Propagation control using SIW technology

In this paper, a new solution for controlling the propagation along a substrate is presented. This work constitutes a first step for application in wearable antennas where it is necessary to maximize the on-body link performance between two worn antennas manufactured on the same fabric and therefore sharing the same substrate. In order to maximize the power transfer between the two antennas, they are switched in order to reduce their radiation to free space antenna and the power is channeled through a Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) to achieve an enhancement of the received power by 10 dB compared to the normal link. For the off-body mode, the SIW can be deactivated and the antennas switched back to maximize out of body radiation. In addition to controlling the on-body and off-body links, the SIW helps reduce the radiation toward the body, which constitutes an additional important advantage. To present the work, both simulated and measured results are presented and discussed.