Design and Performance Analysis of a Compact Wearable Antenna Integrated into FR4 Substrates for Enhanced Wireless Communication

This paper introduces the design of a wearable microstrip patch antenna specifically designed for operation at 2.5 GHz, in the ISM band. It makes use of an FR4 substrate with a dielectric constant of 4.4, a loss tangent of 0.02 and 1.6 mm thickness. The dimensions are 45 x 45 x 1.6 mm in length, with a rectangular ring patch and a partial ground plain. Simulations were performed with HFSS software and provided a very well-centered bandwidth of 2.5 GHz, a return loss of -32 dB, and a peak gain of 5.6 dB along with detailed current distribution visualizations. Extensive parametric studies point out the significant effects of patch length and feed width on the resonance frequency and bandwidth of the antenna to fine-tune the performance for optimal performance. The results show omnidirectional radiation patterns of the antenna and stable performance over body models for biomedical applications and wearable wireless communications