Abstract
The Internet of Things (IoT) scenario is strongly related with the advance of the development of wireless sensor networks (WSN) and radio frequency identification (RFID) systems. Additionally, in the WSN context, for a continuous feed, the integration of textile antennas for energy harvesting into smart clothing is a particularly interesting solution when the replacement of batteries is not easy to practice, such as in wearable devices. This paper presents the E-Caption: Smart and Sustainable Coat. It has an embedded dual-band textile antenna for electromagnetic energy harvesting, operating at global system for mobile communication (GSM) 900 and digital cellular system (DCS) 1800 bands. This printed antenna is fully integrated, as its dielectric is the textile material composing the coat itself. The E-Caption illustrates the innovative concept of textile antennas that can be manipulated as simple emblems. Seven prototypes of these “emblem” antennas, manufactured by lamination and embroidering techniques are also presented. It is shown that the orientation of the conductive fabric does not influence the performance of the antenna. It is also shown that the direction and number of the stitches in the embroidery may influence the performance of the antenna. Moreover, the comparison of results obtained before and after the integration of the antenna into cloth shows the integration does not affect the behavior of the antenna.
Highlights
Nowadays, the socio-economic development and lifestyle trends indicate an increasing consumption of technological products and processes, powered by emergent concepts such as the Internet of Things (IoT), where everything is connected in a single network [1]
This paper is based on the dual-band textile antenna for GSM900 and DCS1800 frequency bands proposed in [22] that is shown in Figure 1 and which dimensions are given in Table 1 below
Some authors have been analyzing the influence of the human body on the performance of textile antennas [34,35]
Summary
The socio-economic development and lifestyle trends indicate an increasing consumption of technological products and processes, powered by emergent concepts such as the Internet of Things (IoT), where everything is connected in a single network [1]. The development of smart objects for IoT applications, include the capacity of this objects to be identifiable, to communicate and to interact [2]. In this context, wearable technology has been addressed to make the person, mainly through his clothes, able to communicate with, and be part of, this technological network [3]. Wireless communication systems are made up of several electronic components, which, over the years, have been miniaturized and made more flexible, such as batteries, sensors, actuators, data processing units, interconnectors, and antennas [4]. In the systems for on-body applications, the antennas have been challenging, because they are conventionally built on rigid substrates, hindering their efficient and comfortable integration into the garment.
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