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Abstract

Capacitive coupling is used to transmit data and power through a user's body. In one implementation, a transmitter carried by the user transmits power and data to a receiver, which is also carried on the user's body. The signal that the transmitter applies to the user's body not only contains a data component, but also powers the receiver and enables it to detect and decode the data. In other implementations, the transmitter or the receiver is physically displaced from the user's body (although both receiver and transmitter are coupled to environmental ground), and data and power are transmitted when the transmitter and receiver become sufficiently proximate--via the user's body--to permit capacitive coupling. The disclosed approach is amenable to a wide variety of applications, ranging from "interbody" exchange of digital information between individuals through physical contact (e.g., a handshake) to "intrabody" data transfer (e.g., between a paging device worn in the shoe and a wristwatch display device) to devices that permit communication between the user and his or her immediate environment.

Other References

• Zimmerman, Personal Area Networks (PAN): Near-Field Intra-Body Communication, MIT Thesis (1995). p. 1-8