Link characteristics for an off-body UWB transmitter in a hospital environment

Abstract

This paper presents both stationary and mobile signal strength measurements for a wearable UWB radio channel in a hospital environment. The measurements were made using RF-over-fibre technology to eliminate unwanted electromagnetic effects associated with the use of co-axial cables. The results show that received signal strength values depended on whether transmit and receive antennas are in relative line of sight or non line of sight conditions. For mobile tests, both line of sight and non line of sight conditions tended to have lognormally distributed fading with the latter having significantly lower mean signal strength. For stationary conditions, signal strength was also dependant on user mode, with the difference between standing and sitting in the same location being up to 5.3 dB.