Reconfigurable textile-based ultra-wideband antenna for wearable applications

This paper presents a compact reconfigurable wearable antenna implemented on a fabric substrate. The proposed antenna is capable of frequency reconfiguration to operate on bands, such as ISM, Wi-Fi and Wi-Max in Ultra-wideband frequency range. The antenna also provides radiation pattern reconfiguration allowing for three distinct operation modes. The optimized dimensions of the antenna are 50×42×1.3 mm3. The materials used for the substrate are cotton and leather, combined with fabric copper or conducting thread embroidery to construct the metal part of antenna. Five different prototypes are designed and experimentally evaluated. The proposed antenna is characterized by simplicity, compactness and versatility, which makes it a smart solution for cognitive radio devices and wearable applications.