Textile split ring resonator antenna integrated by embroidery

Abstract

A split ring resonator (SRR) antenna integrated in textile by embroidery is reported. The antenna was designed and produced by targeting two goals. First, a size reduction of the antenna was achieved by means of an SRR. Secondly, the connection loss was reduced by using a copper wire dipole fixed by embroidery. On the basis of numerical simulations, three operating modes are evidenced depending on the individual resonance frequency either of the dipole or resonatorrelated. Especially, a balanced mode is confirmed by experiments with two resonances measured at 1.8 and 2.2 GHz with a return loss greater than 31 dB. Finally, the textile antenna exhibits a radiation pattern similar to the radiation pattern of a dipole antenna.

Multiresonant Split Ring Resonator with Meandered Strips

“…The gain was G = 2.7, 0.45, −3, and −4.6 dBi at 2.5, 2.66, 3.38 and 3.63 GHz, respectively. A better gain than in the study by Hao et al was achieved mainly thanks to a more conductive yarn used for the SRRs, but it is not possible to related this higher value to the meandered strip.…”

“…To experimentally assess multiple resonances in an SRR, an SRR antenna was produced by embroidery. This technology is commonly considered for a textile production of wearable metamaterial antennas involving a ring and an SRR . It was conveniently selected in this work for energy‐harvesting application by smart textiles which is not specifically concerned with this article.…”

“…Then, the meandered wire was fixed by embroidery with polyester yarns. The main advantage of this conductive yarn is a high conductivity compared with other conductive yarns used in embroidery . A high conductivity is required to decrease the losses of the resonator.…”

Meta-Wearable Antennas—A Review of Metamaterial Based Antennas in Wireless Body Area Networks

“…Wearable antennas, as a vital component in WBAN systems, enable wireless communication with other devices on or off human bodies [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 ]. Compared to traditional antennas, the design of wearable antennas are facing many development bottlenecks: The electromagnetic coupling between the human body and the antenna, the varying physical deformations, the widely varying operating environments, and limitations of the fabrication process [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. Further, the requirements for these wearable antennas include mechanical robustness, low-profile, lightweight, user comfort, fabrication simplicity [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ], wideband [ 25 , 26 ], and multiband [ 20 , 27 , 29 ].…”

“…In recent years, there has been much literature reporting the fabric material manufacturing and treatment: Embroidered fabric material, sewn textile materials, woven fabrics, materials that are not woven, knitted fabrics, spun fabrics, braiding, coated fabrics through/lamination, printed fabrics, and chemically treated fabrics [ 18 , 19 ]. Furthermore, novel forms of flexible devices such as a fully inkjet-printed antenna [ 30 , 31 ], a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based antenna [ 21 , 22 ], embroidery [ 32 ], and a silicone-based antenna [ 33 ], and devices combined with new design methods such as substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) technology [ 34 ], miniature feeding network [ 23 ], magneto-electric dipole [ 35 ], characteristic mode theory [ 27 , 36 , 37 ], textile-type indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO)-based transistors [ 30 ], and thin-film transistor technologies [ 24 ], are presented for special application scenarios. Furthermore, miniaturization methods, such as inductor/capacitor-loaded antennas [ 38 , 39 , 40 ], loop antennas [ 41 ], and planar inverted F antennas (PIFA) [ 42 , 43 ] are involved in WBAN devices design, which is helpful to improve the design flexibility of the wearable antennas.…”