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David Ferreira, Pedro Pires,

Rben Rodrigues, and Rafael F.S. Caldeirinha

Wearable
Textile Antennas
Examining the effect of bending
on their performance.

T
his article presents a study on the effect of bending on the
performance of a rectangular textile-patch antenna operating
at a 2.4-GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band.
The substrate of the antenna was made from denim textile,
and the conducting layers were made from a copper and nickel plated
polyester fabric. A parametric study was made to determine the influ-
ence of an antenna bending around its length and width on its perfor-
mance parameters in chest, leg, arm, or wrist integration for wireless
body-area network (WBAN) scenarios. Results were obtained from
bench and anechoic chamber measurements and compared with
simulation results. The prototype presents a maximum gain of
approximately 4 dBi and 70 of half-power beamwidth (HPBW) in
the flat position. When subjected to a wrist equivalent bending, the
gain decreases by 2 dB, HPBW has an increase of about 25, and
front-to-back radiation ratio decreases. Mean and standard deviation
parameters as a function of bending curvature were calculated from
parametric simulations.

BACKGROUND
The fast development of wearable low-power devices has increased
the requirement of solutions for WBAN implementation. In addition
to the need to reduce the devices dimensions and improve power
consumption, it is also important to work on developing flexible
antennas that may be integrated into clothes. The wearable antenna
plays an important role in a WBAN, presenting a wide variety of
applications. The antennas can be used in systems detecting body
motion during exercise activity, monitoring heart rate and blood
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MAP.2017.2686093
pressure, and used by emergency responders such as firefighters or
Date of publication: 24 April 2017 police officers [1], [2].

54 1045-9243/172017I june 2017 IEEE Ant nn s & Pro g t on M g z n


Since most wearable devices are applied to clothes, it may radii around the antenna width dimension. The conductive ele-
be relevant to develop antennas that can be easily integrated ment was made of Flectron fabric, and the substrate made of
into a garment, such as a textile antenna. These antennas consist polyester textile, producing a relatively small frequency offset.
of a textile conductive element integrated with another textile We considered a useful addition to the literature to further
material acting as substrate and have the advantage of being investigate this topic, focusing on relatively inexpensive fabrica-
lightweight, flexible, easy to produce, relatively inexpensive, and tion materials at a commercially relevant frequency band and
easily integrated into a garment. providing an extended analysis on the bending effect. This arti-
Several textile antenna-focused publications are already cle presents the design and implementation of a rather simple
available in the literature [2][21], with some only providing textile rectangular patch antenna with substrate made of denim.
simulation analysis [5], [8], [10], [13], [16], [18][20]. For pub- By focusing on a wearable implementation, it is important to be
lications with measurement results, the authors of [2] tested certain that the antenna still operates properly when placed at
a quasisquare shape planar antenna on flexible clothing foam different body locations, such as the leg, arm, or wrist. For that
for a 2.45-GHz ISM band, obtaining relatively good results, reason, the bending effect of the patch antenna was analyzed
although somewhat affected in bending situations. In [3], an in an extensive parametric simulation. Measurements were
ellipse-patch antenna on denim textile was measured across also performed for three specific bending angles associated to
a wide-frequency range of 2.412.8 GHz. The authors mea- a chest, arm, or wrist placement and compared to simulations.
sured the antenna for different bending radii, in which the
performance was somewhat compromised. Return-loss values TEXTILE-PATCH ANTENNA
for simulations and measurements at extreme ranges show that For the implementation of the proposed textile antenna, a
a 5dB offset is present in measurement results, which may microstrip rectangular probe-fed patch antenna was chosen.
undermine the authors conclusions. The authors of [4] assessed These antennas are appropriate to use on textile material,
the influence of rainwater and seawater on the performance of because they present a regular geometry, which makes them
an eye-shaped antenna (modified square patch) on denim sub- easier to produce. The geometry design of the proposed antenna
strate for ultrawideband applications. Damped and immersed is shown in Figure 1.
antenna situations had significant impact on the antenna per-
formance, with the latter rendering the antenna useless. The ANTENNA MATERIAL
authors of [5] proposed an antenna comprising a 2 2 array of The conductive textile material used to fabricate the antenna
I-shaped elements for medical WBAN frequency range, where is a patented copper- and nickel-plated polyester fabric that is
bending influence was assessed and confirmed to compromise mainly intended for shielding rooms against radio-frequency
performance. In [7] and [9], simple characterization of rectan- radiation [22]. This type of material is suitable to design textile
gular and circular patches was presented, respectively, using antennas since it is flexible, lightweight, and easy to cut, with
textile cloths as substrate. specifications given in Table 1. The electrical conductivity of
The authors of [11] provided a rather detailed analysis for this material was calculated based on thickness and surface
a wide-band antenna operating at several wireless commu- resistivity, as described in (1), yielding a value of 28,570 S/m.
nication bands between 0.9 and 6 GHz. Performance of the
antenna when bended per human applications was character- v=
1 . (1)
Rs $ t
ized, significantly modifying the antenna frequency response.
Transmission efficiency improvement was confirmed by adding Denim was the chosen textile substrate material for this
several layers of felt isolator between the antenna ground plane antenna, since it is common, durable, inelastic, and low cost. In
and human body. In addition, [12] presented a planar inverted- addition, it is possible to integrate the developed textile antenna
F antenna integrated with felt fabric and its performance for into clothing, such as in a jeans pocket, without interfering with
different body locations. Bending of the antenna was tested
and yielded considerably degraded results. Furthermore, [14]
and [22] presented results for rectangular microstrip-patch
antennas for felt and denim dielectric fabrics, respectively, at
W
a 2.4-GHz ISM band. Pure copper polyester taffeta fabric was
used in both studies as the conductive textile material. The
antenna bending impact on performance was assessed in [14]
yo

for a few bending radii, with considerable performance impact L


t
being visible. The authors of [22] provided parametric simula-
h
tion results for different antenna variables, such as substrate
d

thickness, patch dimension, and feed location. In [17], the


authors developed several triangular-shaped probe-fed patch
antenna and assessed the performance for different bending F 1. The patch antenna geometry design.

IEEE Ant nn s & Pro g t on M g z n june 2017 55


W antenna
Table 1. The properties i= . (2)
R
of conductive textile. Since the antenna has different width and length values,
Properties Value when it is placed on a curved surface, it yields slightly different
curvature angles, whether the antenna is bent around its width
Surface resistivity (R s) 0.07 X/sq
(case A) or its length (case B). Figure 2 presents both antenna
Thickness (t) 0.5 mm bending scenarios that were used to assess the antenna per-
Weight 130 g/m2 formance. As such, for the upper arm application mentioned
previously, the curvature angles are 104 and 99, respectively.
For the wrist application, the values are 202 and 192 for cases
the users comfort. The main characteristics of the denim sub- A and B, respectively. In the case of leg placement, this would
strate were obtained from [23], in which the authors used the stub translate to values of 65 and 62, respectively.
resonator method, resulting in an f r of 1.6 and loss tangent (tan d) To understand the impact on antenna performance of dif-
equal to 0.01 at 2.4 GHz. The substrate has a thickness h of 2 mm. ferent curvature angles in both antenna bending scenarios,
parametric simulations were performed, and the results are
ANTENNA DESIGN shown in Figure 3. The simulated resonant frequency appears
Based on the conductive material properties provided by the man- to be dependent on the antenna curvature angle, more particu-
ufacturer and considering the denim dielectric characteristics, a larly for the case B bending scenario in Figure 3(b). However,
2.4-GHz textile antenna was designed. Since the conductive textile a trend is noticeable in the plotted data, identified by the linear
contains adhesive on one side, the preliminary assembling to the least-squares regression fitting curve. For the case A parametric,
denim substrate should be relatively easy. The dielectric substrate the mean resonant frequency value is 2.39 GHz with a standard
of the antenna is composed by two layers of denim with a thickness deviation of 14 MHz. Regarding case B, the mean resonant
of approximately 1 mm each. Sewing all three layers should pro- frequency is 2.45 GHz with a standard deviation of 52 MHz.
vide a relatively durable textile antenna. The physical dimensions The trend observed in Figure 3 may be explained from classical
of the antenna were optimized through parametric electromag- antenna theory [24]. On rectangular microstrip-patch antennas,
netic simulations with values presented in Table 2. the electric fields and hence current flow are aligned with the
antenna length, and magnetic field with antenna width. When
SIMULATION RESULTS subjecting the antenna to bending, it is relatively easy to expect
This article studies the impact of physical deformation on the that current flow (across both patch and ground conductive lay-
antenna performance when used in contact with the human ers) and electric fields may be influenced. If the bending occurs
body. To give proper context to WBAN applications, specific across the antenna width (case A), both electric fields and cur-
bending angles must be extrapolated per antenna width and rent flow would be marginally affected and affect the resonant
arm/wrist perimeter by using (2), where i is the bending angle frequency [as Figure 3(a) demonstrates]. If bending is per-
in radians, W antenna represents the antenna width, and R is the formed across the antenna length (case B), one should expect a
radius of an imaginary cylinder to which the antenna is bent. higher impact on performance [Figure 3(b)]. This behavior may
Three different scenarios were considered that are in accor- be due to an equivalent slight reduction in current distance trav-
dance to the measurement setup later described: a chest appli- eled between opposing ends of the patch antenna (due to bend-
cation which, for both simulation and measurement purposes, ing of the materials), which could be seen has a slight reduction
is assumed to be flat; an upper arm application at approximately in patch length. Subsequently, the cumulative behavior of cur-
the bicep muscle area where a perimeter of 35 cm was assumed; rent, E-field, and H-field on antenna performance could lead to
and a wrist application with a perimeter of 18 cm. the observed simulated nonlinearities.

Table 2. The physical dimensions


of the textile antenna.
Parameter Value (mm)
Patch width (W) 51
Patch length (L) 46
d 25
h 2
Feed point (y o) 14 (a) (b)
Ground plane width (W antenna) 101
Ground plane length L antenna 96 Figure 2. The antenna bending scenarios: (a) width bent
(case A) and (b) length bent (case B).

56 june 2017 IEEE Antennas & Propagation Magazine


2.55
Resonance Frequency (GHz)

2.5

2.45
X: 203
Y: 2.4
2.4

2.35 X: 136 (a) (b)


Y: 2.365

2.3
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220
Figure 4. The textile antenna prototype: (a) front and
(b)back.
Curvature Angle ()
(a)
2.55
0
Resonance Frequency (GHz)

2.5 2
X: 193 4
2.45 Y: 2.495 6

S11 (dB)
8
X: 129
2.4 10
Y: 2.425
12
2.35
14 Simulation
16 Measurement
2.3
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 18
Curvature Angle () 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3
(b) Frequency (GHz)

Figure 3. The simulated curvature angle impact on antenna Figure 5. The simulated and measured S 11 at 0 bending
resonant frequency for: (a) case A and (b) case B. angle.

MEASUREMENT RESULTS AND ANALYSIS MEASUREMENT RESULTS


With the simulation optimization procedure successfully Figure 5 shows that the simulated and measured S 11 curves of
achieved, it was time to assemble the textile antenna prototype. the proposed textile antenna in a flat position (0 bending angle).
After cutting the conductive and denim materials by the appro- This comparison shows a negligible deviation of the antenna res-
priate dimensions, the three main layers of the antenna were onant frequency. The measured S 11 frequency curves are visible
sewed and a 50- subminiature version A connector was also in Figure 6 for curvature angles mentioned in the Measurement
integrated. Figure 4 illustrates the developed antenna prototype. Setup section. Somewhat similar to those previously observed in

MEASUREMENT SETUP
To characterize the textile antenna performance, two types of
0
measurements were performed. First, the S 11 was measured
2
in-bench, using a vector network analyzer with the intent of
4 Flat
finding the actual resonant frequency of the antenna. Second, Arm-Case A
the radiation pattern was measured in an anechoic cham- 6
Wrist-Case A
S11 (dB)

ber, using specific antenna measurement fixtures, to obtain 8 Arm-Case B


parameters such as gain and HPBW. In both scenarios, the 10 Wrist-Case B
antenna was measured for three different curvature setups, 12
a flat surface and two different curved surfaces. The curved 14
surfaces were two cylinders with radii of 28.5 and 42.5 mm, X: 2.32 X: 2.46
16 Y: 14.15 Y: 15.15
representing a wrist and upper arm application, respectively.
18
As previously mentioned, due to different antenna width and 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3
length dimensions, the corresponding curvature angles for Frequency (GHz)
case A are 0, 136, and 203. For case B, the curvature angles
are 0, 129, and 193. Figure 6. The measured S 11 for different curvatures.

IEEE Antennas & Propagation Magazine june 2017 57


Table 3. The performance parameters of the antenna.
Arm Wrist
Chest Case A Case B Case A Case B
Frequency (GHz) Simulation 2.39 2.37 2.42 2.4 2.49
Measurement 2.39 2.32 2.46 2.31 2.45
Gain (dBi) Simulation 4.6 3.9 3.4 3.6 0.8
Measurement 3.8 3.1 2.7 1.8 0.4
HPBW () Simulation 70 90 72 96 74
Measurement 72 86 66 96 70
S11 (dB) Simulation 16 19.6 8.4 20.8 7.7
Measurement 17.7 14.2 15.2 12.2 13.9
Bandwidth (MHz) Simulation 110 130 120
Measurement 140 130 130 110 130

simulation results, the bending angle causes a frequency offset in


00 dB the resonant frequency. Table 3 presents the main antenna per-
30 30 formance parameters in all measured scenarios and simulation
10 results for comparison purposes. The simulated 10 dB band-
20
width for both arm and wrist under the case B bending scenarios
60 60
was omitted due to the observed minimum S 11 values of 8.4
30 and 7.7 dB, respectively. Both arm and wrist measurements for
the case A bending yielded a resonant frequency lower than flat
90 90 measurement by about 70 MHz. This behavior was not expected
30 from simulations, as one may recall from Figure 3(a), where an
almost negligible frequency offset was expected. We attribute
20 this discrepancy to other physical properties that the conductive
120 120
10
textile was subjected to upon bending that were not correctly
replicated in simulations.
0 dB 150 For case B, both resonant frequencies were slightly higher
150
180 compared to the flat case and in relatively good agreement
(a)
with simulations in Figure 3(b). The wrist application displayed
a higher discrepancy with simulations, albeit still within the
00 dB expected range. Regarding bandwidth, relatively good agreement
30 30 between simulations and measurements was observed. Using this
10 specific antenna for medical WBAN applications, with an allowed
frequency range from 2.36 to 2.4 GHz [1], the case A antenna
60 20 60
bending would be preferable due to the observed frequency
30 offset regarding the applied curvature angles. For WBAN operat-
ing at the unlicensed ISM band of 2.4 to 2.5 GHz [1], the case B
90 90 bending would be best suited. Ultimately, when submitting textile
30 antennas to fixed or dynamic bending, attention should be given
to a consequent antenna resonant frequency offset.
20 In Figure 7, the normalized antenna radiation patterns for
120 120
all measured cases are plotted. The figure shows that the pat-
10
tern becomes broader as the curvature is increased. The back
0 dB 150 region of the antenna radiation pattern shows an increase of
150
180 10 to 20 dB in gain when compared to the chest (flat antenna)
(b) case, i.e., the front-to-back ratio is decreased. This may be
Chest Arm Wrist a useful feature in WBAN applications, because it gives the
antenna a smaller anisotropic radiation pattern, which should
Figure 7. The normalized radiation pattern in azimuth plane be a desired feature when the antenna is applied to dynamic
due to antenna bending for: (a) case A and (b) case B. bodies/objects.

58 june 2017 IEEE Antennas & Propagation Magazine


CONCLUSIONS [2] C. Hertleer, H. Rogier, L. Vallozzi, and L. Van Langenhove, A textile
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fighters, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 57, no. 4, Apr. 2009, pp. 919925.
of a rectangular microstrip textile-patch antenna for WBAN [3] M. E. Jalil, M. K. A. Rahim, M. A. Abdullah, and O. Ayop, Compact CPW-
tuned at 2.4 GHz. The conductive material of the antenna was fed ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna using denim textile material, in Proc. Int.
a mixture of copper and nickel integrated with polyester fiber Symp. Antennas and Propagation (ISAP), 2012, pp. 3033.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Measurement and performance of textile antenna efficiency on a human body
This research was partially supported by the Portuguese Gov- in a reverberation chamber, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 61, no. 2, Feb.
2013, pp. 871881.
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David Ferreira (david.ferreira@co.it.pt) is working toward a [15] M. Grilo and F. S. Correra, Parametric study of rectangular patch antenna
using denim textile material, in Proc. Int. Microwave and Optoelectronics Conf.
Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering at the University of Vigo, (IMOC), 2013, pp. 15.
Spain, and his current research interests include radiowave [16] Q. Bai and R. Langley, Wearable EBG antenna bending and crumpling, in
propagation measurements, characterization, and modeling. He Proc. Loughborough Antennas and Propagation Conf., U.K., 2009, pp. 201204.
[17] S. Sankaralingam, S. Dhar, R. P. Ghosh, S. Chakraborty, and B. Gupta,
is a Student Member of the IEEE. Impedance characteristics of body-worn electro-textile antenna under flat and
Pedro Pires (2141351@my.ipleiria.pt) is currently working bent positions, in Proc. IEEE Applied Electromagnetics Conf., 2011, pp. 13.
toward an M.S. degree in electrical engineeringelectronics and [18] N. A. Elias, N. A. Samsuri, M. K. A. Rahim, and N. Othman, The effects
of human body and bending on dipole textile antenna performance and SAR,
telecommunications at the University of Vigo, Spain. in Proc. Asia Pacific Microwave Conf., Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2012, pp. 3436.
Rben Rodrigues (2141560@my.ipleiria.pt) is currently [19] M. F. Ismail, M. K. A. Rahim, M. R. Hamid, and H. A. Majid, Bending
working toward an M.S. degree in electrical engineeringelec- analysis on circular polarization array textile antenna, in Proc. IEEE Asia-Pacif-
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Rafael F.S. Caldeirinha (rafael.caldeirinha@ipleiria.pt) is bending of 900MHz textile antenna on specific absorption rate, in Proc. IEEE Asia-
head of the Antennas and Propagation Research Group at the Pacific Conf. Applied Electromagnetics, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, 2014, pp. 261264.
[21] B. Hu, G.-P. Gao, L.-L. He, X.-D. Cong, and J.-N. Zhao, Bending and
Instituto de Telecomunicaes, Leiria, Portugal. He is a coordi- on-arm effects on a wearable antenna for 2.45 GHz body area network, IEEE
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IEEE Antennas & Propagation Magazine june 2017 59

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