In this paper, on-body radio channel performance of a compact ultra wideband (UWB) antenna is investigated for body-centric wireless communications. Measurement campaigns were first done in the chamber and then repeated in an indoor environment for comparison. The path loss parameter for eight different on-body radio channels has been characterized and analyzed. In addition, the path loss was modeled as a function of distance for 34 different receiver locations for propagation along the front part of the body. Results and analysis show that, compared with anechoic chamber, a reduction of 16.34% path loss exponent is noticed in indoor environment. The antenna shows very good on-body radio channel performance and will be a suitable candidate for future efficient and reliable body-centric wireless communications
