Table 3 Comparison of various feeding mechanism in the literature and their advantages and disadvantages for textile antennas

Kuang et al. (2018); Sundarsingh et al. (2017)

Coaxial feed

− Simple fabrication

− Good compactness in terms of the overall volume

− Impedance matching can be easily obtained

− Not ideal for real textile applications that are expected to be flexible and comfortable, since the rigid coaxial probe is part of the antenna and can not be removed after antenna testing

Del-Rio-Ruiz et al. (2019)

Locher et al. (2006); Wiri (2021); Karimi et al. (2018)

Microstrip line

− Decreases the manufacturing complexity

− Improves the antenna’s flexibility

− Feed can be etched on the same substrate layer to provide a planar structure

− Simple to model

− Increase of TL length also increases the losses, the overall size of the antenna, and the impedance matching complexity

Del-Rio-Ruiz et al. (2019)

Grilo et al. (2016); Grilo & Correra (2015)

Proximity coupling

− Bandwidth increase

− Good cross-polarization

− Good body isolation

− Depending on capacitive coupling

− Stacked configuration can increase the manufacturing cost significantly

Del-Rio-Ruiz et al. (2019)

Jothilakshmi et al. (2015); Ramkumar et al. (2020)

Aperture coupling

− Bandwidth increase

− Reduction in spurious radiation

− Not ideal for off-body communications since the TL is not isolated from the body

− Stacked configuration can increase the manufacturing cost significantly