Body Wearable Diversity Antenna Systems for Increased Antenna Performance

The creation of a wearable diversity antenna system for the warfighter presents a variety of challenges. The antennas must be wearable, robust, unobtrusive, light-weight, and interface with existing and future Army radios. To effectively design these antennas simulations must include the effects of human tissue on radio propagation. The antennas must tolerate and compensate for the motion and flexing of the underlying garment. Prototype creation and testing requires specialized knowledge in wearable electronics manufacturing. Luna will evaluate multiple diversity schemes for wearable antennas, validating simulations through direct measurements of a prototype laser-cut fabric antenna. The simulations will consider the entire antenna system including human tissue. In addition to traditional diversity techniques, such as spatial and polarization diversity, field diversity, a powerful technique often neglected, will be simulated.