Wide-Band Felt Antenna With 6-Cells Electromagnetic Band Gap Jeans Array for Wireless Area Network Applications

This study proposed a 20 mm x 30 mm x 1 mm wearable antenna constructed of fabric (felt) substrate, making it the most suitable candidate for wearable applications, and fit for embedding in cloths for use in telemedicine applications. In addition, an electromagnetic band gap (EBG) array comprised of 6 square copper loops attached to a fabric substrate (jeans) with a slotted ground structure was proposed. The proposed antenna design combined with the EBG array had a total dimension of 60 mm x 60 mm x 2 mm and operated at 2.4 GHz with low specific absorption rate (SAR) of 1.55 watts per kilogram (W/kg) and 0.77 W/kg per 10 g. The simulation and measurement results indicated that the antenna performed better when coupled with the 6-cells EBG array constructed on a substrate different from that of the antenna and featuring slots on the EBG partial ground. This new approach of using a different substrate for the antenna and EBG array significantly increased the antenna’s bandwidth from 7.5% to 25 %, that can overcome the problem of frequency shifting and reduced the negative effect of the human body on the performance of the antenna. Furthermore, the partial slotted EBG ground increased the antenna gain from 1.4 dBi to 6.7 dBi. Additionally, the antenna’s performance was measured on a real human body arm. The measurement results showed a good agreement with the simulation results, making the proposed design reliable for wearable telemedicine applications.