Wearable textile half-mode substrate-integrated cavity antenna using embroidered vias

Abstract

A wearable textile antenna based on the fundamental mode of a half-mode substrate-integrated semicircular cavity is presented. The antenna operates around 5 GHz and is manufactured with two layers of silver fabric conductors, on the top and bottom of a low-permittivity low-loss foam with minimal water absorption. The vias are realized with five passes of conductive yarn with a diameter of 0.12 mm placed every 1 mm. Their precise arrangement is obtained using computerized embroidery. Compared to other antenna concepts, this design features minimal manufacturing complexity as it does not require accurate patterned cutting of textile conductors. Good isolation from the human body and robustness in terms of deformation are further key characteristics of this structure. This letter provides design guidelines and investigates realistic issues associated with the manufacturing technique. A good agreement between simulated and measured performance with a gain of 7.2 dB validates the concept.