Dual-Band Reconfigurable Flexible Antenna With Independent Frequency Tunability

Abstract

A dual-band frequency-reconfigurable flexible textile and foam antenna with independent tunability is presented in this letter. The proposed antenna operates simultaneously in a <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{TM}_{0(0.5)0}^{z}$</tex-math></inline-formula> mode and a higher order mode with individual frequency tunability centered at the 2.45 and 5.8 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical bands. The relative frequency tuning range at the lower band is 41.1%, while that at the higher band is 29.9%. The antenna is fabricated and measured to validate the concept. The antenna prototype operates as expected and maintains robust performance in various bending configurations through its individual dual-band frequency reconfigurability, which suggests its practicality for wearable applications.