Implementation of an all-textile bow-tie antenna for the 868 MHz ISM band

A triangulate fractal shape, flexible, textile, wearable antenna is fabricated in this paper. The proposed antenna operates in the Industrial Scientific & Medical 868 MHz band and its performance is evaluated by measuring the Return Loss (RL) and the radiation patterns under several bending conditions. The measured -10dB RL bandwidth of the antenna is at least 162 MHz and may be as wide as 385 MHz, depending on the bending conditions. As regards the radiation characteristics of the antenna, they are not affected significantly by the deformation of the textile when it is mounted on cylindrical surfaces.