A Dual-Band Low SAR Microstrip Patch Antenna with Jean Substrate for WBAN Applications

Abstract

This paper presents a low-profile dual-band microstrip patch antenna operated at the 2.45/5.8 GHz ISM bands, targeting wireless body area network (WBAN) applications. The proposed antenna is fabricated on a jean substrate measuring <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><a:mn>74</a:mn><a:mo>×</a:mo><a:mn>82</a:mn></a:math> mm2. The four corners of the conventional rectangular patch are cut to activate an additional operating frequency and to enhance the radiation pattern. The circular slot is added to the radiating patch to fine-tune the desired frequencies. The measured impedance bandwidth of the proposed antenna at 2.45 GHz and 5.8 GHz bands is 3.68% (2.40 GHz–2.49 GHz) and 3.81% (5.67 GHz–5.89 GHz), respectively. The measured maximum gains are 3.08 dBi at 2.45 GHz and 2.15 dBi at 5.8 GHz. Moreover, the antenna’s performance when placed on flat and rounded body surfaces is also investigated. The proposed antenna achieves stable radiation pattern and low specific absorption rate (SAR) value with low complexity in design. The results indicate that the proposed antenna can be a promising candidate for WBAN applications.