A physical layer security analysis on the electric-field intra-body communication

Intra-body communication (IBC) has gone through explosively growth in both human body channel characterization as well as circuits and systems implementation in recent years. However, up to now, the physical layer security issues of the IBC has never been carefully studied. This is the first paper analyzing the physical layer security issues of electric-field IBC (EF-IBC). The EF-IBC channel gain and the channel radiation gain (gain from an active EF-IBC channel to a nearby EF-IBC receiver) is measured, compared and analyzed. When considering channel gain, channel radiation gain, environmental interference, and the channel security, the desirable frequency band for IBC should be from 45MHz to 80MHz when the security is not of primary concern. The band from 60MHz to 80MHz is preferred when open-arm position is involved and security is important.