An eighth-mode SIW antenna for Low-Power Wide-Area Network applications

Abstract

A wearable textile antenna based on the fundamental mode of an eighth-mode substrate-integrated waveguide cavity is presented for Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN) applications. The antenna operates in the UHF frequency band, at 867 MHz, and exhibits compact size, minimal manufacturing complexity and very low production cost. High isolation from the human body is observed, and a planar size reduction by more than 50% is achieved compared to similar SIW antennas in the literature. The proposed wearable antenna has been designed using CST Microwave Studio, then manufactured and tested, showing very good agreement with predicted performance.

KEYWORDS:

• Wearable antennas
• body-antenna coupling
• eight-mode substrate integrated waveguide (EMSIW)
• LoRa

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Giacomo Muntoni

Giacomo Muntoni received the M.S. degree in telecommunication engineering and the Ph.D. degree in electronic engineering and computer science from the University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy, in 2015 and 2019, respectively. His research activity is mainly focused on design and characterization of antennas for biomedical applications, radar systems for space debris monitoring, and microwave components.

Giovanni Andrea Casula

Giovanni Andrea Casula received the M.S. degree in electronic engineering and the Ph.D. degree in electronic engineering and computer science from the University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy, in 2000 and 2004, respectively. Since December 2017, he has been an Associate Professor of electromagnetic fields at the University of Cagliari, teaching courses in electromag-netics and antenna engineering. He has authored or coauthored about 50 articles in international journals. His current research interests include the analysis and design of waveguide slot arrays, RFID Antennas, wearable antennas, and numerical methods in electromagnetics. Dr. Casula is an Associate Editor of the IET Microwaves, Antennas & Propagation.

Giorgio Montisci

Giorgio Montisci received the M.S. degree in electronic engineering and the Ph.D. degree in electronic engineering and computer science from the University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy, in 1997 and 2000, respectively. Since November 2015, he is Associate Professor of electromagnetic fields at the University of Cagliari, teaching courses in electromagnetics and microwave engineering. He is author or coauthor of about 70 papers in international journals. He is an associate editor of IEEE Access, IET Microwaves, Antennas & Propagation, IET Electronics Letters, and an academic editor of the International Journal of Antennas and Propagation. His research activity is mainly focused on analysis and design of waveguide slot arrays, RFID Antennas, wearable antennas, numerical methods in electromagnetics, and microwave circuits and systems.

Tonino Pisanu

Tonino Pisanu received the M.S. degree in Physics from the University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy, in 1995. In 2001 he joined the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Cagliari Astronomy Observatory, Cagliari, Italy. His research activity is mainly focused on analysis and design of microwave components for radio-astronomy applications and in research and development of non-contact measuring systems for characterizing and correcting the optical shape and mechanical configuration of big antenna systems.

Hendrik Rogier

Hendrik Rogier received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium, in 1994 and 1999, respectively. He is a currently a Senior Full Professor with the Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, and a Guest Professor with the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre, Ghent. He has authored or coauthored over 175 articles in international journals and over 200 contributions in conference proceedings. His current research interests include antenna systems, radio wave propagation, body-centric communication, numerical electromagnetics, electromagnetic compatibility, and power/signal integrity. He was a recipient of the URSI Young Scientist Award (twice) at the 2001 URSI Symposium on Electromagnetic Theory and at the 2002 URSI General Assembly, the 2014 Premium Award for Best Paper in the IET Electronics Letters, the Best Paper Award First Place in the 2016 IEEE MTT-S Topical Conference on Wireless Sensors and Sensor Networks, the Best Poster Paper Award at the 2012 IEEE Electrical Design of Advanced Packaging and Systems Symposium, the Best Paper Award at the 2013 IEEE Workshop on Signal and Power Integrity, and the Joseph Morrissey Memorial Award for the First Best Scientific Paper at BioEM 2013. He is an Associate Editor of the IET Electronics Letters, and of IET Microwaves, Antennas and Propagation. He acts as the URSI Commission B representative for Belgium.

Andrea Michel

Andrea Michel received the B.E., M.E. and Ph.D. degrees in Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Pisa, Italy, in 2009, 2011, and 2015, respectively. In 2014, he was a Visiting Scholar with the Electro Science Laboratory, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA, under the supervision of Prof John Volakis. During this period, he was involved in research on a theoretical analysis on the accuracy of a novel technique for deep tissue imaging. Since 2015, he has been a Post-Doctoral Researcher in Applied Electromagnetism at the Microwave and Radiation Laboratory, Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, where he is currently an Assistant Professor. He is involved in the design of antennas for automotive applications, MIMO systems, and wearable communication systems, also in collaboration with other research institutes and companies. His current research interests include the design of integrated antenna for communication systems and smart antennas for near field UHF-RFID readers. Dr. Michel was a recipient of the Young Scientist Award from the International Union of Radio Science (URSI), Commission B, in 2014, 2015, and 2016. In 2016, he received the Best Paper Honorary Mention from the IEEE International Conference on RFID Technology and Applications, Shunde, Guangdong, China. He serves as Early Career Representative for URSI Commission B (Fields and Waves).