Flexible Microstrip Antenna in Wearable

Applications

by
Mr. Leela Satyanarayana V
Y23ECER003
Ph.D (Antennas)

Under the Esteemed Guidance of

Dr.P.Siddaiah
Professor & Principal
Dr.YSR ANU College of Engineering & Technology
 Contents

 Literature Survey
 Objective
 Body centric wireless communication
 Design consideration and challenges
 Analysis Required For Wearable Antennas
 Textile antenna
 Fabrication of wearable textile antenna
 Applications of wearable e-textiles
 Conclusion
 References
 Literature Survey
Existing Designs
S.No Name Journal Specifications Design

1. Design and 2020 IEEE 17th Substrate: Jeans

Analysis of India Council Size of the antenna :
Flexible International 0.533λ × 0.533λ × 0.006λ
Microstrip Conference Frequencies range:
Antenna (INDICON) 1.96-3.22 GHz and 4.76-
for Wearable 5.54 GHz
Applications SAR 1.33 W/Kg
at ISM Band

2. Wearable IEEE Substrate: Pellon

antenna for International Size of the antenna :
space suit Symposium on 3.6 mm
Frequencies range:
Antennas and
7 GHz
Propagation SAR 1.33 W/Kg
 Literature Survey

S.No Name Journal Specifications design

3. Textile The Second Er=2 and conductivity

Antennas for European of 0.001 S/m.
On-Body Conference on Substrate: Copper with
Communicati Antennas and rubber:
ons: Propagation, EuCAP Size of the antenna :
Techniques 2007 3.6 mm
and
Properties

4. Wearable IEEE Access SAR value

Textile Patch ( Volume: 10) is 1.6018 W/Kg, which is
Antenna: less than 2 W/Kg of 10 gm
Challenges tissue
and Future maximum gain 5.47 dBi at
Directions 7.3 GHz
2.45 GHz and 5.8 GHz in
ISM band
 Literature Survey
S.No Name Journal Specifications design

5. A Wearable Circularly IEEE Access WBAN operating at

Polarized Antenna ( Volume: 10) 5.8 GHz.
Backed Board of semi-flexible
by AMC Reflector for Rogers RT-Duroid
WBAN 5880 substrate.
Communications The final design
provides a peak gain
of 7.6 dBi and
an efficiency of 94.7%

6. Design of a Compact IEEE Access ( dual-band with

Hybrid Moore's Fractal Volume: 10) bandwidth ranging
Inspired Wearable from 1.38 - 1.8 GHz
Antenna for IoT and 2.25 - 4.88 GHz
Enabled peak gain
Bio-Telemetry in of 2.2 dBi, overall
Diagnostic Health radiated efciency of
Monitoring System 95% and SAR below
0.025 W/kg.
 Limitations of Inflexible
Microstrip Antenna

Limitations:
➨It offers low efficiency due to
dielectric losses and conductor
losses.
➨It offers lower gain.
➨It has higher level of cross
polarization radiation.
➨It has lower power handling
capability
 Objective

 To design reliable & flexible patch antenna for the body

centric wireless communication.

 To produce the patch antenna design using the low cost

material.

 To overcome the limitations of inflexible Microstrip

Antenna.

 To fabricate the designed prototype model for wearable

applications.
Body Centric Wireless Communication

• Body centric wireless communication is now accepted as an

important part of 4th generation (and beyond) communications
systems.

• Body centric communications takes its place firmly within the

sphere of personal area networks and body area networks
(PANs and BANs).

• The IEEE 802.15.6 standard is the latest international standard

for Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN).
 “Short range, extremely low power wireless communication
within or in a vicinity of human body.”
Body Centric Wireless Communication

• Off-Body :communications from off-body to an on-body

device or system
• On-Body :communications within on-body networks and
wearable systems
• In-Body: communications to medical implants and sensor
networks
 Applications

 Medical Heath Care

 Sports and Fitness
Monitoring
 Military
 Security
 Gaming and entertainment
 Sports
Challenges of Wearable Antennas

 Compactness
 Desired radiation characteristics
 Low cost
 Lightweight
 Multi-band operation
 Stable performance under varying conditions.
 DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

• Antenna detuning and impedance matching

 Designer needs to consider the shift in operational frequency band due to the
human body effect
• Radiation characteristics
 The ground plane makes a shield for human so the radiation won’t transmit
towards human body
• Size, cost and weight
 Light weight and compact for ease of mobility .
 Low cost solution can attract large number of customers
• Bending & crumpling
 Bending has greater impact on antenna performance.
• Positioning and sensitivity
 Bending limitations and scenarios can be determined based on the antenna
placement and it need to be investigated.
 SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS

Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)

 Power absorbed per mass of tissue.
 𝑆𝐴𝑅 = 𝜎
𝐸2/ρ
Where
𝜎= Conductivity of the tissue(S/m)
E= rms Electric field strength(V/m)
ρ = Mass Density of the tissue(kg/m 3)
 The two most commonly used SAR limit specified as
 IEEE 95.1 1.6W/kg for any 1g of tissue
 ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing
Radiation Protection ) 2W/kg for any 10g of tissue.
 ANALYSIS REQUIRED

• Effect of human body interaction

• Due to lossy human body, some part of radiating
power of an antenna will be absorbed by it and it will
result in lower Gain.
• SAR Modeling
• A torso model constructed from CT and MRI image
of real human body employed in the SAR modeling .
• Bending effects on antenna performance
•To validate the performance and stability in bending
conditions, a study on bending effects should be
performed.
• On body measurements
• Positions of wearable antennas will potentially differ,
depending on the application of the antenna.
 TEXTILE ANTENNA

 Textile materials are used as a substrate material or

conductive material that is part of cloths.

 Fabrics should be wearable, durable and flexible.

 The use of textiles requires characterization of their

properties.

 Textile materials generally have very low dielectric

constant which reduces the surface wave losses and
improve the impedance bandwidth of the antenna.
 FACTORS INFLUENCING

Factors influencing the performance of Textile Antenna

 Permittivity
𝗌 = 𝗌𝟎𝗌𝒓 = 𝗌′ −𝒋𝗌“

 Loss tangent
𝑻𝒂𝒏𝜹 = 𝜀"/𝗌′

 Thickness of the dielectric fabrics

 Thickness of the substrate also influences the geometric sizing of the
antenna.

𝟏
𝑩𝑾~
�
�
 TEXTILE MATERIALS

• Dielectric fabrics
Felt
Cardura
Cotton Felt Cordura
Polyester
Silk
Jeans
Fleece Silk Polyester

• Conductive fabrics
Zelt
Flectron
zelt
 Copper polyester fabrics flectron Copper polyester fabric
 FABRICATION METHODS

 Liquid textile adhesive

 Liquid textile adhesive applies on conductive layer of
fabrics
 Conductive spray technique
 In this method the spray is used on the fabric which is a
mixture of copper with gases under pressure.
 Point-wise deposition of conductive adhesive
 Adhesive is placed at particular points only on the fabric. Method of sewing
 Method of sewing
 By the sewing some wrinkles can be formed on the fabric
surface.
 Layered sheets by ironing
 This method deposits thin layer on the conductive textile
by ironing From left to right;
applying copper tape,
 Copper tape method woven copper thread and
 This copper tape is directly applied to the substrates so conductive spray
there is no need of extra fabrication process in this method
 EFFECT OF BENDING IN TEXTILE
ANTENNA
For 2.4-GHz industrial, scientific, and
medical (ISM) band.
• Substrate: Denim textile
 ϵr = 1.6
 loss tangent (tanδ)= 0.01 at 2.4 GHz
 Thickness h=2mm

• Conducting material: Copper and Nickel

plated polyester fabric.
 Surface resistivity (Rs) = 0.07 Ω/sq
 Thickness (t)= 0.5 mm
 PROTOTYPES

• Flexible conductive traces

Fabrication of conductive traces (antennas,
transmission lines, etc.)

Flexible conductive traces

• Stretchable and flexible prototypes
 E-textile embroidered pattern can be embedded into a
stretchy polymer.
• Colourful prototypes
 E-threads in the bobbin of the embroidery Stretchable and flexible prototypes

machine to stitch the antenna on the

back side of the garment

• Textle based batteries

Textle based batteries Colourful prototypes
 APPLICATIONS
• Smart hats for deep brain neurosensing
 Textile-based spiral antennas have been demonstrated for
integration into hats and reading of deep brain neuro
potentials.
• Wound detection fabrics
 A battery less epidermal sensor that identifies open wounds
underneath its surface
• Antenna-impregnated fabrics for height
monitoring
 This technology brings forward regular height monitoring
with minimum impact to the individual’s activity
• Spacesuit applications
 Nickel–copper ripstop was selected as the best material
for the patch and ground.
 layered ultrafirm fabric stabilizer was used for the
dielectric.
 CONCLUSION

 Wearable antennas play a pivotal role in wireless on-

body centric communications

 The fabrication techniques and materials used in

designing textile antennas play a significant role in
defining and determining the overall performance.

 Placing the textile antenna conformal to certain parts

of the human body degrade performance slightly by
introducing frequency detuning and hence pattern
deformation at the resonance frequency .
 REFERENCES

• [1] Hall, P. S., and Hao, Y., “Antennas and Propagation for Body Centric Communications”,
European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP), November 2006.
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spacesuit,” IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation &
USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting, pp. 1216-1217, 2015.
• [3] J.G. Santas, A. Alomainy, H. Yang, “Textile Antennas for On-Body
Communications: Techniques and Properties”. The Antennas andPropagation, 2007.
EuCAP 2007.
• [4] P. Salonen, Y. Rahmat-Samii, and M. Kivikoski, “Wearable Antennas in the Vicinity
of Human Body”
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Body Communications: Techniques and Properties”
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wearable
textile antenna,” in Proc. IEEE Antennas Propag. Int. Symp., 2004, vol. 1, pp. 463–
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