Channel Modeling for Physically Secure Electro-Quasistatic In-Body to Out-of-Body Communication with Galvanic Tx and Multimodal Rx

TL;DR

This paper develops a channel model for secure electro-quasistatic in-body to out-of-body communication, comparing galvanic and capacitive receivers, validated through FEM simulations and experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel channel model for secure in-body to out-of-body communication using electro-quasistatic methods, with experimental validation.

Findings

Galvanic receiver has 5dB lower path loss near transmitter.

Capacitive receiver has 15dB lower path loss at larger distances.

Simulation results align well with experimental data.

Abstract

Increasing number of devices being used in and around the human body has resulted in the exploration of the human body as a communication medium. In this paper, we design a channel model for implantable devices communicating outside the body using physically secure Electro-Quasistatic Human Body Communication. A galvanic receiver shows 5dB lower path loss than capacitive receiver when placed close to transmitter whereas a capacitive receiver has around 15dB lower path loss for larger separation between the transmitter and receiver. Finite Element Method (FEM) based simulations are used to analyze the communication channel for different receiver topologies and experimental data is used to validate the simulation results.