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<H1>L-band you can wear!<BR><FONT size=2>Textile antenna promises futuristic
communications</FONT></H1>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>With a simple press on his shirt insignia, the captain of
the Star Ship Enterprise could send and receive messages.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>Now, thanks to the efforts of a Finnish company supported
by ESA, this futuristic communication may not be limited to fiction.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>Through the ESA Advanced Research in Telecommunications
Systems (ARTES) 5 project <EM>'Textile Antennas'</EM>, the Finnish
<STRONG>Patria Aviation Oy</STRONG> company has demonstrated that an antenna can
be built using textiles that can be worn and used for personal satellite
communication. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>"Flexible antennas are becoming attractive, since the
recent developments in 'wearable computing' have opened several possibilities to
integrate wireless functions into clothing," explained Rolv Midthassel, ESA’s
representative on the project. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>The project included the complete process, from selecting
and characterising the materials, to making and verifying the design. The
resulting demonstrator antenna looks like a simple patch of cloth and is capable
of operating in the Iridium and GPS frequency band as part of clothing.
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>"The use of GPS and the Iridium satellite phone system for
this project may be an attractive combination for a later product," said Mr
Midthassel. "The Iridium satellites allow two-way voice and data communication,
while GPS provides positional data to the user. Iridium could also relay the
position of the user to operational centres." </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>The project's main issue was selecting the material to
use. Then the material’s electrical characteristics had to be measured using a
number of techniques. The next goal was to determine the antenna's performance
when the wearer was moving around or bending. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>Peter de Maagt, ESA's technical officer on the project,
explained that the antenna's geometry allows it to bend in a direction that
least reduces performance. Testing proved that the antenna meets the electrical
specifications under bending conditions. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>The radiating patch antenna is shielded against
environmental conditions by a protective layer. The selected geometry meets the
stringent requirements imposed by Iridium and GPS, maintaining 'circular
polarisation' of its radio signal over the full bandwidth even when bent, which
is commonly recognised to be difficult to achieve with soft, wearable antennas.
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>Then there was the question of handling the material
itself. Could it be washed and at what temperature? How must it be stitched?
Could it be ironed? </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>Dr Pekka Salonen, Research and Development Manager at
Patria Aviation Oy, said that working with ESA through the ARTES programme has
been beneficial. "We have been pushed to go further to reach the goal of what we
promised to do," he said. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>"Comments and suggestions from ESA staff during the
project have been valuable, giving us new insight into all the variables we
should take into account, apart from the engineering factors. The results are a
good example of close cooperation between the customer and contractor."
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>Testing has indicated that a textile antenna is feasible.
One of the tests used the antenna to place calls with the Iridium phone to
ESTEC, in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, from the company in Finland. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>"We are pleased with the results of this project," said Mr
Midthassel, who sees many potential applications. "Such an antenna could be used
in occupations such as fire fighting and other emergency situations."
</FONT></P>
<P><A href="http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMQKBKIWZF_index_0.html"
target=_blank><FONT
face=Verdana>http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMQKBKIWZF_index_0.html</FONT></A></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>Our thanks to <STRONG>Andy, G0SFJ</STRONG> for spotting
this item</FONT></P></BODY></HTML>