Enhancing Circular Polarization Performance of Low-Profile Patch Antennas for Wearables Using Characteristic Mode...

Area of Science:

• Electromagnetic Engineering
• Wearable Technology
• Biomedical Sensors

Background:

• Wearable antennas are crucial for remote health monitoring and sensing.
• Existing low-profile antennas often have limited bandwidth, hindering performance.
• Textile-based antennas offer flexibility and comfort for wearable applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel, low-profile, textile-based wearable antenna for the 2.4 GHz band.
• To enhance the 3-dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of circularly polarized (CP) patch antennas.
• To achieve a simple, low-cost, single-substrate design suitable for massive deployment.

Main Methods:

• Characteristic Mode Analysis (CMA) was employed to understand antenna behavior.
• Slit-loaded parasitic elements were introduced to enhance higher-order modes.
• Parasitic element design was optimized to mitigate capacitive coupling in the low-profile structure.

Main Results:

• An enhanced 3-dB AR bandwidth of 14.3% (2.2-2.54 GHz) was achieved.
• The proposed antenna maintains a low profile (3.34 mm thickness).
• The design utilizes a simple, single-substrate structure, reducing cost and complexity compared to multilayer designs.

Conclusions:

• The developed wearable antenna offers a significantly widened CP bandwidth compared to traditional low-profile designs.
• The innovative use of slit-loaded parasitic elements provides a simple yet effective method for bandwidth enhancement.
• This technology holds promise for future large-scale applications in wearable health monitoring and sensing.