Summary
International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation
2010
Session Number:4FC2
Session:
Number:4FC2-1
Wearable Textile Antenna: The Investigation of Flannel Fabric Layers
Mai A. R. Osman, M.K.A.Rahim, S.H.S Ariffin, S.K.S.Yuosf,
pp.-
Publication Date:2010/11/23
Online ISSN:2188-5079
Summary:
The extensive worldwide research has been carried out on new wearable devices. Wearable Computers can be considered as ancestors to smart clothes. In addition, the evolution of antenna technology for man-machine interface has taken quantum leaps in utilizing textile materials as antenna substrate. This incorporation of the antenna into the uniform has added the benefit of eliminating clumsy devices that can tangle in. In any wireless communication set up, the antenna requires a careful design. For a wearable system, additional parameters must be considered such as comfort, non-invasive, simple to use, safety of electromagnetic field, and has a low health risk. It also needs to be cost-effective and widely available, allow easy interpretation, and provide consistent results. In the advent of textile antennas, there have emerged a vast number of potential applications and other supporting systems benefiting flexible antennas. Body worn antennas may be made from textiles [1-4] and attached on body or into clothing, or may be worn as a button antenna [5]. More recently, antennas incorporating single frequency electromagnetic band gap materials (EBGs) integrated into the designs have been reported [6, 7]. This paper presents antennas manufactured from flexible materials that are made from clothing. A rectangular microstrip patch antenna design was made using textile materials as antenna substrate. Our study focuses on using the flannel fabric which is suitable for wearable applications. To our best knowledge, this is the first time using the flannel fabric as substrate materials. A comparison was made for one layer and three layers of the substrate textile material. The word textile is typically used for antenna class and fabric to describe particular material. However, in many cases these words are interchangeable. Simulations have been carried out using CST Microwave Studio software and measurements were carried out to verify the results.