A Reconfigurable Inkjet-Printed Antenna on Paper Substrate for Wireless Applications

Abstract

An inkjet printed reconfigurable multiband antenna printed on a low cost commercial photo paper substrate using two PIN diodes is proposed for the first time. A main radiator is designed to operate at 3.4 GHz band whereas L-shaped and U-shaped radiating elements are designed to operate at 1.9 and 2.4 GHz, respectively. The antenna has a size of 30 x 40 x 0.44 mm 3 and can cover most of the mobile and wireless bands between 1.5 to 4 GHz. A prototype of the proposed antenna is fabricated and measured. Measured and simulated results of S11, radiation pattern, gain and efficiency are in good agreement. Measured results show that the antenna has a gain and efficiency of 2 dBi and 50%, respectively. A parametric study is proposed as a guidance to design the antenna for operating in other bands between 1.5GHz to 4GHz.

A Compact Grounded Asymmetric Coplanar Strip-Fed Flexible Multiband Reconfigurable Antenna for Wireless Applications

“…Currently, due to their robustness and light weight, flexible antennas have become popular. Several flexible antennas were reported in [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35], including a low-cost inkjet-printed flexible multiband antenna [19], a flexible antenna modelled on aluminiummetalized polypropylene [20], two flexible and compact flower-shaped CPW-fed antennas [21], a compact, flexible antenna system designed for telemedicine applications [22], two ultraflexible/thin printed monopole antennas [23], a miniature fishtail-shaped antenna [24], a compact, lowvolume flexible antenna with a novel structure model for wireless applications [25], a flexible broadband combshaped monopole antenna [26], a low-profile UWB flexible antenna [27], and a novel flexible and low-cost inkjet printed dual-band antenna, based on a customized analytic curve [28]. Although these antennas are flexible, they are either large or provide a limited number of resonances, and they are not reconfigurable.…”

“…Different reconfigurable stretchable substrate antennas were reported in [29][30][31][32][33][34][35], including a novel flexible, reconfigurable antenna built on the theory of folded slot antennas [29,30]; however these antennas have large areas of 1829 mm 2 to 7387 mm 2 and are limited to dual-band antennas. A CPW-fed dual-polarised dual-band with discrete-frequency reconfigurability flexible monopole antenna was proposed in [31], but the presented antenna had a large area of 1650 mm 2 and is limited to dual-band cases.…”

Flexible Antennas: A Review

“…New generation printers offer precise printing using picolitre volume cartridges. Printing quality is controlled by the jetting waveform, the jetting voltage of the nozzles, the jetting frequency, the cartridge temperature, the platen temperature (where the substrate is placed), and the resolution of the pattern [ 91 , 92 ]. After the printing of the antenna design, sintering is necessary for removing the solvent and capping agent and attaining electrical conductivity [ 93 ].…”

Reliable UHF Long-Range Textile-Integrated RFID Tag Based on a Compact Flexible Antenna Filament

“…RF e-textiles and wearable antennas have been widely researched for various applications [11]. Textile and flexible antennas for Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) RF Identification (RFID) [12][13][14][15][16][17], 2.4 GHz Body Area Networks (BAN) antennas based on dispenser and inkjet printing [18][19][20] as well as photolithography [21], in addition to 5G millimeter-wave applications from 24 GHz up to 60 GHz [22][23][24] have been previously presented. Furthermore, such Electromagnetic (EM) systems operating in vicinity of the body need to be compliant with the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) regulations [25].…”