This study enhances the gain of fabric-based wearable patch antennas at 2.45 GHz, crucial for improving wireless body area networks (WBANs) used in health monitoring and fitness tracking. Unlike conventional antennas, which rely on high-conductivity metals and rigid substrates such as flame retardant 4 (FR4) or printed circuit board (PCB), this study utilizes 100% textile materials, including denim as the substrate and diamond lattice conductive fabric (DLCF) as the radiating element, offering flexibility and low-cost manufacturing due to its commercially availability. Simulations demonstrated that increasing substrate thickness significantly improved gain, achieving up to 4.58 dB. Experimental validation with a 100% cotton-based substrate showed gains of 0.03, 2.18, and 3.82 dB for thickness increases of 1, 3, and 5 times, respectively. Despite the lower conductivity of textile materials, the optimized antenna structure exhibited performance comparable to conventional antennas. This work highlights the potential for fully textile-based, high-gain antennas that are both flexible and cost-effective, making them viable for scalable wearable applications.
KavithaVMalaisamyKMurugeshT, et al.
Design and development of jeans textile antenna for wireless broadband applications. J Ind Text2023;
53: 15280837231215374. DOI: 10.1177/15280837231215374.
2.
LangleyRJFordKLLeeH-J. Switchable on/off-body communication at 2.45 GHz using textile microstrip patch antenna on stripline. In: European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP), Prague, Czech Republic, 2012, pp. 728–731. IEEE.
3.
GharodeDNellaARajagopalM.State‐of‐art design aspects of wearable, mobile, and flexible antennas for modern communication wireless systems. Int J Commun Syst2021;
34: e4934. DOI: 10.1002/dac.4934.
4.
DalkılıçHÖzcanhanMHÖzdemirH.Wireless data transfer with the use of internet of things (IoT) technologies in smart textiles. J Text Inst2022;
113: 1568–1575. DOI: 10.1080/00405000.2021.1940035.
5.
DalkılıçHÖzdemirHÖzcanhanMH.Wireless transmission of vital body data and ambient magnetic field with wearable IoT device attached smart textile. Text Res J2024. DOI: 10.1177/00405175241252964.
6.
LiS-HLiJ-S. Smart patch wearable antenna on Jeans textile for body wireless communication. In: 2018 12th International Symposium on Antennas, Propagation and EM Theory (ISAPE), Hangzhou, China, 2018, pp. 1–4. IEEE.
7.
Monirujjaman KhanMHossainJIslamK, et al.
Design and study of an mm wave wearable textile based compact antenna for healthcare applications. Int J Antennas Propagation2021;
2021: 6506128. DOI: 10.1155/2021/6506128.
8.
Van TorrePVallozziLHertleerC, et al.
Indoor off-body wireless MIMO communication with dual polarized textile antennas. IEEE Trans Antennas Propagation2011;
59: 631–642. DOI: 10.1109/tap.2010.2096389.
9.
RanaMSRockyTRIslamMA, et al.
A review of 2.45 GHz microstrip patch antennas for wireless applications. Int J Adv Appl Sci2024;
13: 269. DOI: 10.11591/ijaas.v13.i2.pp269-281.
10.
RanoDChaudharyMAHashmiMS.A new model to determine effective permittivity and resonant frequency of patch antenna covered with multiple dielectric layers. IEEE Access2020;
8: 34418–34430. DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2974912.
11.
WangTYanNTianM, et al.
A low-cost high-gain filtering patch antenna with enhanced frequency selectivity based on SISL for 5G application. IEEE Antennas Wireless Propagation Lett2022;
21: 1772–1776. DOI: 10.1109/lawp.2022.3179522.
12.
MulkallaSFakirdeAPeshwePD.Flexible microstrip patch antenna design on jeans substrate radiating at 2.45 GHz for WBAN application. Prog Electromag Res M2023;
122: 1–9. DOI: 10.2528/PIERM23072903.
13.
Monirujjaman KhanMYeboah-AkowuahBIslamK, et al.
Novel design of UWB jeans based textile antenna for body-centric communications. Comput Syst Sci Eng2022;
42: 1079–1093. DOI: 10.32604/csse.2022.022313.
14.
LinXChenYGongZ, et al.
Ultrawideband textile antenna for wearable microwave medical imaging applications. IEEE Trans Antennas Propagation2020;
68: 4238–4249. DOI: 10.1109/tap.2020.2970072.
15.
KlemmMTroesterG.Textile UWB antennas for wireless body area networks. IEEE Trans Antennas Propagation2006;
54: 3192–3197. DOI: 10.1109/tap.2006.883978.
16.
MartererVRadouchováMSoukupR, et al.
Wearable textile antennas: investigation on material variants, fabrication methods, design and application. Fash Text2024;
11: 9. DOI: 10.1186/s40691-023-00369-1.
17.
ReshmaS GRHarineeVSenthil RajanS.Analysing the impact of substrate thickness on antenna performance for GPS application. Int J Innov Res Comput Sci Technol2023;
11: 9. DOI: 10.55524/ijircst.2023.11.3.10.
18.
ZhengCHuJJiangJ.Substrate effect and structure optimization of fabric-based circularly polarized dipole antenna for radio frequency energy harvesting. Text Res J2023;
93: 3956–3968. DOI: 10.1177/00405175231168424.
19.
VarmaSSharmaSJohnM, et al.
Design and performance analysis of compact wearable textile antennas for IoT and body‐centric communication applications. Int J Antennas Propagation2021;
2021: 7698765. DOI: 10.1155/2021/7698765.
20.
ZhouLFangSJiaX.Dual‐band and dual‐polarised circular patch textile antenna for on‐/off‐body WBAN applications. IET Microw Antennas Propagation2020;
14: 643–648. DOI: 10.1049/iet-map.2019.1073.
21.
GriloMCorreraFS. Parametric study of rectangular patch antenna using denim textile material. In: 2013 SBMO/IEEE MTT-S International Microwave and Optoelectronics Conference (IMOC), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2013, pp.1–5. IEEE.
22.
GriloMCorreraFS.Rectangular patch antenna on textile substrate fed by proximity coupling. J Microw Optoelectron Electromag Appl2015;
14: 103–112.
23.
EmbongEERaniKARahimH. The wearable textile-based microstrip patch antenna preliminary design and development. In: 2017 IEEE 3rd international conference on engineering technologies and social sciences (ICETSS), Bangkok, Thailand, 2017, pp. 1–5. IEEE.
24.
PandimadeviMTamilselviRParisa BehamM.Design and simulation of flexible jute antenna with performance validation on bending and soaking conditions. Text Res J2021;
91: 219–231. DOI: 10.1177/0040517520935978.
25.
AshrafJJabbarAArifA, et al. A textile based wideband wearable antenna. In: 2021 International Bhurban Conference on Applied Sciences and Technologies (IBCAST), 2021, pp.938-941. IEEE.
26.
FakirdeAMulkallalSSahareP, et al.
Wearable flexible jeans textile microstrip patch antenna for ISM band application. Res Square2023. DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3008052/v1.
27.
MemonAWde PaulaILMalengierB, et al.
Breathable textile rectangular ring microstrip patch antenna at 2.45 GHz for wearable applications. Sensors2021;
21: 1635. DOI: 10.3390/s21051635.
28.
ShahariarHSoewardimanHJurJS. Fabrication and packaging of flexible and breathable patch antennas on textiles. In: SoutheastCon 2017, Concord, NC, USA, 2017, pp.1–5. IEEE.
29.
JaisMIJamlosMFBJusohM, et al.
A novel 2.45 GHz switchable beam textile antenna (SBTA) for outdoor wireless body area network (WBAN) applications. Prog Electromag Res2013;
138: 613–627. DOI: 10.2528/pier13022610.
30.
LocherIKlemmMKirsteinT, et al.
Design and characterization of purely textile patch antennas. IEEE Trans Adv Packaging2006;
29: 777–788. DOI: 10.1109/TADVP.2006.884780.
31.
RahimHAAbd MalekMFAdamI, et al. Basic characteristics of a textile monopole antenna for body-centric wireless communications. In: 2012 IEEE Symposium on Wireless Technology and Applications (ISWTA), Bandung, Indonesia, 2012 2012, pp. 272–275. IEEE.
KuangYYaoLLuanH, et al.
Effects of weaving structures and parameters on the radiation properties of three-dimensional fabric integrated microstrip antennas. Text Res J2018;
88: 2182–2189. DOI: 10.1177/0040517517716908.
35.
BalanisCA.Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design.
New York:
John Wiley & Sons, 2016.
36.
LiELiXJSeetB-C.A triband slot patch antenna for conformal and wearable applications. Electronics2021;
10: 3155. DOI: 10.3390/electronics10243155.
37.
MishraBVermaRKYashwanthN, et al.
A review on microstrip patch antenna parameters of different geometry and bandwidth enhancement techniques. Int J Microw Wireless Technol2022;
14: 652–673. DOI: 10.1017/s1759078721001148.
38.
BaskarDKumarCASubramoniamP. A linearly polarized microstrip patch antenna array using microstrip line feed. In: 2012 International Conference on Computing, Communication and Applications,2012, pp.1–4. IEEE.
39.
PattnaikSSKhuntiaBPandaDC, et al.
Calculation of optimized parameters of rectangular microstrip patch antenna using genetic algorithm. Microw Opt Technol Lett2003;
37: 431–433. DOI: 10.1002/mop.10940.
40.
PaulLCHosainMSSarkerS, et al.
The effect of changing substrate material and thickness on the performance of inset feed microstrip patch antenna. Amer J Netw Commun2015;
4: 54–58. DOI: doi:10.11648/j.ajnc.20150403.16.
41.
Hakan ÖzdemirSK.Smart woven fabrics with portable and wearable vibrating electronics. AUTEX Res J2015;
15. DOI: 10.2478/aut-2014-0037.
