Dual-band dual-polarized textile antenna for location tracking in AAL

A dual-polarized textile antenna operating in the 1.575 GHz for Global Positioning System and 2.45 GHz for WBAN/WLAN is proposed for application in Ambient Assisted Living. This single radiator operating in dual-frequency and dual-polarization provides better cost- and space efficiency as it enables indoor and outdoor location tracking of patients or elderly. To reduce back-radiation towards these users, a 3 x 3 artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) plane is integrated behind a rectangular-shaped patch. The AMC unit cells are formed using a square patch slotted using a square ring and four square slits for operation at 2.45 GHz. Meanwhile, the two of the patch's corners are truncated to enable its dual-band and circular polarization characteristic. Results indicates that the proposed antenna is capable of generating circular polarization at 1.575 GHz with a gain of 1.98 dB and linear polarization at 2.45 GHz with a gain of 1.94 dB.