Dual-band metal skin UHF RFID tag antenna

Abstract

A novel dual-band metal skin UHF radio-frequency identification tag antenna for 866/915 MHz applications is proposed, which is suitable for attaching to metallic objects. To achieve long read ranges within dual band on an ultra-thin substrate, the antenna is designed with two patch arrays printed on a flexible substrate polypropylene for low-cost production. The prototype antenna is fabricated and tested with the commercial tag chip by dual-port connection. The experiment results show that it has similar radiation patterns for the dual band and the read ranges are 3.5 and 3.6 m for 866 and 915 MHz, respectively, when it is mounted on a metal plate. © 2013 Institution of Engineering and Technology.