HIS Design for an Environment-Robust UHF/UWB Antenna with 3D-Printed Inclusions

The necessity for autonomous energy devices to monitor and locate items/people involves combining Ultra High Frequency (UHF) transmissions for power and Ultra-Wideband (UWB) signals for communication. To accomplish these requirements, this article proposes the design and development of a multipurpose antenna. The presence of a High Impedance Surface (HIS) allows one-port spiral-dipole combination to achieve insensitivity to the background platform while still maintaining a low-profile stack-up structure; no back-radiations within the entire frequency range, circular polarization in the UWB band, and high efficiency in the UHF band. Furthermore, for the proposed feeding mechanism, the usage of 3D printing appears to be strategic for the structure's robustness and for the adopted feeding mechanism.