Smart Coat with a Fully-Embedded Textile Antenna for IoT Applications

The Internet of Things (IoT) scenario is strongly related with the advance of the development of wireless sensor networks (WSN) and radio frequency identification (RFID) systems. Additionally, in the WSN context, for a continuous feed, the integration of textile antennas for energy harvesting into smart clothing is a particularly interesting solution when the replacement of batteries is not easy to practice, such as in wearable devices. This paper presents the E-Caption: Smart and Sustainable Coat. It has an embedded dual-band textile antenna for electromagnetic energy harvesting, operating at global system for mobile communication (GSM) 900 and digital cellular system (DCS) 1800 bands. This printed antenna is fully integrated, as its dielectric is the textile material composing the coat itself. The E-Caption illustrates the innovative concept of textile antennas that can be manipulated as simple emblems. Seven prototypes of these “emblem” antennas, manufactured by lamination and embroidering techniques are also presented. It is shown that the orientation of the conductive fabric does not influence the performance of the antenna. It is also shown that the direction and number of the stitches in the embroidery may influence the performance of the antenna. Moreover, the comparison of results obtained before and after the integration of the antenna into cloth shows the integration does not affect the behavior of the antenna.

[1]  S. Sankaralingam,et al.  Development of wearable and implantable antennas in the last decade: A review , 2010, 2010 10th Mediterranean Microwave Symposium.

[2]  Nuno B. Carvalho,et al.  Textile antenna for electromagnetic energy harvesting for GSM900 and DCS1800 bands , 2013, 2013 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium (APSURSI).

[3]  Imrich Chlamtac,et al.  Internet of things: Vision, applications and research challenges , 2012, Ad Hoc Networks.

[4]  L. Ukkonen,et al.  Sewed textile RFID tag and sensor antennas for on-body use , 2012, 2012 6th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP).

[5]  Hendrik Rogier,et al.  Wearable textile GPS antenna for integration in protective garments , 2010, Proceedings of the Fourth European Conference on Antennas and Propagation.

[6]  Lauri Sydänheimo,et al.  A novel Bluetooth antenna on flexible substrate for smart clothing , 2001, 2001 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics. e-Systems and e-Man for Cybernetics in Cyberspace (Cat.No.01CH37236).

[7]  Dimitris Psychoudakis,et al.  Flexible textile antennas for body-worn communication , 2012, 2012 IEEE International Workshop on Antenna Technology (iWAT).

[8]  Alessandro Chiolerio,et al.  Wearable Electronics and Smart Textiles: A Critical Review , 2014, Sensors.

[9]  Md Shaad Mahmud,et al.  Design, performance and implementation of UWB wearable logo textile antenna , 2012, 2012 15 International Symposium on Antenna Technology and Applied Electromagnetics.

[10]  Cyril Luxey,et al.  On-body measurements of embroidered spiral antenna , 2015, 2015 Loughborough Antennas & Propagation Conference (LAPC).

[11]  R. Bansal,et al.  Antenna theory; analysis and design , 1984, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[12]  Fernando J. Velez,et al.  Spectrum opportunities for electromagnetic energy harvesting from 350 mhz to 3 ghz , 2013, 2013 7th International Symposium on Medical Information and Communication Technology (ISMICT).

[13]  Tomas Blecha,et al.  Screen printed antennas on textile substrate , 2014, Proceedings of the 5th Electronics System-integration Technology Conference (ESTC).

[14]  Lauri Sydanheimo,et al.  Logo-Antenna Based RFID Tags for Advertising Application , 2010 .

[15]  Felix Wortmann,et al.  Internet of Things , 2015, Business & Information Systems Engineering.

[16]  Geoffrey S. Hilton,et al.  Impact of Body and Clothing on a Wearable Textile Dual Band Antenna at Digital Television and Wireless Communications Bands , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[17]  G. A. E. Vandenbosch,et al.  Measurement and Performance of Textile Antenna Efficiency on a Human Body in a Reverberation Chamber , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[18]  A. Costanzo,et al.  Design and realization of a wearable multi-frequency RF energy harvesting system , 2011, Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP).

[19]  John L. Volakis,et al.  Wi-Fi energy harvesting system using body-worn antennas , 2014, 2014 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium (APSURSI).

[20]  G. Troster,et al.  Design and Characterization of Purely Textile Patch Antennas , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Advanced Packaging.

[21]  Ann M Collier.  A handbook of textiles , 1970 .

[22]  Pedro Pinho,et al.  Textile Materials for the Design of Wearable Antennas: A Survey , 2012, Sensors.

[23]  P. Salonen,et al.  A novel fabric WLAN antenna for wearable applications , 2003, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium. Digest. Held in conjunction with: USNC/CNC/URSI North American Radio Sci. Meeting (Cat. No.03CH37450).

[24]  Hamid Jabbar,et al.  RF energy harvesting system and circuits for charging of mobile devices , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics.

[25]  H. Rogier,et al.  A Wearable Active Antenna for Global Positioning System and Satellite Phone , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[26]  Yu Ping Huang.  Effect of sewing types on flexible embroidery antennas in UHF band , 2013, 2013 European Microwave Conference.

[27]  E. Beyne,et al.  SOP integration and codesign of antennas , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Advanced Packaging.

[28]  Marimuthu Palaniswami,et al.  Internet of Things (IoT): A vision, architectural elements, and future directions , 2012, Future Gener. Comput. Syst..

[29]  John L. Volakis,et al.  Stretchable and flexible E-fiber antennas with high geometrical accuracy , 2015, 2015 9th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP).

[30]  William G. Whittow,et al.  Embroidery and related manufacturing techniques for wearable antennas: Challenges and opportunities , 2014 .

[31]  L. Vallozzi,et al.  A Textile Antenna for Off-Body Communication Integrated Into Protective Clothing for Firefighters , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[32]  M. Kivikoski,et al.  Effect of textile materials on wearable antenna performance: a case study of GPS antennas , 2004, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Symposium, 2004..

[33]  Jaehoon Choi,et al.  An All-Textile Louis Vuitton Logo Antenna , 2015, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters.

[34]  Hermann Kopetz,et al.  Real-time systems , 2018, CSC '73.

[35]  William G. Whittow,et al.  Embroidered Wire Dipole Antennas Using Novel Copper Yarns , 2015, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters.