Wearable textile antenna in substrate integrated waveguide technology

Abstract

A novel wearable substrate integrated waveguide antenna fabricated entirely from textile materials is presented. The cavity-backed slot antenna operates in the 2.45 GHz industrial, scientific and medical band, for short range communication between rescue workers. A prototype of the antenna was fabricated and tested: good performance was obtained in terms of input matching and radiation pattern. Moreover, measurements performed on the antenna after bending and integration into clothing indicate high robustness against deformation and low influence of the human body on antenna performance, making the design well-suited for on-body use.