DESIGN OF A LOW-COST STEERABLE TEXTILE ANTENNA ARRAY OPERATING IN VARYING RELATIVE HUMIDITY CONDITIONS

作者：Scarpello Maria Lucia^*; Vande Ginste Dries; Rogier Hendrik

来源：Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, 2012, 54(1): 40-44.

DOI：10.1002/mop.26510

• wearable antenna array
• textile microstrip patch antenna
• relative humidity
• mutual coupling

A new wearable textile antenna array, operating in the 2.45 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical band, is described. Its purpose is to increase signal levels in off-body indoor communication links thanks to the array gain. In addition, multipath fading is reduced, thanks to its narrow beamwidth. As antenna substrate, we compare two textiles that have very different moisture regains, being cotton fabric and polyurethane foam and evaluate the array performance under varying relative humidity conditions in a controlled environment. Relative humidity has little influence on the mutual coupling, whereas for the reflection coefficients, the array constructed on foam material exhibits the most stable antenna characteristics.

• 出版日期2012-1