13th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP 2019)

A Planar SIW Cavity-backed Tilted-Slots Antenna for

WBAN Application
Divya Chaturvedi1, Arvind Kumar1,2, Singaravelu Raghavan1
Dept. of ECE, National Institute of Technology1 Tiruchirappalli, INDIA
Madanapalle Institute of Technology & Science1, 2, INDIA
divyanitt31@gmail.com1

Abstract— This paper presents a compact and planar cavity- bandwidth. Few techniques for bandwidth enhancement such
backed antenna for wireless body area network (WBAN) as coupling the hybrid modes by adjusting the dimensions of
application at 5.8 GHz. The planar cavity is realized using the slot and cavity [5], removing the substrate beneath the
Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) technology. The SIW
cavity consists of two rectangular-tilted slots and two metalized
via holes. The slots are introduced on the top plane for radiation
while metalized vias are introduced in the proximity of the slots
to enlarge the impedance bandwidth. To evaluate on-body
performance, a pork muscle equivalent phantom is used in
simulation studies. The simulated -10 dB impedance bandwidth
on-phantom is 270 MHz (5.62-5.89 GHz) which fully covers the
Industrial, Scientific and medical (ISM) band. The SAR Value
per 10 g mass of tissue is 1.48 mW/g with an input power of
100mW which is satisfactorily below than specified FCC limits.
Index Terms— Compact antenna, Metalized vias, Substrate
Integrated Waveguide (SIW), WBAN

I. INTRODUCTION
(a)
In recent years, with the proliferation of modern wireless
health-care equipment’s in Wireless Body Area Network
(WBAN), the compact and low-profile slot antennas are in
high demand [1]. The essential requirements to implement
the antenna for off-body communication are a low value of
specific absorption rate (SAR ≤ 1.6 mW/g), unidirectional
radiation pattern and rigid performance in the proximity of
the body [2]. The better isolation from surroundings and
unidirectional radiation pattern can be achieved by extending
the ground plane or by placing a cavity behind the radiator.
However, the increment in the ground plane size enhances the (b)
overall footprint of the antenna. On the other hand, placement Fig.1 (a) Proposed SIW cavity-backed tilted-slots antenna (b) Geometry of
of the cavity leads to increase the volume which makes the slots and vias, Dimensions (W = 20, L = 38, ls = 19, ws = 1, g = 0.8, 𝑑′ =
1, d = 1, p = 2, s = 3.5, w50 = 3.4, α =23o) (Units: mm).
antenna incompatible for planar integration.
Recently, substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) based radiator [6], and by placing a via-hole above the slot [7]
cavity-backed slotted antennas have been attracting much are reported in the literature. The SIW cavity-backed slotted
attention due to their exceptional features such as light- antennas operating in Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM
weight, low-profile, self-consistent electrical shielding, cost- at 5.8 GHz) band are reported in [8]-[10] for off-body
efficient fabrication and easy integration with the planar communication. In these antennas, ring slots have been used
technology [3]. In addition, the SIW cavity-backed slot for radiation which provides monopolar like radiation in its
antennas are the best candidates of WBAN for off-body dominant mode (null in the broadside direction).
communication because they comprise the features of the
This paper presents a novel SIW cavity-backed slot
bulky waveguide (i.e. high gain, high FTBR, unidirectional
antenna for ISM band 150 MHz (5.725-5.875 GHz). Two
radiation) and planar microstrip antennas (i.e. low-profile,
cost-efficient and easy integration with planar microwave rectangular slots which are tilted at an angle of 23o from the
circuits) [4]. However, these antennas suffer from the narrow Y-axis, have been utilized to excite a hybrid mode near to the
cavity modes. Two shorting vias are carefully placed in the
 13th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP 2019)

vicinity of the slots to couple the modes in the operating band. 0

The performance of the antenna is executed in free space as TE1110 mode
well as in close proximity to the homogeneous pork muscle TE120 mode
Hybrid mode
equivalent phantom. The proposed antenna shows stable -10

|S11| (dB)
performance and low value of SAR in the proximity of
(TE110 mode + Hybrid mode
phantom compared to the conventional planar antennas. -20 + TE120 mode)

Prototype1
II. ANTENNA CONFIGURATION AND DESIGN -30 Prototype2
Proposed antenna TE120
The proposed SIW cavity backed slot antenna is realized
using a RO4003C substrate of dielectric constant 3.55 and loss 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5
tangent is 0.0027 with a thickness of 1.524 mm. The Frequency (GHz)

configuration of the proposed antenna has been shown in Fig. (d)

Fig. 2. Design evolution (a) Prototype1 (b) Protytype2 (c) Proposed
1. The side-walls of the cavity are realized by connecting top antenna (d) Reflection coefficients vs frequencies of the prototypes
and bottom claddings with shorting vias. Also, to avoid the
loss of energy from the side-walls, the SIW guidelines for
diameter and pitch distance (𝑑⁄𝑝 ≥ 0.5 and 𝑑 ⁄𝜆0 ≤ 0.1)[3]
have been followed. In order to excite only TEn1 modes for
resonance, the width (W) of the rectangular SIW cavity is
selected as half of its length (L). The resonant frequency of the
cavity is calculated using (1) [10], considering it a
conventional dielectric filled waveguide.

𝑐 𝑚 𝑛 (a) (b) (c)

𝑓𝑐 = 2 √( 𝐿 )2 + (𝑊 )2 (1) Fig. 3. Electric field vector at the top dielectric plane (a) 5.6 GHz, (b) 5.65
√𝜀𝑟
GHz, and (c) 5.85 GHz

𝑓𝑟 = 1.25𝑓𝑐
Where c is the velocity of light, εr is the relative
permittivity, m and n are the mode numbers. The cavity is
excited with a 50Ω inset microstrip feedline to support
dominant mode in C-band (around 4.8 GHz). Two modes (i.e.
TE110 and TE120) are opted as working modes of the cavity.
Two rectangular slots (i.e. Slot1 and Slot2) tilted at an
angle of 23o from the Y-axis are introduced on the top cladding
of the cavity for radiation, shown in Fig. 2(a). The placement
of slots perturb the cavity modes TE110 and TE120 and excites
a hybrid mode close to the TE120 mode. Thus, the modified
cavity modes resonate at 4.25 GHz and 5.9 GHz, respectively.
Whereas, a hybrid mode which is a combination of TE110
mode and TE120 mode resonates at 5.4 GHz. In order to
(a) (b) (c)
enhance the bandwidth, two metalized vias are placed in the
vicinity of the slots subsequently, shown in Fig. 2(b) and (c).
To affect prominently TE110 mode, the vias are placed at the
null voltage position of the TE120 mode. When first via (Via1)
is introduced, the resonance of TE110 mode shifts at 5.2 GHz
and hybrid mode shifts at 5.65 GHz while TE120 mode remains
unaltered. In the next step when second via (i.e. Via2) is
introduced, TE110 further shifts higher and get coupled with
the higher order modes. Thus, the impedance bandwidth of the
operating band is obtained of 5.65-5.99 GHz. The shift in the
dominant mode towards the higher end with loading the
metalized vias is achieved due to shunt-inductance loading.
Also, it can be observed in Fig. 2(b) and (c) that as compared
to the single via, the two vias loading enhance the fractional
bandwidth by 1.8% (from 4.2% to 6%). The electric field
distribution in vector form of the proposed antenna at
resonances of TE110 mode, hybrid mode and modified TE120
mode i.e. 5.6, 5.65 and 5.85 GHz, respectively, have been
depicted in Fig. 3. It can be observed from the field
distribution that the hybrid mode and TE120 modes are
radiating modes due to magnitude and phase difference across
the slot while TE110 mode is a non-radiating mode which is
used to enhance the bandwidth.
III. PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS

A. Free space
To study the effects of key parameters on the resonant
frequencies, a parametric study is done using CST 2016
simulation solver. The variation of resonant frequencies with
 13th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP 2019)

the slot length (ls), the distance between the slots (ds) and mm × 70 mm × 50 mm is employed which is shown in Fig.
different inclination angles (α) are discussed in this section. It 6. The properties of the pork phantom are quantified from the
can be witnessed in Fig. 4(a) that higher resonant frequency simulations at 5.8 GHz as (εr = 48.4, σ = 4.8 S/m) [10]. The
(i.e. at 5.8 GHz) is mainly influenced by slot length because antenna is placed at 2 mm spacing from the phantom. A
this mode is largely perturbed by the slots. Thus, with comparison of performance parameters in free space and on-
increasing ls, the resonant frequency corresponding to TE120 phantom has been tabulated in Table 2. When the antenna is
mode decreases, resulting in impedance bandwidth also placed on the phantom, simulated bandwidth is reduced by
getting decreased. From Fig. 4(b) it can be observed that the 20%, efficiency is reduced by 6%, and gain is reduced by
gap between the slots (i.e. dx) has a large impact on 10%. The variation in the performance on-pork compared to
bandwidth. By increasing dx, the resonance of hybrid mode free space is observed due to the high value of the dielectric
and TE110 is shifting down, as a result, bandwidth is getting constant of pork tissues which absorb the back radiations of
increased. However, the higher resonance of TE120 mode the antenna. The simulated results confirm that the proposed.
remains same. In addition, the enhancement in bandwidth is antenna shows better performance than other conventional
0 0.6
0.5
Bandwidth (GHz)

-10
|S11| (dB)

0.4
ls = 18.4
-20 0.3
ls = 18.6
-30 ls = 18.8 0.2
ls = 19.0 0.1
-40
5.1 5.4 5.7 6.0 3.4 3.6 3.8 4.0 4.2 4.4
Frequency (GHz) dx (mm)

(a) (b)
Fig. 4 Variation of the resonant frequency with different values of (a) ls and
(b) dx Fig. 6. Homogeneous pork muscle equivalent phantom

0 planar antennas. According to FCC limits (IEEE C95.1

standard), SAR should be less than 1.6 W/kg for 10 g mass
of tissues [9] SIW antennas provide a good isolation from
-10
body tissues due to the presence of a complete ground plane
|S11| (dB)

and closed cavity structure which offers self-consistent

-20 shielding. The proposed antenna offers a lower value of SAR
 = 23o i.e. 1.45 mW/g in a compact planar structure due to SIW
-30  = 26o cavity implementation, shown in Table.1. A comparison of
 = 29o reflection coefficients in free space and on on-phantom has
 = 32o been exhibited in Fig. 7 for a clear demonstration. For on-
-40
5.2 5.4 5.6 5.8 6.0 6.2
phantom conditions, a slight decrease in the impedance
Frequency (GHz)
bandwidth and gain is observed.
Table1. Comparison of parameters in free space and pork- phantom
Fig. 5. Variation of |S11 | with α
possible by moving the slots towards the +Y axis, shown Parameters The antenna in free The antenna on skin
in Fig. 5. As α decreases, the coupling of both the modes space equivalent phantom
becomes weak which improves the impedance bandwidth. Bandwidth (MHz) 340 270
Hence, it has been revealed from the parametric study that Gain (dBi) 7.45 6.7
many parameters are responsible for variation in the modes.
Efficiency (%) 84 79
The series capacitive loading of the slots and shunt inductive
loading of the metalized vias improve the impedance SAR in mW/g (input power =100mW) 1.45
bandwidth significantly. Thus, a wide impedance bandwidth
ranging 5.65~5.99 GHz is achieved at 5.8 GHz which covers IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
the complete ISM band (5.725‒5.875 GHz) with 150 MHz For the validation of simulations, the proposed geometry
extra margins. The optimized dimensions of the proposed is fabricated using standard Printed Circuit Board (PCB)
geometry are shown in Fig. 1. process and tested in terms of reflection coefficients and
gain. The electrical size of the antenna is 1.2λ1 × 0.9λ1 ×
B. In proximity to the phantom 0.05λ1, where λ1 is the guide wavelength at the lowest
To investigate the antenna performance in terms of the resonant frequency. The photograph of the fabricated
reflection coefficient and gain for on-body conditions, a prototype has been shown in Fig. 7. A comparison of the
homogeneous pork-muscle equivalent phantom of size 100 measured and simulated response of |S11| and gain is depicted
 13th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP 2019)

in Fig. 8, and both the responses are found in an acceptable
agreement. The simulated impedance bandwidth varies in the
range of 5.65 ‒ 5.99 GHz with the simulated gain of 6.1-7.4
dBi while the measured bandwidth varies in the rage of 5.6‒
5.9 GHz with the measured gain of 5.1‒7.15 dBi. The slight
decrease in the measured gain is attributed to dielectric and
conductor losses.
The simulated radiation patterns at the principle cut-
planes (ϕ = 0o and ϕ = 90o) are plotted at two operating
frequencies of 5.65 and 5.85 GHz in free space and on pork
muscle phantom, shown in Fig. 9. Each plot shows a
unidirectional radiation pattern due to cavity-backed
structure and maximum radiation orients towards the
Proposed 5.8 7.0 5.2 0.9 λg×1.2 λg
work
boresight direction. The cross-polar levels in the
boresight direction are below -17 and -19 dB at the
corresponding resonant frequencies. The overall front-to-
back-ratio is better than 15 dB for each resonant frequency.
The proposed geometry shows an almost uniform variation
of gain in the complete operating band. Moreover, it shows
rigid on-body performance, higher gain, and higher
efficiency which makes the proposed geometry an optimum
option to use it in health-care equipment. The performance of
the antenna in free space is comapred with the other
previously reported antenna in Table. 2. Tha antenna shows
better gain and comparable bandwidth with the prototypes in
[5]-[10]. Size of the proposed antenna is also comparable
with other antennas.

Copol. at 5.65 GHz(free space)

X-pol. at 5.65 GHz(free space)
Copol. at 5.65 GHz(on-phantom)
Fig. 7. Fabricated prototype X-pol. at 5.65 GHz(on-phantom)
0 0

0 0
300 -10 60 300 -10 60
8
-20 -20
0 4 -30 -30

0
-10 240 120 240 120
Gain (dBi)
|S11| (dB)

-4
-20 Sim. |S11| (free space)
180 180
Meas. |S11| (free space) -8
-30 Sim. |S11| (on-phantom) (a) (b)
-12
Sim. gain (free space) Copol. at 5.8 GHz (free space)
-40 Meas. gain (free space) X-pol. at 5.8 GHz (free space)
-16 Copol. at 5.8 GHz (on phantom)
Sim. gain (on-phantom) X-pol. at 5.8 GHz (on phantom)
0 0
-50 -20
4.4 4.8 5.2 5.6 6.0 6.4 0 0
Frequency (GHz) 300 -10 60 300 -10 60
Fig. 8. Reflection coefficient and gain plots with frequency -20 -20
-30 -30

Table.2 Comparison of proposed antenna with previous 240 120 240 120
works
Parameters fr(GHz) Gain FBW Size(λ1) 180 180
(dBi) (%) including (c) (d)
feeding Fig. 9. Simulated radiation patterns in free space and on-phantom for H-plane
network (ϕ = 0o) and E-plane (ϕ = 90o) (a), (b)cdcds
at 5.65 GHz, and (c), (d) at 5.85 GHz
[4] 2.45 6.5 14 0.66 λg×0.63 λg
[5] 10.2 6 6.3 0.9 λg×0.77 λg V. CONCLUSION
[6] 2.46 NA 2.16 0.8 λg×1.0 λg This letter presents a novel design using the tilted-slots
[7] 2.46 5.8 3.3 0.78 λg×0.75 λg antenna in SIW cavity. The desired operating band is
obtained by adjusting the inclination angle of the slots. The
[10] 5.8 6.8 2.4 1.0 λg×0.7 λg
bandwidth is enhanced significantly by the coupling of cavity
[11] 5.2, 5.5, 5.8 6.7 13.2 1.5λg × 0.9λg modes and hybrid mode with the help of two metalized vias.
The performance of the antenna has been evaluated in
proximity to the muscle equivalent phantom and all the
 13th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP 2019)

parameters are found very stable. The variation in the

parameters is minor due to the high isolation offered by the
shielded structure of the cavity. The SAR value is under the
safety guidelines. Moreover, the proposed design provides
the advantages of the low profile, higher gain, and
unidirectional radiation pattern in a compact structure which
make it a suitable candidate for WBAN applications.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Authors thank the Rogers Corporation for providing
samples substrates. Divya Chaturvedi thanks the ‘Ministry of
Human Resource Development’ (MHRD), Govt. of India for
providing fellowship.

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