PERFORMANCE OF ULTRA-WIDEBAND WEARABLE ANTENNA UNDER SEVERE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND SPECIFIC ABSORPTION RATE (SAR) STUDY AT NEAR DISTANCES

Two ultra-wideband (UWB) planar monopole antennas have been reported in this paper. The antennas have been developed for wearable application. Worn-systems require flexibility and tolerance against external effects. The substrates of the proposed antennas have been made of jeans while radiators were made of copper tapes. Simulated and measured performances of the antennas in terms of return loss and radiation patterns have been discussed in this work. Recorded results have shown that the operating frequency ranges from 3.04 GHz to 10.3 GHz and from 3.04 GHz to 11.3 GHz with respect to -10 dB for the first and second antennas respectively. The antennas have been tested under severe conditions such as operating in water and aggregates and results have been presented and discussed. Moreover, an extended study on the safety concerns of the antennas by means of specific absorption rate (SAR) has been included in this work. The approximated SAR has been found to be within the safety guidelines set by Federal Communications Commission (FCC).