Signal measurement system using electrically isolated probe for MHz-band near-field coupling communication

This paper describes an electrically isolated system for measuring signals in near-field coupling communication (NFCC) that uses the surface of the human body as a path to transmit signals in the MHz-band. It is important to assess the path loss of signal propagation near and on the human body to design a stable and reliable NFCC network. We developed an electrically isolated probe consisting of an electrical-to-optical (E/O) converter and an optical-to-electrical (O/E) converter because a tool was required to measure signal loss that did not affect our communication system. It is demonstrated that the measurement system using an E/O and O/E conversion probe is effective to achieve a stable NFCC system.