně s jeho implementací do simulačního nástroje NS-3, díky čemuž je dostupný pro širokou veřejnost.

The smart environments and the connected human seems to be the future of wireless communications. The development of new frequency bands in the millimeter range will allow us to create high data rate communications which will led to the Wireless Body Environment Networks. In this kind of scenarios, it is expected that the user and the environment will interact. In order to develop such new applications, it is necessary to first study the propagation mechanisms and then, the communication channel underlying body centric environments. This thesis treats of channel models for 60 GHz Body Area Networks and more particularly of three kinds of scenarios: (i) the communication between an external base station and a worn node (off-body); (ii) the communication between two worn nodes (on-body); the communication between an external base station and a hand-held device (near-body). An indoor off-body channel model is numerically proposed and implemented. The model is based on the IEEE 802.11ad indoor standard channel at 60 GHz and a fast computation solution of the scattering of a plane wave by a circular cylinder. The model is developed for two orthogonal polarizations and the communications performances are studied. The on-body propagation is studied for two different configurations: line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight communications on the body. These scenarios led to different solutions for the channel knowing as, respectively, Norton’s equations and creeping formulations. These solutions are obtained using simplified geometries which has been experimentally validated. Further, in order to improve the propagation on the human body, a technique using metallic plates has been proposed. This technique has been theoretically studied using Milligton’s equations and experimentally assessed on a flat phantom with the properties of the human skin. The proposed method allows to save up to 20 dB. Finally, the near-body communication scenario has been introduced and studied. The near-body region is extended from 5 to 30 cm away of the user body which corresponds to the arm’s reach and models a handheld device. A numerical algorithm has been proposed to model indoor near-body environments. Also, a special has been given to statistical body shadowing. It has been shown that the fading follows a Two-Wave Diffuse Power distribution. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur et technologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Wireless communication for biomedical equipment is rapidly improving with the invention of new technologies. Due to the absence of cables, wireless technology is a growing area of interest for biomedical applications. As technology advances, many gadgets are becoming smaller and more portable. Often, there is a need for these medical devices to transfer data in real-time. However, it is critical to recognize the special obstacles connected with the creation of novel products that need in-body to off-body communication. Unlike standard wireless communication scenarios, such as Wi-Fi or cellular networks, where data passes through the air; in-body to off-body communication occurs within or on the surface of the human body. Itis a significant technological challenge to provide dependable and secure communication inside the body’s dynamic and changing environment. The human body’s dielectric characteristics, attenuation, received power, transmitted power, and distance to the receiver must be considered when designing any wireless implantable device. In this thesis, we designed tests with a lossy medium that simulates the human body and a few test protocols that can facilitate the testing and development of wireless communications from in-body to off-body for a medical device intended to support pelvic muscle floor training. We designed the test protocols based on this application and safety requirements. These tests were then used to evaluate and compare two commercially available transceivers operating at 433MHz and 2.4 GHz.We created and implemented several experiments using the communication models. This thesis investigated the properties of a lossy medium in the context of electromagnetic signals in wireless communication. The tests included a study of connectivity, range, latency, and packet errors that occur during signal transmission across the medium. The findings indicate that BLE modules might be more favorable for future advances. The outcomes of this thesis can be utilized as a starting point for the future development of the intended application.BLE technology is distinctive largely by its low power consumption, which is critical for applications where energy efficiency is the main concern. Especially important in the context of IoT (Internet of Things) and wearable devices, where long-lasting battery life is required. Furthermore, BLE provides a more robust and standardized communication protocol, making it easy to integrate and compatible with a wide range of devices and platforms. While 433 MHz modules have advantages such as a longer range and simpler technology, BLE’s increased transmission rate capabilities and broad acceptance in current smartphones and tablets make it more adaptable for applications that require frequent data exchange and compatibility with consumer devices.

The band around 60 GHz is interesting for BAN applications mainly for lowerinterference than at microwave frequencies, wide available band adapted to On-Off Keying(OOK) modulation for low energy consumption and low data rate communication (under10 Mbps), antenna miniaturization. Nevertheless, due to high attenuation at this frequency,the design of a reliable and energy-effective communications for BANs requires a detailedanalysis of the body channel. A planar and compact SIW horn antenna was designed and usedfor body channel measurements at 60 GHz. The main contribution in the antenna design is thebandwidth enhancement covering the whole available band around 60 GHz compared to thesame antenna type available at this frequency. The on-body measurements with this antennashow that short-distance and LOS (Line Of Sight) links are possible at 60 GHz. The bodydynamic is taken into account by statistical off-body channel measurements. For the firsttime, measurements are done for the same scenarios at 60 GHz and another frequency in theUltra WideBand suitable with OOK impulse radio modulation. By taking into accounttransmission power standards and low power consumption receivers sensitivity in theliterature, the potentiality of 60 GHz for BAN is shown with an outage probability lower than8 % whereas this parameter is lower than 15 % at 4 GHz. When characterizing antenna onbody, difficulties arise for antenna de-embedding due to the antenna-body coupling. In fact,the antenna gain depends on transmitter-receiver distance on body. For the first time, aformulation of the vertical dipole gain on body is given. Also a new theoretical approachbased on the complex images method is proposed to compare two types of canonical antennaradiating on body. A vertical dipole and different rectangular apertures are normalizedthrough their input impedance with the same accepted power. The aperture input impedanceformulation has been developed during this study. The aperture efficiencies are 10% higherwhen antennas are at a height lower than 3 mm above the body phantom. The received powerincreases with the antenna size only for phantom direct touch, the difference among antennasis lower than 4 dB for the considered antennas limited with a monomode configuration. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur et technologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The Master´s thesis deals with the theoretical design, practical numerical analyses and optimalization of disc-like antenna and disc-like slot antenna. The antennas have relative omnidirectional radiation characteristics in the horizontal plane, respectively in the vertical plane. Antennas exploit the substrate integrated waveguide technology. The antennas themselves are designed for the purpose of making the antenna array that will be work as an antenna unit for access point. The antennas are manufactured and experimentally verified. The program CST Microwave Studio is used for simulation in the thesis.

[ES] La población mundial en países desarrollados está envejeciendo y con ello existe un aumento de enfermedades en gran medida causadas por la edad. Las nuevas tecnologías médicas pueden ayudar a detectar, diagnosticar y tratar estas enfermedades y con ello ahorrar dinero, tiempo y recursos de los sistemas sanitarios. Las tecnologías inalámbricas implantables han abierto un nuevo panorama para la próxima generación de tecnologías médicas. Frecuencias como la Ultra Wide-Band (UWB) de 3.1 a 10.6 GHz están siendo consideradas para la nueva generación de dispositivos inalámbricos para dentro del cuerpo humano. Las características como el reducido tamaño de las antenas, la baja potencia de transmisión y la alta velocidad de datos son las más buscadas en este tipo de dispositivos. El problema surge porque el cuerpo humano depende de la frecuencia de modo que a mayores frecuencias, mayores son las pérdidas por propagación. Conociendo el canal de transmisión se puede solventar el problema de las altas pérdidas. Esta tesis tiene como objetivo caracterizar el canal de radio frecuencia (RF) para la nueva generación de dispositivos médicos implantables. Para caracterizar el canal se han empleado tres diferentes metodologías: simulaciones numéricas, medidas en phantom y experimentos en animales vivos. Las medidas en phantom fueron realizadas en un nuevo sistema de medidas expresamente disen¿ados para medidas de dentro a fuera del cuerpo humano en la banda de frecuencias UWB. Además, se utilizó un novedoso recipiente con dos capas de phantom imitando la zona gastrointestinal del cuerpo. Estos phantoms fueron creados para este tipo de medidas y son extremadamente precisos a las frecuencias UWB. Para los experimentos en animales se utilizaron cerdos y se intentó reproducir en ellos las medidas previamente realizadas en phantom. Las simulaciones software se realizaron con la intención de replicar ambas metodologías. Una vez realizados los experimentos se realizó un extensivo estudio del canal en dominio frecuencial y temporal. Mas en detalle, se compararon las antenas usadas en la recepción y transmisión, el efecto de la grasa en el canal, la formas del recipiente contenedor de phantom y las componentesmulticamino. Como resultado se ha propuesto un modelo de propagación del canal para la banda baja de las frecuencias UWB (3.1 -5.1 GHz) para la zona gastrointestinal del cuerpo humano. Este modelo de propagación ha sido validado utilizando las tres metodologías previamente descritas y comparada con otros estudios existentes en literatura. Finalmente, se midió el canal de propagación para una determinada aplicación a bajas frecuencias con señales UWB. También se realizaron medidas del canal de propagación en la zona cardíaca del cuerpo humano desde un punto de vista de seguridad de datos. Los resultados obtenidos en esta tesis confirman los beneficios que tendría la utilización de frecuencias UWB para las futuras generaciones de dispositivos médicos implantables. / [CA] La població mundial a països desenvolupats està envellint-se i enfrontant-se a un augment d'infermetats principalment causades per la edat. Les noves tecnologies mèdiques poden ajudar a detectar, diagnosticar i tractar aquestes malalties, estalviant diners, temps i recursos sanitaris. Els dispositius implantables sense fils han generat un nou panorama per a les noves generacions de dispositius mèdics. Les freqüències com la banda de UWB estan sent considerades per a les futures tecnologies implantables. La reduïda grandària de les antenes, la baixa potència de transmissió i les altes velocitats de dades son característiques buscades per als dispositius implantables. Per contra, els éssers humans depenen de la freqüència en el sentit que a majors freqüències, majors les pèrdues per propagació quan el senyal travessa el cos humà d'interior a exterior. Per solventar aquestes pèrdues el canal de propagació s'ha d'entendre i conèixer de la millor manera possible. Aquesta tesi doctoral te com a objectiu caracteritzar el canal de radio freqüència (RF) per a la nova generació de dispositius mèdics implantables. S'han emprat tres metodologies diferents per a realitzar aquesta caracterització: simulacions software, mesures amb fantomes i experiments amb animals vius. Els experiments amb fantomes es van realitzar a un sistema de mesures dissenyat expressament per a les transmissions de dins a fora del cos humà a les freqüències UWB. També es van utilitzar un contenidor per als fantomes de dues capes, imitant l'area gastrointestinal dels humans. Per als experiments a animals es van emprar porcs, replicant els experiments al laboratori en fantomes de la forma més semblant possible. Les simulacions software foren dissenyades per a imitar les experiments amb fantomes i animals. Després dels experiments el canal de propagació es va investigar exhaustivament des del domini freqüèncial i temporal. S'ha observat com les antenes en transmissió i recepció afecten al senyal, la influència de la grassa, la forma del contenidor de fantoma i les possibles contribucions multicamí. Finalment es proposa un nou model de propagació per a les baixes freqüències UWB (3.1 a 5.1 GHz) per a la zona GI del cos humà. El model es va validar utilitzant les tres metodologies abans esmentades i també foren comparades amb model ja existents a la literature. Finalment des d'un punt de vista aplicat, el canal es va avaluar per al senyal UWB a baixes freqüències (60 MHz). A més a més, per a la nova generació de marcapassos sense fil es va investigar el canal des d'un punt de vista de seguretat de dades. Els resultats obtinguts a aquesta tesi confirmen els avantatges d'emprar la banda de freqüències UWB per a la nova generació de dispositius médics implantables. / [EN] The current global population in developed countries is becoming older and facing an increase in diseases mainly caused by age. New medical technologies can help to detect, diagnose and treat illness, saving money, time, and resources of physicians. Wireless in-body devices opened a new scenario for the next generation of medical devices. Frequencies like the Ultra Wide-band (UWB) frequency band (3.1 - 10.6 GHz) are being considered for the next generation of in-body wireless devices. The small size of the antennas, the low power transmission, and the higher data rate are desirable characteristics for in-body devices. However, the human body is frequency ependent, which means higher losses of the radio frequency (RF) signal from in- to out-side the body as the frequency increases. To overcome this, the propagation channel has to be understood and known as much possible to process the signal accordingly. This dissertation aims to characterize the (RF) channel for the future of in-body medical devices. Three different methodologies have been used to characterize the channel: numerical simulations, phantom measurements, and living animals experiments. The phantom measurements were performed in a novel testbed designed for the purpose of in-body measurements at the UWB frequency band. Moreover, multi-layer high accurate phantoms mimicking the gastrointesintal (GI) area were employed. The animal experiments were conducted in living pigs, replicating in the fairest way as possible the phantom measurement campaigns. Lastly, the software simulations were designed to replicate the experimental measurements. An in-depth and detail analysis of the channel was performed in both, frequency and time domain. Concretely, the performance of the receiving and transmitting antennas, the effect of the fat, the shape of the phantom container, and the multipath components were evaluated. Finally, a novel path loss model was obtained for the low UWB frequency band (3.1 - 5.1 GHz) at GI scenarios. The model was validated using the three methodologies and compared with previous models in literature. Finally, from a practical case point of view, the channel was also evaluated for UWB signals at lower frequencies (60 MHz) for the GI area. In addition, for the next generation of leadless pacemakers the security link between the heart and an external device was also evaluated. The results obtained in this dissertation reaffirm the benefits of using the UWB frequency band for the next generation of wireless in-body medical devices. / Pérez Simbor, S. (2019). In-body to On-body Experimental UWB Channel Characterization for the Human Gastrointestinal Area [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/133034 / TESIS