A flexible dual‐mode dual‐port wearable antenna with low‐profile and wideband. Issue 12 (20th November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gao, Guo‐Ping; Yu, Zhuo‐Qi; Dong, Jing‐Hang; Hu, Bin
• Is Part Of: International journal of RF and microwave computer-aided engineering. Volume 32:Issue 12(2022)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2022-11-20
• Subjects: dual‐mode antenna -- dual‐port -- wearable antenna -- wideband antenna -- wireless body area network; Microwave devices -- Computer-aided design -- Periodicals; Computer-aided engineering -- Periodicals; 621.3813
• DOI: 10.1002/mmce.23554
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1096-4290

Abstract

Abstract: A low‐profile wideband dual‐mode (on‐/off‐body mode) dual‐port wearable antenna with flexible substrate is presented for the 5 GHz wireless body area network (WBAN) communications. Using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and felt as substrate, the proposed antenna has a compact structure and is easy to manufacture. In particular, the on‐body mode is realized by the circular patch loaded with a concentric ring on the lower substrate, and the off‐body mode is realized by a rectangular patch with two asymmetric slots etched on the upper substrate. The prototype is fabricated and a good performance is realized with a measured fractional bandwidth of 14.2%, a mutual coupling below −22 dB, a peak gain of 6.59 dBi for on‐body mode and 8.84 dBi for off‐body mode, as well as an envelope correlation coefficient smaller than 0.001. In addition, the antenna exhibits a robust performance near human tissue and low specific absorption rate values. These properties make the proposed antenna a well candidate for wearable systems.