Multi-frequency and Multi-function Wearable Antenna

1.Introduction

Antennas are key components of any wireless system. An antenna is a conductor that can transmit, send and receive Electromagnetic (microwave, radio or satellite) signals... Most antennas are resonant devices, which operate efficiently over a relative narrow frequency band. There are different types of antennas. The dipole antenna is the first type of antenna to be ever used and the simplest one to study and understand, it is a strait wire fed from the center. Directional antenna is used for antennas which radiates power in focused and specific direction. Microwave Antennas which include parabolic reflector and horn antennas and are used for high gain. The Microstrip patch antenna is a single layer design which commonly consists of four parts (ground plane, patch, the feeding part and substrate). Microstrip antennas, mostly referred to as patch antennas consists of a very thin metallic patch (usually copper or gold) placed a small fraction of a wavelength above a conducting ground plane, separated by a dielectric substrate. The radiating patch can be of any planar geometry e.g. circle, rectangle, square, elliptical, thin strip dipole, disc sector, triangular and circular ring. The radiating elements and the feed lines are usually etched on the dielectric substrate of a material.

Microstrip antennas have some advantages such as light weight, low cost etc and some disadvantages such as low bandwidth & efficiency. However there are different methods by which their efficiency and bandwidth can be improved. Microstrip patch antennas are low profile, conformable to planar and non planar surfaces, simple and inexpensive to manufacture using modern printed circuit technology, physically robust when mounted on rigid surfac...

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