Abstract
This paper presents a circularly polarized flexible and transparent circular patch antenna suitable for body-worn wireless-communications. Circular polarization is highly beneficial in wearable wireless communications, where antennas, as a key component of the RF front-end, operate in dynamic environments, such as the human body. The demonstrated antenna is realized with highly flexible, robust and transparent conductive-fabric-polymer composite. The performance of the explored flexible-transparent antenna is also compared with its non-transparent counterpart manufactured with non-transparent conductive fabric. This comparison further demonstrates the suitability of the proposed materials for the target unobtrusive wearable applications. Detailed numerical and experimental investigations are explored in this paper to verify the proposed design. Moreover, the compatibility of the antenna in wearable applications is evaluated by testing the performance on a forearm phantom and calculating the specific absorption rate (SAR).
Highlights
With the rapid advancement of flexible materials and manufacturing technologies, new opportunities for flexible electronics are emerging
It is ascertained that the proposed flexible and transparent circularly polarized (CP) antenna can be a strong candidate in unobtrusive wearable applications where a communication link is more prone to rapid degradation due to polarization mismatch between the transmitter and receiver
The antenna was rigorously tested in a flat state and on a forearm phantom; the results explicitly indicate the robustness of the antenna in bending applications
Summary
With the rapid advancement of flexible materials and manufacturing technologies, new opportunities for flexible electronics are emerging. Antennas have become an indispensable component in body centric wireless communications, remote sensing technology, national surveillance and security services, battle fields, firefighting and rescue missions, sports and fitness and vehicular communications. These applications have greatly benefited from flexible, robust, low-profile and small antennas owing to their flexible deployment on the system platforms, regardless of the curvature of the surface, maximizing the use of existing infrastructure, as well as their capability to withstand physical deformation and rigorous environmental circumstances. To ensure efficient sensing and monitoring performance of a wearable wireless healthcare system, antennas, as one of the enabling technologies, need to be comfortable, easy to wear, and visually imperceptible so that they impose minimum interference with daily activities
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