SBIR Phase I: Low Cost High Performance Fully Integrated Into MATLAB And Accessible FDTD Simulator of Wireless Body Area Networks (BANs)

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a low-cost, high-performance, user-accessible Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) based simulator of wireless Body Area Networks (BANs), written entirely with the MATLAB software package. The simulator, with real-time visualization of electromagnetic fields in and around the human body, is to be used for training of the next generation of biomedical and electrical engineers, and medical students. The proposed software will give students an intuitive feel for electromagnetic wave propagation, wave scattering and absorption by material structures, and the effects on signal integrity due to human body interference. It is also intended for performing applied and fundamental research in the area of wireless healthcare. The simulator supports mathematical foundations and software implementations of the FDTD method, and modern broadband/ultrawideband communication and localization techniques. It will be developed by Neva Electromagnetics, LLC (Neva EM) in collaboration with Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Michigan State University, and Harvard University Medical School. The key feature of the simulator is a new model for small coil antennas, which are commonly used in wireless healthcare. This model is based on the FDTD Dipole Moment (DM) method, a simple and powerful technique recently developed at Pennsylvania State University. The broader impact and the commercial potential of this project is in transition of the BAN electromagnetic modeling tools to a much wider audience of scholars and engineers via the accessible and highly visual MATLAB platform. In the past decade, wireless sensor networks have emerged as an industry showing great potential to stimulate the US economy. The most promising area of economic growth in sensor networks today may be the wireless healthcare industry, including wireless BANs. The developed product targets Received Signal Strength (RSS), Time of Arrival (TOA), and Direction of Arrival (DOA) estimations for basic small antenna sources (small coil and dipole antennas) in BANs, various pulse forms, and different antenna topologies. The product is capable of modeling multi-sensor networks and body-scanning antenna arrays, which are subject to mutual coupling between individual radiators. A large library of high-resolution, realistic body meshes exported into MATLAB is included. Due to its flexibility, the product also targets potential secondary commercial and educational markets: body-worn antennas, ground-penetrating radar, remote sensing applications, and underwater wireless links. Open-source I/O and parameter identification MATLAB codes make it possible to customize the simulator to address the unique needs of potential customers from academia, industry, and government.