Sensor-integrated low-profile antenna design for multipath and blockage rich propagation environment

Due to the growing demand for business-to-customer delivery on perishable goods, a novel business model has been devised to send temperature sensitive goods to the general public without refrigerated trucks. Packages are placed in thermal insulated containers instead, while the temperature is constantly monitored by wireless sensors. Because the cargo space is full of lossy materials, the sensor-integrated antenna is designed to provide radiations in a waveguide-like propagation environment. A low-profile dipole antenna configuration is adopted. Simulation and measurement results demonstrate the proposed conformal antenna can provide the required radiation patterns with decent gains and efficiencies.