Abstract
A reconfigurable wearable textile antenna with wide frequency tuning range is demonstrated in this work. Frequency agility is realized by adding a coplanar reconfiguration module to a planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA) constructed in textile technology. The reconfiguration module consists of a small flexible printed circuit board (PCB) which integrates a tuning circuitry with commercial snap-on buttons as electronic-to-textile connectors. Using this module equipped with a varactor diode, the frequency reconfigurability of the PIFA is investigated and optimized parametrically for maximum tuning range, exploiting a smooth transition from a quarter-wave to a half-wave patch resonant mode. A fabricated prototype demonstrates a very wide tuning range of approximately 70% (or one octave) with stable directive radiation characteristics, as predicted by simulations. The robust performance and mechanical stability of the reconfigurable antenna in various on-body and bending configurations validates the viability of the antenna tuning concept and the practicality of the proposed coplanar reconfiguration module.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 8080-8089 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation |
| Volume | 69 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2021 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Flexible antennas
- frequency-reconfigurable antennas
- planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA)
- textile antennas
- wearable antennas