A textile antenna for WLAN applications

Abstract

A natural progression from the Personal Area Network (PAN) concept is the Body Area Network (BAN). A wearable antenna is an essential part of any Wireless BAN. A microstrip patch radiator is chosen as an example of low-profile wearable antenna, as it can be made conformal for integration into clothing. In this paper, a textile microstrip circular disk antenna for such body centered Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) has been developed and tested. The conductive combined cotton (65∶35) fabric has been chosen as its substrate material. Thus the suitability of fabric substrate materials for the development of microstrip patch antennas is well demonstrated.