A Method to Realize Robust Flexible Electronically Tunable Antennas Using Polymer-Embedded Conductive Fabric

Simorangkir, RBVB; Yang, Y; Esselle, KP; Zeb, BA

A Method to Realize Robust Flexible Electronically Tunable Antennas Using Polymer-Embedded Conductive Fabric

Simorangkir, RBVB Yang, Y

Esselle, KP

Zeb, BA

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 2018, 66 (1), pp. 50 - 58
Issue Date:: 2018-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Simorangkir, RBVB	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Yang, Y https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7439-2156	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Esselle, KP https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3681-0086	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Zeb, BA	en_US
dc.date.issued	2018-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 2018, 66 (1), pp. 50 - 58	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0018-926X	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/128124
dc.description.abstract	© 1963-2012 IEEE. A new approach to realize robust, flexible, and electronically tunable wearable antennas is presented. Conductive fabric is used to form the conducting parts of the antenna on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate. Then the antenna and the lumped (active and passive) elements, required for electronic tuning and RF choking, are fully encapsulated with additional layers of PDMS. As a concept demonstration, a new frequency-reconfigurable antenna has been designed and fabricated. The details of the prototype manufacturing process are described. Two UWB human muscle equivalent phantoms were also fabricated for testing purposes. Furthermore, the antenna was subjected to several investigations on its RF performance (both in free space and on a flat phantom) and mechanical stability. The latter includes bending tests on several locations on a human-body shaped phantom and washing in a household washing machine. Good agreement between predicted and experimental results (both in free space and on the phantom) is observed, validating the proposed concept. The tests demonstrated that lumped components and other antenna parts remained intact and in working order even under extreme bending (to a bending radius of 28 mm) and after washing, thus maintaining the overall antenna performance including good frequency reconfigurability from 2.3 to 2.68 GHz. To the best of our knowledge, all these features have never been demonstrated in previously published electronically tunable antennas.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1109/TAP.2017.2772036	en_US
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject.classification	Networking & Telecommunications	en_US
dc.title	A Method to Realize Robust Flexible Electronically Tunable Antennas Using Polymer-Embedded Conductive Fabric	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	1	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	66	en_US
utslib.for	0906 Electrical and Electronic Engineering	en_US
utslib.for	1005 Communications Technologies	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Electrical and Data Engineering
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
pubs.issue	1	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	66	en_US

Abstract:

© 1963-2012 IEEE. A new approach to realize robust, flexible, and electronically tunable wearable antennas is presented. Conductive fabric is used to form the conducting parts of the antenna on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate. Then the antenna and the lumped (active and passive) elements, required for electronic tuning and RF choking, are fully encapsulated with additional layers of PDMS. As a concept demonstration, a new frequency-reconfigurable antenna has been designed and fabricated. The details of the prototype manufacturing process are described. Two UWB human muscle equivalent phantoms were also fabricated for testing purposes. Furthermore, the antenna was subjected to several investigations on its RF performance (both in free space and on a flat phantom) and mechanical stability. The latter includes bending tests on several locations on a human-body shaped phantom and washing in a household washing machine. Good agreement between predicted and experimental results (both in free space and on the phantom) is observed, validating the proposed concept. The tests demonstrated that lumped components and other antenna parts remained intact and in working order even under extreme bending (to a bending radius of 28 mm) and after washing, thus maintaining the overall antenna performance including good frequency reconfigurability from 2.3 to 2.68 GHz. To the best of our knowledge, all these features have never been demonstrated in previously published electronically tunable antennas.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/128124