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Revolutionizing Wearables for 5G: 5G Technologies: Recent Developments and

Future Perspectives for Wearable Devices and Antennas

Article  in  IEEE Microwave Magazine · May 2017

DOI: 10.1109/MMM.2017.2664019

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5G Technologies: Recent Developments and

Future Perspectives for Wearable Devices and
Antennas
Nur Farahiyah Mohamad Aun, Student Member, IEEE, Ping Jack Soh, Senior Member, IEEE, Azremi Abdullah Al-
Hadi, Senior Member, IEEE, Mohd Faizal Jamlos, Senior Member, IEEE, Guy A. E. Vandenbosch, Fellow, IEEE,
Dominique Schreurs, Fellow, IEEE.

N. F. M. Aun, P. J. Soh, A. A. Al-Hadi and M. F. Jamlos are with the Advanced Communication Engineering (ACE) CoE,
School of Computer and Communication Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Pauh Putra Campus, 02600 Arau,
Perlis, MALAYSIA.
P. J. Soh, G. A. E. Vandenbosch and D. Schreurs are with the ESAT-TELEMIC Research Div., KU Leuven, Kasteelpark
Arenberg 10 Box 2444, 3001 Leuven, BELGIUM.

Abstract— Wearable technologies are anticipated to be drastically improved by the development of Fifth Generation (5G) systems.
The improved capacity and throughput, reduced latency and network densification in 5G will enable their deployment in massive
numbers per macro- or picocell. This also enables improvements in wearable applications such as wireless health monitoring,
predictive health, ambient assisted living etc. To satisfy requirements in a wearable context, antennas for wearable devices must be
compact, low-profile, comfortable and offer mechanical robustness. Another important characteristic of such antennas is their
insensitivity to dielectric coupling and user movements, which is linked to physical factors such as deformations, varying mounting
locations and body morphologies. This paper will first present the relevance of wearable technologies towards 5G and future landscape
in telecommunication. This will be followed by an overview of the recent developments terms of materials and fabrication techniques,
followed by state-of-the-art wearable antennas and evaluation methods. A brief future perspective of wearable antennas is also
described in the concluding remarks.

Index Terms— Fifth generation (5G) networks, wearable devices, wearable antennas; Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN)

I. INTRODUCTION

W earable devices are becoming an attractive solution for various applications in the military, medical, and consumer
electronic sector. They are also expected to become an integral part of the upcoming Fifth Generation (5G) networks,
which are expected to operate with higher bit rates and lower outage probabilities in smaller micro- and pico-cells within a
larger coverage area. Besides that, beam-reconfigurability and beamforming are expected to facilitate spectral and energy
efficiencies at both the mobile device and base station. New features and capabilities envisioned in 5G networks are expected to
overcome the limitations of 4G or older technologies and radically change applications in transportation, healthcare, smart
homes, wireless robots, etc. [1-2]. Due to the limited existing spectrum and the need for high speed data rates, 5G is expected to
incorporate higher frequency spectra in the millimeter-wave (mm-wave) bands, such as 30 and 60 GHz [3]. This calls for a
distinct model for mm-wave propagation, communication architecture and design paradigm of components, including wearables
devices. Besides that, cells are expected to be organized in smaller macro- and pico-cells because of the larger propagation path
losses and blockages, with wearable and machine type devices joining tablets and smartphones. On the other hand, there are also
exciting developments in bandwidth allocation, the possibly major virtualization of the core network which may be extended to
the cell edges [4], and the development of the Internet of Things (IoT), a dense network of miscellaneous devices [4]. Despite
different studies proposing different solutions [3, 5-6], the major disruptive technologies can be categorized into several key
areas. Each of them is described in the following sub-sections within the context of wearable systems, wherever possible.

 Device-centric architecture: There is a strong indication that the main architecture of the current 4G and legacy
technologies may shift to being more device-centric instead of architecture-based (for example, involving base stations)
[3]. While this requires a different paradigm in wireless data and traffic management, the ability to establish and exchange
information between peripheral nodes is one of its main features. The large number of communication and wearable
devices (in the order of 105) densely located in a smaller area is also expected to make such capability in 5G very relevant.
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 Millimeter-wave band: As previously mentioned, the current limited spectrum calls for the use of available blocks of
spectrum in the higher mm-wave frequencies within 5G. However, the use of such frequencies results in larger
propagation losses for long distance communication, besides being more prone to blockage. Some 5G devices including
wearables operating in the mm-wave are expected to be highly directive with narrow beams and to avoid the
aforementioned issues. Wearable antennas within such bands are also expected to be in the form of reconfigurable beam
arrays to ensure energy efficiency at the device level.

 Massive MIMO: This aspect of 5G technology has mainly revolved around having a large number of antennas at the base
station in comparison to those available on the node level. Single user MIMO systems are typically constrained by the
limited number of antennas that can fit into a mobile device, whereas the number of base station antennas can be very
large. In contrast, the human body features a relatively larger area for the deployment of more wearable antenna elements
compared to a mobile device. A simple interconnection can be made available between the antenna and the device to
facilitate the immediate deployment of on-body massive MIMO, especially when it is used for mm-wave frequencies.
Besides on-body, the use of conformal antenna arrays may also be envisioned on non-regular physical structures or
buildings for base stations.

 Smart Devices and IoT: It is foreseen that 5G will enable high amounts of data sharing within devices located in close
proximity, in contrast to traditional long distance, architecture-based services. The excessive energy required for long
distance uplink/downlink transmission to a base station, for instance, can now be reduced to a fraction of it via hops to
nearby devices. Moreover, this saves co-located devices from interference due to higher power base station transmissions
towards the cell. Such aspect of energy and spectrum efficiency significantly appeals to wearable devices due to the
limited battery resources available.

Various wearable antenna types have been designed for specific frequency bands, for instance the Industrial Scientific Medical
(ISM) (2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz) band [7-8] and the Ultra-Wideband (UWB) (3.1 GHz – 10.6 GHz) [9-10]. Generally, degradation
of the antenna performance is inherent when it is placed in the proximity to the human body. Therefore, effective evaluation
methods must be implemented to ensure that the human body is protected from undesired electromagnetic radiation while aiming
to provide wearable antennas with flexibility and robustness. Besides being more ergonomic and comfortable compared to a rigid
structure, the usage of flexible materials such as textiles is an interesting option due to the very low dielectric constant when used
as a substrate, which consequently reduces surface wave losses. Besides that, all-textile antennas have been successfully
designed and evaluated in [9-11]. Such antennas made entirely of textiles or in combination with conformal materials enhance
the flexibility and comfort of the users, and are able to be manufactured with quite pragmatic methods.

A general overview of the relevance of wearable technologies for 5G was discussed recently in [2]. Several perspectives on
future features for wearable 5G were described, for example, scanning capability for antennas, energy autonomy and smart
machine-to-machine (M2M) and device-to-device (D2D) communication. Meanwhile, energy-related issues for 5G wearable
networks are also of concern. A work on the system-level assessment for mm-wave-based wearable networks was first presented
in [12], followed by a feasibility study of wireless-charging technologies for wearables [13]. Specific to wearable antennas, a
summary of available topologies, fabrication methods and required analyses were first discussed in [14]. However, this review
was limited to the several available antenna topologies and fabrication technologies at that time such as by using copper
tape/foils, conductive spray techniques and commercial-off-the-shelf conductive and non-conducting textiles. Basic evaluation
methods proposed include specific absorption rate (SAR), bending and on-body performance assessments. Meanwhile, a more
focused work on textile microstrip antennas presented in [15] described several methods for fabrication and evaluation. Next, a
more detailed review of wearable and implantable antennas was presented in [16]. This research mainly stresses the antenna
designs and structures made from textile and non-textile materials, and places less emphasis on the fabrication methods and
required evaluations. A comprehensive survey of wearable antennas for off-body radio links operating in the very high-
frequency (VHF) and ultrahigh frequency (UHF) bands was presented in [60]. Besides the state-of-the art, this paper also
discusses the challenges and future trends of these antennas for operation at frequencies below 1 GHz. Meanwhile, the design
and characterization of in-body RFID and on-body UHF RFID applications was presented in [59] for wireless brain machine
interfaces (BMI). Such a system, which consists of miniature implantable devices, neural sensor electrodes, integrated
electronics, and an antenna for telemetry is expected to be able to allow patients suffering from severe disability to communicate
and live their everyday lives more independently. Another specific study on the different types of textile materials and related
fabrication methods for wearable antennas was presented in [17]. The analyses required are however also limited. In contrast,
this paper attempts to provide a detailed review of current wearable antennas available in literature, materials used, methods of
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fabrication and their specialized assessment techniques. Extending the study presented in [14] with recently developed antennas,
the perspectives of future wearables in the context of 5G is also discussed in this work.
This paper is structured as follows; the relevance of 5G towards wearable technologies has been introduced in the previous
paragraphs. This will be followed by an overview of the recent materials and methods used in realizing wearable antennas in
Section II, followed by a discussion on state-of-the-art wearable antennas in Section III. A summary of the essential evaluations
and assessment techniques will be presented in Section IV prior to the conclusions.

II. MATERIALS AND FABRICATION METHODS

This section summarizes the current materials and fabrication methods used in literature for realizing passive wearable
components such as antennas, transmission lines etc. Prior to use, it is important that the electrical properties of these materials
be properly understood and characterized. Several techniques for characterization will be briefly discussed in the following sub-
sections, followed by a discussion on state-of-the-art fabrication materials and methods. It can also be observed that some of
these techniques can be potentially utilized for realizing more advanced structures such as planar waveguides and possibly lead
to the realization of active devices depending upon the maturity of a certain fabrication technology.

A. Characterization of Material Properties

Ever since flexible materials have been used for high frequency and microwave applications, a significant effort has been
done in characterizing their properties at these frequencies. An example of textile characterization is [18] where the electrical
performance of various conductive fabrics and textile substrates is studied. Meanwhile, the construction of electro-textiles for
high frequency applications was investigated in [19]. In [20] a non-conductive fabric as the substrate of a robust textile antenna
for operation in harsh environments was comprehensively characterized. The capability of the substrate to adapt to various
climatic conditions was simulated in terms of evaporation rate, waterproofing against water absorption, effects of the sewing
technique, and compression analyses to identify sensitive parts of the antenna. Besides this, a novel characterization approach for
determining constitutive properties of all materials in textile antennas as a function of relative humidity was proposed in [61].
Such characterization technique is also advantageous due to its simplicity in sample preparation compared to resonator cavity
perturbation or transmission line methods. Next, the researchers in [62] investigated the radiation characteristics of woven
rectangular patches with thread thickness and woven interval variations. It was validated that the increase in thread thickness
with a wider interval enhanced the antenna radiation efficiency.

B. Conductive Threads and Brass-Eyelets

Besides conductive and non-conductive textiles used as substrate and conducting elements, another important element is the
use of shorting vias and walls. Such elements, despite their small size, when used in large quantities, may affect the flexibility of
the overall structure. An innovative use of brass eyelets as vias was demonstrated in a fully textile substrate integrated waveguide
(SIW) antenna [11]. Its three-step fabrication procedure illustrated in Fig. 1 starts with the accurate dimensioning of the
conductive sheets using a picosecond pulsed laser. Next, these sheets were attached to their substrates via a thermally activated
adhesive prior to the punching-in of the brass eyelets using a hand press, forming the vias. On the other hand, vias fabrication
using conductive threads is less complex, avoiding the need for specialized tools. Via sizes can also be easily adjusted according
to design requirements by thickness modification or by using suitable thread sizes. Besides that, the work in [8] adapted Shieldex
conductive sewing thread (resistivity = 0.0025 Ω/square cm) to realize the shorting vias of a circular patch antenna. Meanwhile
the vias in [21] are realized using five passes of 0.12 mm diametered conductive yarns arranged precisely at a distance of 1 mm
using computerized embroidery. This embroidered conductive yarn is used to build an equivalent lateral conducting boundary of
a textile half-mode substrate-integrated cavity antenna.

C. Adhesives
The use of adhesives is a very simple and important fabrication technique for wearable antennas. They are used because of the
need for interconnection between the antenna sub-components such as conducting elements, substrates, connectors, vias, walls,
cables, etc.. The two most important interconnections necessary in the fabrication of textile antennas are: (1) securing the
conductive/flexible metallic elements to the substrate; and (2) enabling a high frequency galvanic connection between the
radiator and the RF cable or connector. To facilitate the former, metallic tapes or textiles with rear adhesive are widely used.
They are easily fastened onto a substrate upon dimensioning [22-26]. Meanwhile, heat-activated adhesives readily-available on
the reverse sides of conductive fabrics have propelled the popularity of textiles such as ShieldIt Super. Such adhesives are
typically activated by ironing [9-10], [22], [24-27]. To maintain the geometrical dimensions during the attachment process, a
water-soluble foil can also be applied for temporary stiffening and mechanical stabilization [18].
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Fig. 1. Design steps of the circular Quarter-Mode Textile Antenna [11]

D. Advanced Dimensioning / Laser Cutting

Besides the manual tools typically used to dimension textiles, antenna topologies operating at higher frequencies require
higher dimensioning precisions. This is especially relevant in mm-wave applications. In such cases, advanced equipment is
needed to ensure accuracy. An instance is the textile UWB antenna developed in [28] using a laser cutting process. The design
was exported to a laser cutter, Epilog Zing 24 Laser System, to systematically cut the antenna pattern, see Fig. 2. Meanwhile, the
work reported in [11] utilized a picosecond pulsed laser to accurately dimension off-the shelf (electro) textile sheets.
Alternatively, copper foils can also be first secured onto a textile substrate prior to dimensioning using a laser machine (model
ProtoLaser S, LPKF, OR) to ensure precision [29].

E. Embroidery
Besides utilizing conductor-coated textile sheets, a direct implementation of conductive yarns onto specified substrates can
also be used to fabricate wearable antennas. This technique requires the use of a home-grade computerized embroidery machine
[21]. Meanwhile, hundreds of e-fibers may also be tightly bundled to form a textile surface [30]. To realize this, automatic
embroidery was employed with high-density stitching. The fabricated conductive textile surfaces were then used to form the
radiating elements, ground planes and transmission lines. On the contrary, antenna fabrication using such embroidered technique
may be implemented using only two strands of raw yarn plated with silver (Shieldex thread), as demonstrated in [31]. However,
it was also found in [32] that the stitch direction and stitch spacing of embroidered patch antennas are key parameters in ensuring
their functionality at higher frequencies.

Fig. 2. Epilog Zing 24 Laser Cutting System [28]

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F. Conductive and Screen Printing

A simpler alternative to embroidery for wearable antenna fabrication is conductive printing. An instance is the printing of spiral
lines introduced in [33]. The lines consist of five turns on a denim substrate and are printed using silver ink. The structure was
then cured at 90°C for about 5 to 10 minutes. Such fabrication method also requires the use of highly resistive silicone from MG
Chemicals (25 % solid content, 1.0 × 1014 Ω.cm) which was coated into the substrate. Meanwhile, researchers in [34]
demonstrated inkjet printing onto textiles to form an antenna using an interface layer. The fabrication process was initiated by
ensuring a clean substrate surface using lint free cleanroom wipes dipped in de-ionized water prior to silver inkjet printing.
Finally, the conductive pattern was cured for 10 minutes at 150°C. Meanwhile, to improve structure cohesiveness and reduce
fabric roughness, this inkjet printing technique has been refined to include an additional screen-printed interface layer [35]. A
second layer of ink was added to increase the robustness to bending. The fabrication process is summarized in Fig. 3. Another
similar combined technique of screen printing using Electrodag conductive ink was proposed in [36]. A breathable thermoplastic
polyurethane (TPU) coating was applied to protect the antenna from water absorption and corrosion. Besides that, planar
meander antennas [37] were screen printed on a KERMEL fabric substrate using MECOPRINT D 3449 VP + MECODUR H
5880 emulsion from the company KIWO and FABINK-UV-AG2 conductive paste from the company FABINK. The main
drawback of this screen printing technique is its resulting lower quality factor which affects the antenna reflection coefficient.
This is due to the higher resistance of the screen printing pastes compared to the resistance of copper.

G. Stitching and Sewing

Besides using adhesives, one of the most basic techniques applicable in the fabrication of a wearable textile antenna is the
stitching and sewing process. It can be used for two purposes. Firstly, it can be used to form the metallic elements of an antenna
such as transmission lines, vias or even interconnections when using conductive threads/yarns. Secondly, using non-conductive
textiles, it can be utilized to secure a layer of conductive or non-conductive textile to another, serving as an alternative to
adhesives. For instance, this was used in [27] for connecting Pure Copper Polyester Taffeta Fabric (PCPTF) conductive elements
to the substrate in the proposed PIFA. Meanwhile, conductive threads can be used to realize conductive paths on a fabric
commonly used for cross-stitch embroidery as demonstrated in Fig. 4 [22]. In [20] the effect of sewing techniques on resonance
stability is studied in relation to three different stitching phases. The conclusion was that loose sewing will result in a
performance variation at high frequencies.

Fig. 3. Flow diagram of the inkjet-printed textile antenna fabrication process [35]
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Fig. 4. a) Fabric used for the realization of the patch by means of conducting threads (the embroidery illustrated in the figure is the cross-stitch) b) Steps for the
realization of the conducting path on the fabric; the subscript „back‟ and „front‟ indicate the side (back or front ) of the fabric [22]

III. ANTENNA TOPOLOGIES AND INTEGRATION TECHNIQUES

This section aims at presenting the various flexible and conformal antenna topologies found in literature. Most wearable
structures adopt planar topologies or are modifications of three-dimensional antennas in the planar format, ensuring ease of
integration on human clothing without additional protruding structures. While it is expected that 5G wearable antennas would
operate in the higher (above 20 GHz) frequency bands to fulfill the requirements for future 5G, wearable antennas of different
topologies operating below 10 GHz are expected to be utilized to ensure backward compatibility with improved conventional
networks (higher data rate and lower latency). The topologies of the wearable antennas provided in this section may function as
unit elements in arrays and can be scaled to suit the requirements at higher frequencies. However, extra precautionary measures
are needed to ensure that the proposed arrays are well fed by means of well-matched feeding networks. Furthermore,
considerations on the materials and fabrication technologies are also required to ensure satisfactory fabrication tolerances of the
scaled or arrayed prototypes. Finally, an additional section is provided to discuss the available technologies used to integrate
these wearable antennas to their prospective transmitter/receiver front-ends.

A. Patch and Slot Antennas

The patch antenna is arguably the most popular topology for wearable applications as it is planar and easy to fabricate. In
general, designs based on the rectangular patch geometry are utilized. In many cases, the patch shape is modified to extend
electrical lengths, in this way ensuring a compact form to be applied in on-body locations with restrictions. Proposed patches in
literature include the microstrip inset-fed patch [23], [36]; ladder-shaped patch [38]; and patches with multiple slots and different
shapes [20], [39]. Meanwhile, researchers in [8-9, 28] presented circular-based patches. Traditional methods used for matching
and capacitive tags are proposed in [31]. Efforts are also channeled towards improving the bandwidth of the intrinsically
narrowband microstrip-based topologies. An instance is the work in [39], where the antenna bandwidth is improved with the
incorporation of slots and vias. Planar monopoles and dipoles are typically used to overcome the intrinsically narrow bandwidth
of microstrip antennas. Despite being more complex, the work in [10] presented a microstrip-based ultra-wideband (UWB)
antenna. The full rear ground plane behind the radiator serves as a shield to minimize the body-coupling which is prevalent in
planar monopoles and dipoles. This antenna was designed on the basis of two rectangular patches resonating at two different
frequencies. These patches were then integrated into a single radiating structure by using a resonance overlapping technique to
broaden the bandwidth.

B. Rings, Meander Lines, and Spiral Antennas

Besides microstrip structures, other planar structures are used: planar rings, meanders and spiral antennas. They all aim at
enabling the required electrical length in a miniaturized overall size. The same techniques can also be used to offer multi-mode
resonant frequencies [7]. Also these antenna types have a low fabrication complexity, show ease of integration with active
microwave components, and may be excited by using a single or differential feed. An instance is the textile MIMO antenna
presented in [25] which consists of capacitively loaded metallic circular rings. This is to enable the excitation of multiple
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characteristics modes where the multimode behavior reduces attenuation and multipath propagation caused by the human body.
The next work [7] proposed a rectangular-ring textile antenna in the ISM band using Flectron material for the conducting
elements. This antenna allows the excitation of two modes with slightly different resonant frequencies due to its rectangular-ring-
based design. Another popular method to reduce the antenna form factor is to implement it in a meander, folded or spiral format.
This immediately saves on-body “real-estate” for the antenna placement, and is especially relevant for textile antennas operating
at lower frequencies, i.e. VHF or UHF. Two types of planar meander antennas were developed in [37] for operation at 868 MHz.
They are printed on a textile substrate using a single conductive layer. Both antennas have been modified to reduce the ground
plane area to save screen printing paste. However, this modification did not significantly change the electrical parameters
compared to the prototype with a large ground plane. Another work in [33] introduced a spiral antenna implemented on an
everyday denim substrate for smart clothing, operating at 13.56 MHz. The structure was initially composed of a highly resistive
silicone coating layer onto a denim substrate before the planar spiral inductor with five turns was printed into it using conductive
ink. Then, the same silicone fluid was applied to cover the printed structure.

C. Cavity and Waveguide-Based Antennas

Cavities and waveguides have also been introduced as one of the options for wearable antennas. Besides being low profile,
their popularity is due to their high body-antenna isolation, compact dimensions and ease of fabrication. One of the recent related
investigations presented a wearable antenna based on a half-mode substrate-integrated cavity which operates in the 5 GHz band
[21]. The resonant cavity was designed to act as the resonator. The manufactured prototype for this work shown in Fig. 5 is
based on the semicircular structure; realized using two layers of metallic fabric on the top and bottom of a low-permittivity, low-
loss foam. Apart from that, a Quarter-Mode SIW topology operating in the 2.4 GHz band was proposed in [11]. This design
consists of seven rows of conducting vias connected to two conducting sides of a substrate, consequently forming a waveguide.
Performance assessed indicated good isolation between antenna and body, besides the mode symmetry distribution. Moreover,
this small-sized antenna enabled miniaturization without compromising its performance. Starting from a circular-shaped
resonator, it was miniaturized into a quarter of this size. More recently, an SIW structure operating in two (2.45 and 5 GHz)
bands was reported in [42]. The quarter-wave patch antenna at low resonant frequency is structured with the ground plane behind
the felt substrate. A shorting wall is fabricated to connect the two perpendicular edges of the cavity. Meanwhile, the other two
edges of the cavity are left open. Then, a via is introduced in the SIW cavity to modify the waveguide cavity resonant modes
besides to improve the impedance matching in the upper band. The two antenna elements for MIMO applications displayed an
excellent level of mutual coupling and envelope correlation when their shorted edges were adjacent to each other.

Fig. 5. Prototype of the antenna based on the half-mode substrate-integrated resonant cavity [21]

Meanwhile, a textile integrated SIW cavity-backed slot antenna was proposed in [43]. This antenna operates in the 5.8 GHz ISM
band and is fully fabricated using textiles. The antenna consists of a SIW cavity feed and a circular ring slot. Conductive threads
were used to form the vias and featured a cavity backing to reduce coupling to the body.

D. Planar Monopoles and Dipole Antennas

Planar monopole planar antennas are widely used due to its wide impedance bandwidth, omni-directional radiation pattern and
simple structure. They are either fed using a microstrip line [18], [28] or a coplanar waveguide (CPW) [9]. An example is the
wideband planar E-shape textile antenna fed using a single probe presented in [26]. Operating in the 2.25 GHz-2.75 GHz band, it
is aimed to provide short range wireless communication in the wireless body and personal area networks. The work in [30]
proposed a planar multiband antenna consisting of two asymmetric antenna arms with slots with a feeding port between them.
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This antenna is also incorporated with a loaded loop as shown in Fig. 6 to achieve impedance matching for multiband
frequencies. Besides monopoles, textile dipole antennas have also been considered in [24], [34] and [46] for various frequency
bands. For instance, a dual band textile antenna operating at 2.45 GHz and 5.8 GHz has been designed in [24]. This dipole
antenna is made of denim material with a diamond structure to improve its bandwidth and efficiency.

Fig. 6. Fabricated multiband textile antenna using embroidered e-fibers [30]

E. Planar Inverted-F Antenna

A textile based PIFA antenna structure designed for WBAN applications is presented in [27] to operate at frequency 2.45 GHz.
The existence of ground plane in PIFA is believed to reduce severe resonant frequency detuning in the presence of the human
body. A comparison between the conventional and a slotted radiator is also included in the work. The PIFA topology is enhanced
with a shorting wall instead of pins. Apart from the rectangular-shaped of radiator, another work in [47] proposed a triangular-
shaped using fractal Sierpinski topologies incorporated with PIFA structure to generate a dual band operation. Next, a wearable
textile L-slot PIFA with different shorting methods are investigated for triple band operation [48]. It is observed that the
embroidered vias shorting method has a slightly lower performance than the silver fabric folded strip and eyelet shorting
methods due to its higher resistance. In [49], a dual-band wearable PIFA is integrated with a dual-band, high impedance surface
(HIS) ground plane. The dual band EBG consists of a 3x3 array of square patches with inner circular slot placed beneath the
PIFA. It has been observed that the inclusion of HIS ground plane reduced back radiation by 4 and 15 dB at 2.4 GHz and 5.8
GHz.

F. Yagi Uda and Arrays

Antenna array based on the triangular topology was investigated in [51]. It consists of four tip-truncated Equilateral Triangular
Microstrip Patch Antennas (ETMPAs), offering good performance under varying humidity conditions. Such properties enabled a
reliable off-body communication link within the 2.4 GHz ISM band to be worn by the fire fighters or rescue workers. Moreover,
the Uniform Linear Array (ULA) provides low mutual coupling between the radiating elements, low side lobes, narrow main
beam and relatively easy steering compared to non-uniform arrays. Meanwhile, a recent work in [52] presented a textile slot
linear array (TSLA) antenna which consists of monopole and feed line located on the top of a denim substrate and an L-slotted
ground plane on its bottom. It was observed that this antenna was capable of maintaining its performance under crumpling and
curved configurations.
Another investigation proposed a microstrip-fed single layered array consisting of four patch elements. The overall structure is
built using a cotton woven fabric as substrate, ShieldIt as ground plane and copper foil as its radiating elements and feed lines
[53]. A three-step fabrication procedure for the antenna is shown in Fig. 7. The copper foil is laser-micromachined using
optimized laser parameters. The influence of the human body proximity is experimentally investigated using a semi-solid
phantom emulating the dielectric properties of human skin besides of bending and crumpling assessments.

G. Antenna to Transmitter / Receiver Front-End Integration Technologies

Flexible integration of printed-circuit devices with clothes is difficult to achieve with standard PCB-based devices. This is due
to the properties of the textile itself, which is porous and exhibits high surface roughness, making the efficient and reliable
printing of electronics on textile extremely challenging. An option to overcome this has been proposed in [63] using an interface
layer known as "Doctor Blading", which preserves the natural elasticity of the clothes. This results in a complete localization of
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circuit and antenna. The Interface Layer method is suitable for production of smart fabrics from any textile material using
manual screen printing. 0.3 mm thick PET film stencils are used for the screen printing. The PET stencil is placed on top of the
fabric textile and CM116-20 dielectric paste is poured onto the stencil. The resulting device was field tested and showed a
communication range of up to 55 meters and a localization accuracy of up to 8 meters while being worn on a body.
A single chip solution by means of component integration onto wearable devices is proposed using the 0.18 um CMOS RFIC-
on-chip antenna technology [64]. Using this technique, a printed meanderline loop antenna for 1.575 GHz and 2.4 GHz has been
realized for wireless communication in a wrist watch application. The antenna is sized at 970 x 750 μm2 and is integrated into a
chip of 1.21 mm2 (1.1mm x 1.1mm). A transmit/receive (T/R) switch is also connected to the low noise amplifier (LNA) and
power amplifier (PA), respectively. This solution indicated a linear measured phase distribution and a quasi-omnidirectional H-
plane pattern. Besides this, feed structure modifications for a patch antenna may also enable ease of integration with other
components within the communication system. One example of this is the integration of a magnetically-coupled antenna into
active circuitry using a transformer-based feeding topology [40], see Fig. 8. Its primary and secondary windings can be
implemented directly onto the wearable antenna while avoiding galvanic contacts between the antenna and the active circuitry.
Such design maximizes power transfer between the antenna and the load connected to the secondary winding.

Fig. 7. Main steps for the manufacturing of printed circuits and antennas on textiles in the V-band [53]

Fig. 8. Prototypes of the antenna-transformer: (a) front view (b) back view (c) top view (d) bottom view of Pyralux with secondary winding and UFL connector
(e) assembled prototype with bi-adhesive tape [40]
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H. Millimeter-wave Antennas for 5G Applications

Despite potentially resulting in added fabrication complexity, multi-element antennas such as Yagi Uda and arrays are
envisioned for off-body communication in 5G, especially in the mm-wave bands. An instance of such arrays is the small textile
Yagi-Uda antenna proposed in [29] with an endfire pattern for 60 GHz band operation. Besides that, an end-fire wearable Yagi-
Uda antenna operating from 57 to 64 GHz was characterized in free space, on phantom and under bending conditions [50]. This
antenna consists of a driven dipole and 10 directors printed on the top of a cotton substrate. Its propagation is also studied in a
realistic communication scenario when this antenna was placed on a human hand and an off-body antenna, maintaining
satisfactory performance when placed under bending and in planar conditions. The antenna‟s reflection and radiation
performance have been measured in free space and on a skin-equivalent phantom. A slotted antenna array featuring switched
beam operation at 28.5 GHz was designed in [41]. This antenna consists of two main parts; the beam-forming network and the
planar array as shown in Fig. 9. The Butler matrix network was optimized in order to feed the antenna elements in series.

Fig. 9. Complete Switched Beam mm-wave Antenna Array. The inset figure shows the top layer of the fabricated antenna array [41]

Besides that, a rectangular patch antenna with microstrip feed line is designed to operate in the mm-wave band of 38 GHz [44]
which is made from silver plated copper thread as its conductive parts and cotton fabric as its substrate. The antenna performance
was investigated on a body phantom with a thickness of 44 mm. A study on the effect of its substrate material property indicated
a proportional decrease in resonant frequency with increasing dielectric constant.
Another mm-wave wearable array based on the SIW operating in dual band mode (28 and 38 GHz) is proposed in [45]. The
SIW structure, which generally consists of a ground layer and radiating apertures, will create perturbations in the electromagnetic
field distribution, and thus in the radiation. A series of EBG structures are placed around the slotted-SIW dual-band antenna
array to mitigate this, while being fed fed by a 1x4 Wilkinson power divider as depicted in Fig. 10. Meanwhile, a compact of
MIMO antenna array for 5G cellular mobile communication was proposed in [54]. This overall antenna consists of two antenna
elements with rectangular and circular patch topologies. The combination of these patches resulted in a MIMO system
operational at 1.5 GHz, 2.2 GHz and 28 GHz. SAR simulations evaluated in the presence of a human head and hand phantoms
indicated low values below regulatory limits. Meanwhile, a recent work introduced a four-element antenna array built using a
modified 1-to-4 Wilkinson power divider [55]. EBG structures have been used to improve the antenna radiation characteristics
and reduce losses. The proposed antenna array operates in dual band mode for 5G applications in the 28 and 38 GHz bands.
Next, a millimeter-wave broadband circular reflectarray antenna implementing novel polarization insensitive multi-resonant unit
cells is proposed in [56] to operate at 30 GHz. The phasing cell element is used to enhance the bandwidth due to its ability to
significantly influence the overall reflectarray‟s bandwidth. The unit cell consists of two concentric rings combined with a
crossed loop and crossed strips.
The work in [65] introduced a reconfigurable mm-wave antenna for 5G networks operating between 20.7 and 36 GHz using
surface mount pin diode switches. This flexible antenna is designed on liquid crystal polymer (LCP) substrate and fabricated
using low-cost inkjet printing. It consists of a fork-shaped radiating patch and two stubs, fed by a 50 Ω matched coplanar
waveguide (CPW) line. The proposed antenna was demonstrated to operate from 20.7 to 33.2 GHz when both switches are ON
and both stubs functioned as part of the radiating element. Meanwhile, a 5G mm-wave phased array antenna for MIMO has been
proposed in [66]. The overall structure consists of two identical linear phased arrays, each with eight leaf-shaped bow-tie antenna
elements and placed on different sides of the mobile phone PCB. Low mutual coupling was observed from 25 to 40 GHz with
excellent radiation in both 5G candidate bands (at 28 and 38 GHz). A 3D tapered slot Vivaldi antenna was presented in [67] for
future mobile communication base stations. This antenna uses two sets of arrays, where a set placed on the top of the cylindrical
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ground plane covers its operation in 4G frequencies, and the second set covers the mm-wave frequency bands at both 28 GHz
and 38 GHz. Each array consists of three tilted tapered slot antenna elements. It was validated that despite the mutual coupling
between two adjacent elements slightly changed its operational bandwidth, its performance in term of S-parameter, gain,
efficiency and beem steering characteristics remained acceptable.

Fig. 10. Dual-band 1 x 4 slotted SIW antenna array [45]

IV. EVALUATIONS FOR WEARABLE ANTENNAS

This section will describe the evaluation methods that need to be assessed in the context of wearable devices and antennas.
Several common evaluations may also be applicable to conventional antennas and devices such as reflection coefficients,
radiation patterns, efficiency, specific absorption rate, etc.
A. Antenna Evaluation in Free Space
Stand-alone antenna measurement is an initial aspect to be assessed prior to its measurement in the presence of the human
body. In general, free space evaluation is assessed in terms of reflection coefficient, radiation pattern, gain and efficiency in most
literature. The influence of the body and other factors in the body-worn context are then further investigated. Depending on the
chosen antenna topology, such design and evaluation paradigm is mainly applicable for the conventional standalone antenna
design. This process starts with the simulations of the wearable antenna in free space prior to the on-body assessment, and is
suitable for topologies which are least affected by the coupling to the body. In contrast, an alternative design approach is to co-
design and simulate the intended antenna on a human simulating tissue where it is intended to be placed. Such method is
effective in predicting possible degradations caused when worn on-body. Despite the potential design accuracy, designing
wearable antennas using this method will incur additional time and computing resources due to the larger and more complex
simulation setups involving human tissues.

B. On-Body Co-Simulations and Experimental Evaluations

To analyze the effects of operating the antenna in proximity of the human body, co-simulations are performed either by using
human body phantoms using layers of human tissues (skin, fat and muscle [30]), simplified two-thirds muscle-equivalent
phantom [8], [10]; or detailed models such as the Voxel model [8], [19], [27], [46]. The intended for co-simulations may be
studied on various body locations such as on the human chest [26], arms [57], and back [24], besides the different distances
between the antenna and the phantom. An example of such investigation addressing the issue of radiation pattern shadowing was
proposed in [30]. The proposed antenna was placed at four different on-body locations; front and back torso, arm, and shoulder
with a body to an antenna gap of 15 mm.
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For experimental evaluations, a two-thirds muscle-equivalent semi-solid phantom [8], [23], [38] or skin-equivalent phantom
[29] may be used besides real human volunteers [10-11], [27], [38]. A cost-effective option is to utilize a human-size mannequin
with a 1 mm plastic shell filled with tissue-emulating liquid consisting of water, sugar, and salt [30]. The proposed textile
antenna is mounted on this phantom on its front, back and shoulder, see Fig. 11. Such on-body evaluation may also be extended
to this phantom wearing several types of common garments [38]. Another method to measure the influence of the human body
was proposed in [9], which is to evaluate its S 21 transfer function within a practical office environment. Its transmitting (Tx)
antenna was mounted on the human chest with different distances to the body, whereas the receiving (Rx) antenna was kept in
free space, 0.5 m away

C. Deformation and Displacement Study

Another study commonly performed to ensure a wearable antenna‟s reliability when operating on body is its displacement and
deformation. This includes displacement distance, and deformations such as stretching, bending, crumpling and compression. An
instance of such evaluation is the study of the performance of a spiral [33]. Besides that, antenna bending performance with
different radii is analyzed in [8], [23], [35], [37], with an auxiliary study on the bending direction; either vertical or horizontal
[18], [22-23], [35]. Fig. 12 shows a sample of the measured S11 for the wearable antenna in [35] fabricated with one and two
inkjet layers when evaluated bent around a cylinder with a radius of 70 mm. SEM images indicated that micro-cracks exist when
the antenna was fabricated using one layer of conductive ink.
Another type of deformation commonly evaluated is the seam compression by embroidered vias [21]. The results from Fig. 13
show that the frequency is shifted downwards from 5 to 4.45 GHz due to this effect, and subsequently the bandwidth is also
slightly reduced to 7 %. The final evaluation type on deformation is in terms of crumpling of the flexible antenna [46].
Crumpling may be modeled according to the number of bends and the degree of crumpling.

Fig. 11. Photo of textile antenna mounted on the front, back and right shoulder of a phantom [30].

Fig. 12. Measured S11 of the textile inkjet patch antenna Inset : SEM image [35]
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D. Efficiency Evaluation
Efficiency evaluation on body is a rather complex and tedious process, besides requiring specialized equipment such as a
reverberation chamber. Nevertheless, many factors may affect antenna efficiency, including deformations. An example of this is
the work in [21] which demonstrated that the seam compression along embroidered wall resulted in a higher efficiency compared
to planar model. In terms of inkjet-printed antennas, researchers in [34] concluded that the implementation of an interface layer
offers better efficiency than without this interface layer, despite the fact that up to five inkjet layers were used for fabrication.
Besides that, backing the antenna with number of felt layers substrate will also improve the efficiency [38]. In this case, the
antenna is fixed using a physical phantom wrapped with Clingfilm™. Another work [40] also evaluated the radiation efficiency
of a wearable antenna fed using a transformer-based feeding topology by varying the distance between windings and the
misalignments between the windings. It was demonstrated that the efficiency does not change significantly when distance and
misalignment vary between the windings. Meanwhile, the efficiency results were seen to be robust with respect to the
misalignments. This, in turn, depends on the alignment tolerance of the mounting process.

Fig. 13. Simulated and measured reflection coefficient due to seam compression [21]

E. Aging Study and Washing

Another important aspect for wearable antennas is its durability over time. This is generally evaluated by assessing its
performance in terms of reflection coefficient at different time instances [20]. Depending on the flexible material used, the
antenna may then still meet the 10 dB bandwidth requirement after specific time durations; in the case of [20]. In [20], a
comparison was performed between two pockets made from two different waterproof textiles. They are filled with 5 % of salt
water and left to dry for several days before being evaluated. This is to investigate the penetration of salt water through these
waterproof textiles. It has been discovered that the first fabric which features a Durable Water Resistant (DWR) coating fabric
enabled the penetration of strong salt water, whereas the second waterproof textile which had a Teflon finish and polyurethane
membrane managed to keep all the salt water inside the pocket. This is due to the salt content which lowers the surface tension of
water, and therefore enabling its penetration through many waterproof textiles. For antennas made from textiles and other
wearable materials, their durability under washing may also be assessed. An example of improving durability is by using
breathable thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) coating [36]. This layer mainly serves to protect the antennas from water
absorption and corrosion. In [36], the antennas were examined after several washing cycles at programmable temperature and
humidity. It is shown in Fig. 14 that the antennas made from Electrodag conductive ink provide a durable behavior in term of
reflection coefficient and radiation efficiency.

F. Specific Absorption Rate

An important aspect of wearable antennas is obviously its safety level for operation in proximity of the human body, measured
in terms of specific absorption rate. This is to ensure acceptable electromagnetic absorption level and to prevent any adverse
health effect to the user. Such evaluation is typically performed via simulations using detailed voxel models, as presented in [58].
Simulations were performed when the antennas were placed on its back in the planar condition. Meanwhile, a simple
homogeneous model was used to evaluate the antenna for different crumpling conditions in [46]. This study indicated that the
increment in the amount of antenna curvature increases SAR. It was concluded that certain crumpling cases caused the antenna
radiation to penetrate deeper through the human tissues. Another investigation in [8] utilized a realistic human body model to
simulate the SAR distribution when the antenna is placed 5 mm from the right chest. Meanwhile, SAR levels were also simulated
using a realistic model in [24] under two circumstances; when the antenna is placed at 3 mm from the back with and without a
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cotton fabric. The distance from the body is also varied and SAR values for different configurations were evaluated. Besides
detailed phantoms, SAR has also been calculated using a three layer human body model at a distance of 2 mm from the antenna
in [11].

Fig. 14. Reflection coefficient and efficiency measurements with one, three, and six washing cycles [36]

G. Assessment under Varying Environmental Conditions

Besides the influences of the body, the antenna operation under varying environmental conditions should also be examined.
They include aspects such as moisture [23], [37] and freezing [23]. The influence of moisture on the antenna properties
significantly changes the resonant frequency as the relative humidity increase [23]. The presence of ice also resulted in
deterioration of antenna impedance matching. Meanwhile, an antenna developed by using waterproof textile [20] was frozen and
unfrozen before being tested on an Iridium phone, see Fig. 15. A successful phone call was able to be made despite the existence
of snow on its antenna. Next, this freezing test was also conducted for GPS systems, with its signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR)
monitored. Another comprehensive study on a wearable array performance in terms of reflection coefficient and mutual coupling
was reported in [51] for different relative humidity conditions and textile materials with a variation of moisture regain (MR).

Fig. 15. Antenna and device operation with additional attenuators (left) and device operation a layer of densely packed snow on the antenna (right) [20].

H. Transfer Function/ Time Domain Analysis for Pulsed Systems

For the operation of UWB wearable systems, the assessment of its time domain behavior and system‟s transfer function is
critical. Assessments are typically performed when the antenna of interest is used either as Tx or Rx with a specific distance in a
controlled environment, as demonstrated in [9]. This work measured the UWB pulses of a pair of identical wearable antenna
used as the Tx and Rx and facing each other with a distance 1 m apart in an anechoic chamber. Three different input pulses were
used to excite the antenna based on the modulated Gaussian pulse. Their excitation and respective resulting spectra are depicted
in Fig. 16. Their desired transient responses were attained numerically by multiplying the spectra and the transfer function S 21.
Next, an inverse Fourier transform is applied to obtain the transmitted pulses, see Fig. 17. In this case, a PCB antenna was used
as the reference antenna.
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Fig. 16. Different pulses used for excitation: (a) time domain waveforms; (b) spectra [9]

Fig. 17. Received pulses from different excitations (a) pulse 1 (b) pulse 2 (c) pulse 3 [9]

I. Signal Strength and Communication

One of the most important practical evaluations for wearable antennas is its functionality in their specific applications. For
positioning and localization, received signal strength (RSS) examination for a wearable antenna may also be an option. For
instance, the work in [31] examined RSS for these purposes using the RFID technology. Experimental assessment was setup as
shown in Fig. 18, where readability and RSS measurements were conducted along the white measurement line denoted as 1-11.
Meanwhile, another indoor localization system in [28] uses a fabric monopole as the transmitting antenna for the RFID tag. An
optical probe was attached to the tag. The purpose of the system is to track the tag using two base stations for one dimensional
localization. Besides that, practical evaluation for wireless communication will be dependent on whether the antenna is designed
for on body or off body communication. For instance, the work in [8] proposed a method for body to body communication
evaluation, see Fig. 19. Meanwhile, in [30], a wearable antenna connected to a mobile phone was assessed for cellular reception.
Fig. 20 illustrated that full signal strengths were obtained when the cell phone was connected to the textile antenna on the
shoulder. On the contrary, a full strength signal was only received when the original cell phone antenna was held close to the
human head. Besides this, an off-body wireless link was studied in [23] when the antenna under test was placed in different
positions on a moving human body for 20 different instances.

Fig. 18. RSS measurement setup in the office environment [31]

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Fig. 19. On-body to on-body communication link setup [8]

Fig. 20. Wearable textile antenna for body-worn cellular reception [30]

J. Indoor MIMO Evaluations

MIMO has been shown to be one of the promising techniques to improve the reliability of the wireless on-body link, by using
simultaneous transmit and receive diversity [68]. Realizing this, several investigations on the aspects of MIMO have been
proposed recently. An example of this is a MIMO flexible and wearable antenna operating at 5.8 GHz fabricated using
multilayered polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) [69]. Important MIMO parameters such as mutual coupling (S21), envelope
correlation coefficient (ᵨ), and diversity gain (Gapp) were studied for this antenna, besides its reflection coefficient (S11) and gain.
The mutual coupling was observed to be strongly dependent on the distance between the different ports feeding the two
subarrays. Comparison with three other commercially-available substrates; FR-4, Taconic TLY-5, and Rogers RT6002 also
validated the larger bandwidth and better efficiency of the proposed PDMS antenna. Due to the expected application of such
wearable antennas indoors, efforts have also been channeled towards investigating their behavior in such environments. An
instance is the effort in [70], which introduced a methodology to predict the bit error characteristics and channel capacity curves
based on the shadowing and fading correlation matrices extracted from channel measurements. These measurements were
performed using a 4 x 4 MIMO configuration with the subject wearing two dual-polarized textile antennas, each on the front and
back of the body. The proposed model was also capable of isolating the shadowing from the small-scale fading correlation
matrices, which completely characterize the MIMO channel in such scenario. Besides this, a measurement campaign aimed at
examining the channel impulse response of a multi-channel and dynamic on-body MIMO has been reported in [71]. Eight
dynamic channels between fabric antennas mounted on different parts of the body (both on the inside and outside of the right
wrist, knee, ankle) in walking motions are statistical analysed. The multi-channeled time variations of the signals were observed
using a UWB MIMO channel sounder over a bandwidth of 7 GHz (from 3.5 to 10.5 GHz). These results provide understanding
in designing RF chains and cross-layer protocols in reliable, energy-efficient, multi-node on-body networks, which are highly
relevant characteristics for a 5G network.
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V. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a perspective of the future technology landscape in wearable antennas for future 5G networks is presented. The
improved capacity and throughput, reduced latency and network densification in 5G will enable the deployment of wearables in
massive numbers per macro- or picocell. Future wearables are expected to comply with new higher frequency spectrums, for
example in the mm-wave bands. This in turn requires a distinct model for mm-wave propagation, communication architecture
and design paradigm of components. Additional considerations related to antennas for wearables include materials, fabrication
methods and assessment techniques throughout their design and evaluation cycle. The state-of-the-art review on wearable
antennas operating across various frequencies indicated there is a significant shift from the use of basic topologies, materials and
fabrication technologies towards the use of scanning arrays in the mm-wave frequencies, the use of more robust materials and
sophisticated manufacturing methods, and possible consideration for energy-autonomy in preparation for 5G-centric applications
in dense cells. Next, various fabrication technologies and their corresponding flexible materials suited for wearable antennas are
presented. It is noted that the evolution of the antenna from simple microstrip- or planar monopole-based topologies to more
sophisticated arrays and metamaterial-based topologies has also resulted technological developments in the fabrication process.
Laser cutting, embroidery, metallized eyelets, inkjet printing, etc., are expected to enable accurate fabrication of the more
sophisticated structures required for higher frequency operation with tighter dimensional tolerances. Besides conventional
analyses required, evaluation for wearable antennas are more comprehensive considering SAR analysis, deformation study on
detailed human phantoms, reliability study, functionality tests and operation under various environmental conditions. It is
envisioned that future 5G antennas for wearable application is desired to be compact, low-profile, comfortable and feature
mechanical robustness, insensitivity to changes in user movements and robustness to deformations, varying mounting locations
and body morphologies.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) (Grant
no: 9003-00527) and the MyBrain Scholarship for Ms.Nur Farahiyah Mohamad Aun, both funded by the Malaysian Ministry of
Higher Education (MOHE). The technical support provided by Mr. Herwansyah Lago is also highly appreciated.

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