Switchable on/off-body communication at 2.45 GHz using textile microstrip patch antenna on stripline

The potential of employing textile materials to realise a switchable on- and off-body communication system at 2.45 GHz is demonstrated. It is based on an aperture-coupled rectangular textile microstrip patch antenna mounted on textile stripline with a pin diode switching network. Simulations and measurements are presented which show good agreement. On-body communication through a 600 mm-long stripline shows a transmission loss of around 5 dB. Off-body communication via the patch antenna shows a bandwidth from 2.4-2.48 GHz with a boresight gain of 1.48 dBi.