Design of a Wideband Inductively Coupled Loop Feed Patch Antenna for UHF RFID Tag

Abstract

A planar wideband patch antenna for ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) tag for metallic applications is presented in this research work. Three different shape patches are inductively coupled to a triangle loop to form wide impedance bandwidth for universal application UHF (860-960 MHz) RFID. The structure of proposed antenna exhibits planar profile to provide ease of fabrication for cost reduction well suited for mass production. The simulation of the antenna was carried out using Finite Element Method (FEM) based software, Ansoft HFSS v13. The simulated and measured impedance bandwidth of 113 MHz and 117 MHz (Return Loss≥6 dB) were achieved to cover the entire UHF RFID operating frequency band worldwide. The simulated and measured radiation patterns at the operating frequency of 915 MHz are in good agreement. Moreover the simulated minimum antenna gain at the bore sight direction in free space and when mounted on 200 x 200 mm2 metal plate are -15 dBi and -14dBi respectively which is enough to provide reasonable read range over the entire UHF RFID system operating band.