Characterization of textile substrate to design a textile antenna

The introduction of intelligent textile system to increase the wearer´s level of protection has exposed the necessity of wearable communication tools and has led to research in textile antennas. So-called “wearable textile systems” are intended to improve the quality of life by enhancing the wearer´s functionalities. Garments having the ability to monitor bio signals and communicate with the environment can, for example, provide continuous information about a person´s state of health. However, wireless communication with the environment requires antennas. When preserving textile properties such as flexibility and comfort is an issue, antennas should be made fully integratable into garments and, thus, manufactured from textile material. In this paper, we describe the design, manufacture, and performance of the rectangular microstrip antenna on a textile substrate which shows the feasibility of the use of textile materials in the design of antennas working in the dedicated 831.94MHz frequency range.