Abstract
This research presents an ultra-wideband (UWB) textile antenna design for body-centric applications. The antenna is printed on a 1 mm thick denim substrate with a 1.7 relative permittivity. The jeans substrate is sandwiched between a partial ground plane and a radiating patch with a Q-shaped slot. The slotted radiating patch is placed above the substrate and measures 27.8 mm x 23.8 mm. In free space, the antenna covers the ultra-wideband spectrum designated by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). Various parameters of the antenna design were changed for further performance evaluation. Depending on the operating frequency, the antenna's realized gain varied from 2.7 to 5 dB. The antenna achieved high radiation efficiency with an omnidirectional radiation pattern. A parametric study was performed in research on varying antenna substrates and other components of the antenna. The three outermost layers of the human body are used to model a human phantom for on-body simulation. After that, the antenna was placed at five different distances from the phantom. The findings demonstrate that at close distances to the phantom, the antenna's gain and efficiency at lower frequencies are reduced. The antenna's radiation efficiency and gain were much higher at higher frequencies for distances greater than 6 mm. Compared to free space, the antenna's radiation pattern was more omnidirectional, especially at higher frequencies. This antenna is novel, compact and has an ultra wide bandwidth, a maximum of 94.60% radiation efficiency and a 5 dBi gain that will make it a good candidate for body-centric communications.