Validity of PEC approximation for on-body propagation

Abstract

Abstract-Many articles on on-body propagation assumes that the human body can be approximated by a perfect electric conductor (PEC) instead of the actual constitutive parameters of the human body, which is that of a lossy dielectric. This assumption is investigated in this article through comparison of the scattering of a plane wave at oblique incidence by a PEC and a lossy dielectric cylinder. The investigation shows that the validity of the assumption depends on the polarization of the plane wave, the angle of incidence, and the region of interest.

Geometrical Theory of Diffraction Formulation for On-Body Propagation

“…The original solution can be found in [19], [20]. Note that [19] has a sign error in the coefficient named c n as pointed out in [9]. The problem has also previously been solved for a IBC cylinder [11].…”

“…Others only investigate torsion free cases [1], [7], [8]. The validity of the PEC approximation as well as influence of torsion was briefly investigated in [9], [10].…”

Ear-to-Ear Propagation Model Based on Geometrical Theory of Diffraction

“…Only a few models specific to the head exist [9], [10]. Many of these models use a perfect electric conductor (PEC) approximation of the human body [5]- [10], which is a rather crude model of the human body at 2.45 GHz, as discussed in [11]. Especially models of the head, but also many of the general models, do not clearly investigate or explain which paths the on-body propagation follows.…”