Human EMF Exposure in Wearable Networks for Internet of Battlefield Things

Abstract

Numerous antenna design approaches for wearable applications have been investigated in the literature. As on-body wearable communications become more ingrained in our daily activities, the necessity to investigate the impacts of these networks burgeons as a major requirement. In this study, we investigate the human electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure effect from on-body wearable devices at 2.4 GHz and 60 GHz, and compare the results to illustrate how the technology evolution to higher frequencies from wearable communications can impact our health. Our results suggest the average specific absorption rate (SAR) at 60 GHz can exceed the regulatory guidelines within a certain separation distance between a wearable device and the human skin surface. To the best of authors' knowledge, this is the first work that explicitly compares the human EMF exposure at different operating frequencies for on-body wearable communications, which provides a direct roadmap in design of wearable devices to be deployed in the Internet of Battlefield Things (IoBT).