Wearable wideband antenna
NEC says its has successfully developed a wideband wearable antenna. The high performance device, which uses a conductive fabric, can be attached to clothing or folded for portability. It can also act as a supplementary antenna in areas with poor reception.
Antennas are generally designed to operate in an open space and if used in close proximity to a human body or other object, the impedance deteriorates, causing a reduction in performance. This antenna is designed to demonstrate equally good impedance characteristics whether used in an open space or close to the body.
One of the difficulties encountered in the past when using conductive fabrics was that soldering was not possible. In this case, power is supplied to a small flexible print substrate by a soldered coaxial cable so that power supply is possible through capacity coupling with the substrate.
NEC says it will first test reception of digital terrestrial broadcasts in the 470 to 770MHz band. Later, it will test the device’s potential as an external antenna for future terminals.
