Inkjet-printed planar antenna for a wireless sensor on paper operating at Wi-Fi frequency

Organic substrates is one of the leading solutions to realize ultra-low-cost and “green” wireless sensor applications. Inkjet printing on paper would be particularly economically appealing if commercial antennas could be replaced with printed antennas with similar performance. This paper presents the replacement of an inkjet-printed, planar, inverted-F antenna (PIFA) for a conventional commercially available, three dimensional (3D) monopole used in a Smart Wireless Integrated Module (SWIM). Both the sensor layout and PIFA antenna are inkjet-printed on paper substrate, in a first successful step towards the implementation of a fully operational, fully planar wireless sensor on paper at Wi-Fi frequency (2.4 GHz).