Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

ScienceDirect
Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 48 52

6th International Conference On Advances In Computing & Communications, ICACC 2016, 6-8
September 2016, Cochin, India

Triple band printed modified bow-tie antenna for RFID reader/ISM

applications
Jibish Mathewa,Manju Abrahamb, Thomaskutty Mathewb*
a
Prajyoti Niketan College, Pudukad, Thrissur, Kerala, India
b
School of Technology and Science, Edappally, Kochi, Kerala, India

Abstract

A modified bow-tie antenna, which finds potential use in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) / Industrial, Scientific and
Medical (ISM) applications, is proposed. Triple band operation is facilitated by applying trapezoidal truncations on both arms of
the bow-tie antenna. The major attractive feature of the proposed antenna is its improved bandwidth for triple band operation
particularly in different RFID bands. A considerable size reduction of the patch area is also achieved for the proposed structure.
The simulated results for the return loss characteristics are in good agreement with the measured results.

2016
2016 The
TheAuthors.
Authors.Published
Publishedbyby
Elsevier B.V.
Elsevier This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
B.V.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of ICACC 2016.
Peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of ICACC 2016
Keywords: Triple Band Antenna; Modified Bow-tie Antenna;RFID Antennas;Printed Antennas;RFID Reader

1. Introduction

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is an automated wireless data collection technology which is widely being
used as a substitute for barcodes in industries such as access control, parcel tracking, distribution logistics,
automotive systems and people or live stock tracking. RFID system consists of reader, tag and processing unit [1].
Antennas are the key parts in an RFID system, which are used not only in the reader but also in the tag. In general,
there are four RFID frequency bands: low-frequency band (125 KHz), high-frequency band (13.56 MHz), ultra high

* Corresponding author. Tel 919048108856.

E-mail address: drtkmathew@gmail.com

1877-0509 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of ICACC 2016
doi:10.1016/j.procs.2016.07.180
 Jibish Mathew et al. / Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 48 52 49

frequency (UHF) band (860-960 MHz), and microwave bands (2.45 & 5.8 GHz). RFID technology in UHF and
microwave bands is becoming popular because of their advantages of long read range and high data rate. A number
of suitable antennas are reported for efficient operation in these bands [2, 3]. However, the regulations for passive
RFID in the UHF band are quite different for different countries (European Union 865-868MHz, America 902-
928MHz, China 920.5-924.5MHz, Japan 952-956.4MHz etc). These types of decentralized standardizations are the
major issue in international RFID based logistic control and similar applications. A universal RFID reader which
covers the entire UHF band [4] and microwave bands is the best solution to overcome these problems. Multi-band
antennas operating specifically in these bands are very useful in the design of RFID readers operating
simultaneously in all these bands. Recently, attempts were made by some researchers to design dual band reader and
tag antennas to work simultaneously in two RFID bands [5, 6]. Multi-band antennas are generally known for their
poor efficiency and narrow bandwidth. However, several excellent designs of bow-tie antennas have been reported
which exhibit improved bandwidth, ease of feeding and inexpensive in fabrication than the conventional form [7, 8].

In this paper, we present a triple band printed modified bow-tie antenna which covers the entire UHF RFID band
and microwave RFID bands(2.45 GHz and 5.8 GHz) The triple band operation is achieved by applying trapezoidal
truncations of same dimensions on both the arms of the conventional bow-tie antenna.

2. Antenna Design and Fabrication

A conventional printed bow-tie antenna consisting of two triangular shaped radiating arms of length L1 and
width W1, printed on either side of a substrate is shown in Figure1.a. The top and bottom sides of the structure are
shown in light and dark shades respectively. The triple band printed modified bow-tie antenna is constructed by
applying trapezoidal truncations as shown in Figure 1.b.

Fig 1. Geometry of the antenna configurations

a. Basic bow-tie antenna
b. Layout of the proposed antenna

The truncations are applied in the lower portion of the top arm and the upper portion of the bottom arm of the
conventional bow-tie antenna. The simulation studies were performed with CST microwave studio and the
parameters of the modified bow-tie antenna were optimized for triple band operation. The simulated variations of
S11 with frequency for different values of L2 in comparison with the conventional bow-tie antenna are shown in
Figure 2. It is clear that the required triple band for RFID applications are obtained at L2=40mm. The optimal
50 Jibish Mathew et al. / Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 48 52

design parameters are as follows: L1 = 74 mm, L2 =40 mm, W1 = 30 mm, W2 =7 mm, FW1 = 2 mm FW2=6mm,
FL=17mm and the vertex angle = 230. The metallic patches with optimized parameters are printed on either side of
a 1.6 mm thick FR-4 substrate with r=4.4. The proposed antenna is fed by a simple 50 paired micro strip
transmission line printed on either side of the substrate and connected to an SMA connector. It has been observed
that the three resonant frequencies of the antenna can be independently varied by changing the dimensions of the
trapezoidal truncations of modified bow-tie antenna.

-10
S11(dB)

-20

-30 L2=0 (Basic Bow-tie)

L2=20 mm
L2=30 mm
L2=40 mm

-40

0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Frequency (GHz)

Fig. 2. Effect of changing L2 on the resonate frequency and S11 of the antenna with L1= 74 mm, W1= 30mm and vertex angle = 230

-10
S11 in dB

-20

Bow-tie (Simulated)
-30
proposed (Simulated)
Proposed ( Measured )
-40

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Frequency in GHz
Fig 3. S11 Characteristics of the modified bow-tie antenna.
 Jibish Mathew et al. / Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 48 52 51

915 MHz 2.45 GHz

0 0
0 0 0
30 330 30 330 0
-5 -5 30 330
-5
-10 -10
-10
60 -15 300 60 -15 300
60 -15 300

-20 -20
-20

-25 -25
-25

90 -30 270 90 -30 270

90 -30 270
0 -5 -10 -15 -20 -25 -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 0 -5 -10 -15 -20 -25 -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0
0 -5 -10 -15 -20 -25 -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0
-25 -25
-25

-20 -20
-20

120 -15 240 120 -15 240 -15

120 240

-10 -10 -10

-5 -5 -5
150 210 150 210 150 210
0 0 0
180 180 180

Measured E Plane Measured E Plane Measured E Plane

Measured H Plane Measured H Plane measured H Plane

Fig. 4. (a) Radiation pattern (normalized) of the proposed antenna at 915 MHz. (b) Radiation pattern (normalized) of the proposed antenna at
2.45GHz. (c) Radiation pattern (normalized) of the proposed antenna at 5.8 GHz.

3. Results and discussion

The radiation characteristics of the fabricated antenna with optimized parameters were measured in an anechoic
chamber with HP 8510C network analyzer. Figure 3 shows the measured S11 characteristics of the modified bow-tie
antenna along with the simulated results. It can be seen that the measured and simulated S11 characteristics are in
close agreement with each other. In the lower band, the measured band width for input S11 -10 dB is about
15.9% (829-972 MHz), which includes the entire UHF RFID band (860-960MHz). In the second band, the measured
bandwidth is about 6.5% (2.414-2.577GHz) and in the third band, it is about 4.7% (5.616- 5.884 GHz). It is
worthwhile mentioning that the -10 dB bandwidth of the proposed structure is wider than that of the conventional
bow-tie antenna in the three RFID bands. Figure 4 shows the measured radiation patterns of the antenna at 915MHz,
2.45 GHz and 5.8GHz. It can be seen that for all the three frequencies, the radiation patterns have maximum at bore
sight direction. Moreover, a reduction in the metallic patch area by 66.5% than the conventional bow-tie antenna is
achieved in the proposed antenna. The measured gains are 1.9dBi, 2.4dBi and 3.35dBi for frequencies 915 MHz,
2.45GHz and 5.8GHz respectively.

4. Conclusion

A novel triple band antenna for the RFID/ISM applications is reported. The proposed antenna is simple to design
and compact in size. Simulated and experimental results show good agreement with each other. It is found that the
proposed antenna exhibits properties of broad bandwidth and good radiation characteristics for the triple band RFID
operation. The modified bow-tie antenna is useful in the design of a universal RFID reader that covers the entire
UHF RFID band and microwave RFID bands (2.45 GHz and 5.8 GHz). It may also find applications in other
wireless communications in these ISM bands

References

1. K. Finkenzeller, RFID handbook, John Wiley& son,England,2003.

2. K.V.S. Rao, P.V. Nikitin, S.F.Lam, Antenna design for UHF RFID tags: a review and a practical applications, IEEE transactions on antennas
and propagation,53(2005), 3870-3876.
3. X. Li, L.Yang, S.-X. Gong, Y.-J. Yang, J.-F. Liu, A compact folded printed dipole antenna for UHF RFID reader, Progress in
electromagnetics research letters, 6 (2009), 47-54.
52 Jibish Mathew et al. / Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 48 52

4. Zhi Ning Chen, Xianming Qing, Hang Leong Chung, A universal UHF RFID reader antenna, IEEE transactions on microwave theory and
techniques, 57(2009), 1275-1282.
5. Jun-Jiat Tiang, M.T. Islam, Norbahiah Misran, J. Mandeep Singh, Wideband L-probe circular patch antenna for dual-frequency RFID
application, Microwave and optical technology letters, 56 (2014), 1421-1424.
6. G.H. Du, T. Tang, Y. Deng, Dual-band metal skin UHF RFID tag antenna, Electronics Letters, 49 (2013), 858-860.
7. Ravi Kumar Joshi, Ayyangar Ranganath Harish, A modified bowtie antenna for dual band applications, IEEE Antennas and Wireless
Propagation Letters, 6 (2007), 468-471.
8. Y. Tawk, K.Y. Kabalan, A.El-Hajj, C.G. Christodoulou, J. Costantine, A simple multiband printed bowtie antenna, IEEE antennas and
wireless propagation letters, 7 (2008), 557-560.