High Frequency Antenna For Vicinity Coupling Devices

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Makara Journal of Technology

Volume 26 Issue 3 Article 3

12-30-2022

Design and Prototyping of a Low-Cost High Frequency Antenna


for Vicinity Coupling Devices
Benjamin Kommey
Department of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah
University of Science and Technology, Kumasi 00233, Ghana, [email protected]

Ernest Ofosu Addo


Department of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah
University of Science and Technology, Kumasi 00233, Ghana, [email protected]

Elvis Tamakloe
Department of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah
University of Science and Technology, Kumasi 00233, Ghana, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation
Kommey, Benjamin; Addo, Ernest Ofosu; and Tamakloe, Elvis (2022) "Design and Prototyping of a Low-
Cost High Frequency Antenna for Vicinity Coupling Devices," Makara Journal of Technology: Vol. 26: Iss.
3, Article 3.
DOI: 10.7454/mst.v26i3.1564
Available at: https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/mjt/vol26/iss3/3

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Universitas Indonesia at UI Scholars Hub. It has been
accepted for inclusion in Makara Journal of Technology by an authorized editor of UI Scholars Hub.
Makara J. Technol. 26/3 (2022), 103−109
doi: 10.7454/mst.v26i3.1564

Design and Prototyping of a Low-Cost High Frequency Antenna for Vicinity


Coupling Devices
Benjamin Kommey*, Ernest Ofosu Addo, and Elvis Tamakloe

Department of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering,


Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi 00233, Ghana
*
E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a high frequency (HF) antenna for high output power vicinity coupling devices
(VCDs) operating at 13.56 MHz. Key design parameters, such as RF power level, antenna size, and communication protocol,
and their link to the antenna features and requirements, have been discussed. For efficient reader interrogation, detection,
and recovery of transponder responses, a tuning circuit necessary to adjust the antenna power matching and resonance
characteristics was designed and prototyped. The antenna was fed to an industry standard reader and evaluated for read range
performance with vicinity cards. The designed antenna on the reader achieved a good read range, which demonstrated fair
agreement with the calculated theoretical results.

Keywords: antenna, high frequency, RFID, tuning network, vicinity coupling devices

1. Introduction field launched by a reader. By contrast, active tags


incorporate batteries to supply all or part of the power
Automatic identification procedures have become required for its operation. Based on the reader
universal elements in many manufacturing, service, transmission frequency, RFID devices may be considered
energy, and transportation industries [1], [2]. These as follows: low frequency (30–300 kHz), high frequency
procedures exist to satisfy the age-old need of providing (3–30 MHz), ultrahigh frequency (0.3–3 GHz), or
information regarding people and goods in transit. microwave (>3 GHz) systems. The HF class of RFID
Methods, such as bar-coded label reading and optical devices generally operates at fop = 13.56 MHz
character recognition, are still popular due to their low (wavelength, λop ≈ 22 m) in the ISM band and can achieve
prices. Thus, radio frequency identification (RFID) has a read range up to 1 m. These devices work based on a
garnered increasing interest since the turn of the century transformer type magnetic coupling principle illustrated
and its use has been forecasted to experience a large growth in Figure 1. Herein, the power and data transfer between
in this decade [3]. RFID offers a technically optimal a reader and tag occurs inductively in the reactive near-
solution to the problem of low data storage capacity and 𝜆
field (enclosing sphere of radius 𝑜𝑝 ) of antennas of both
non-reprogrammable capability associated with the 2𝜋
methods mentioned earlier. This technology also provides devices. The operation of HF devices is regulated by
a fast, hard, and secure means of power and data transfer various standards, which include the ISO 18000 set of
between a tag on a remote body to be identified and a general standards for RFID, ISO 14443, ISO 15693, and
reader or interrogator using magnetic or electromagnetic
(EM) waves. Furthermore, the non-line-of-sight operation
of RFID and its multiple object identification capabilities
have made it widely preferred for use in inventory control
and automation applications.

RFID systems exist in many variants and possess


fundamental differentiating features. These systems may
be classified on the basis of several factors, such as
operation type, operating principle of the data carrier,
power supply, operating frequency range, or mode of
data transfer. An RFID transponder is considered passive Figure 1. Schematic View of the Operation in HF-RFID
if it does not have its power but draws power from the Systems (Addo et al. [22])

103 December 2022 | Vol. 26 | No. 3


104 Kommey, et al.

the EPCglobal Class 1 Gen 2. The standards define key 2. Materials and Methods
radio interface parameters, such as modulation, subcarrier
frequency, bandwidth, and coding [4]. This paper focuses Design considerations. Based on their principle of
on HF-RFID devices that conform to the ISO 15693 operation, antennas for HF-RFID applications are
standards, wherein tags are referred to as vicinity designed as electrically small loops. Loop antennas can
integrated circuit cards (VICCs) and vicinity coupling be designed for appreciable self-inductance required for
devices (VCDs) of readers. The challenge of signal tag–reader inductive coupling. Antennas could be made
reception and processing as experienced by many VICCs from any conductive material, with copper and aluminum
and readers in object identification cannot be overlooked. being the common materials. Construction methods
include the use of tubes and tapes [8–9], wire (insulated
Various attempts toward the development of antennas for or non-insulated) [10], PCB etching [7, 11, 12], and
such devices are detailed in the recent literature. The screen printing [5, 13].
paper in [5] proposes a method for creating large area
antenna structures for VCDs. In that paper, a four- Tube antennas are often bulky despite their easy
element antenna was produced by marking conductive production, while tape antennas lack robustness because
inks on a paper substrate using a stencil process. An input they easily succumb to environmental conditions. PCB
power of 33 dBm produced a maximum recorded read antennas are neat and are suitable for miniature systems.
range of 11.1 cm using the tag antenna system. Thus, Such antennas might not necessarily require industry-
antennas produced from such a method suffered grade equipment nor processes and can be created by an
remarkably high losses and possessed poor power average skilled handyman. However, etching PCB
transfer to passive tags. The proposed remedy for this antennas involves the use of harmful materials, such as
problem involves applying the conductive ink to an ferric chloride acid. Hence, the manufacturing process
identical position multiple times, which significantly should be performed meticulously and with safety
increases the fabrication complexity and system cost of equipment. Antenna coils could also be realized by
such antennas. In [6], a multiloop antenna structure for screen printing with conductive inks (e.g., silver particle
use in an industrial setting was developed. A model ink) on various substrates, such as paper or PET. Despite
where the antenna is divided into a few finite length the remarkable design flexibility and low-cost
elements to combat the effect of eddy currents produced advantages of this technique, screen printed antennas
in antennas by metallic objects in the antenna have high fabrication complexity. Additionally, these
surroundings is presented in this paper. This model has a printed antennas are plagued with reduced read
maximum recorded read range of 43 cm in disruption- performance (low quality factor and low signal-to-noise
free environment when the tag and reader are in close ratio) and high Joule heating due to their commonly high
proximity at 94 dBμA/m magnetic field. The design DC resistance [14–15]. Wire antennas provide a good
approach in the paper produced antennas which worked balance of the aforementioned pros and cons and are
well near conductive materials; however, these antennas considered in this work.
could not read mid-range tags well and were only useful
for low read distance applications, such as smart Knowledge of the overall RFID system features, such as
shelving. The authors in [7] presented a model for the VCD, RF supply, and possible VICC characteristics,
developing HF-RFID antennas based on the idea of using is crucial to obtain the optimum performance of the
the self-resonance frequency of small multi-turn coils. antenna. VCDs require antennas with their center
Their model sought to optimize the quality factor and frequency tuned to fop and having an input impedance that
provide uniform near-field patterns. However, the matches the interrogator front-end/supply with minimal
approach required intricate printed circuit board (PCB) small reflection loss. The VCD must also possess good
technology, produced substantially low read distances tag response selectivity when the designed antenna is
with a maximum value of 10 cm, and relied on special connected. Another important influence on the design is
substrates for a decent performance. the required maximum reading range dmax. For a given
VCD RF output power, the read distance bears a strong
The current work presents a methodical design of a low dependence on the size of the reader antenna.
fabrication cost RFID antenna, which guarantees a good Considering a square HF loop antenna fed with current I,
detection range and an easy recovery of responses from provided the total loop conductor length D << 0.2λop, the
VICCs present in the interrogation zone of the reader. magnetic field intensity at a distance d along the normal
The main contribution of the paper is to demonstrate the axis of the loop could be accurately estimated using
implementation of an HF antenna for VCDs, which uses Equation (1), where N and s are the turns number and side
a low-cost and less complex construction approach yet dimension of the antenna, respectively [16].
provides a superior performance compared with the
recent state-of-the-art. An antenna prototype was 2√2𝑁𝐼𝑠 2
developed and tested to validate the proposed method. 𝐻(𝑑) ≈ (1)
𝜋√(2𝑑 2 +𝑠 2 )3

Makara J. Technol. 1 December 2022 | Vol. 26 | No. 3


High Frequency Antenna for Vicinity Coupling Devices 105

Among all shapes of similar perimeter, the antenna coil of the reader antenna Q involves a compromise between
was designed in a square shape because it produces the large dmax and good carrier–subcarrier separation. A high
largest near-field magnetic field required for VCD–VICC Q may conflict with the bandpass response of the reader,
communication [20]. This shape is commonly used and increased signal oscillations could interfere with the
because it is quite simple to construct and performs better protocol parameters of VCD, such as bit timing [18–19].
in practice compared with other shapes. Furthermore, Furthermore, high voltages at resonance can cause
Equation (1) shows that long read ranges are guaranteed insulation breakdown of the coil or conditioning circuit
by large power. However, the RF power or field components depending on the antenna build. The antenna
generated by an antenna has a legal limit, which is 4 W must be damped to mitigate such problems. That is, the
in Europe and the USA based on ETSI and FCC interrogator antenna must be designed such that it has
regulations, respectively [8]. Large antennas may require sufficient bandwidth for the undistorted transmission or
shielding to maintain their operation within these limits. reception of a modulated carrier signal while having
The adoption of large loops could also negatively affect sufficient power to meet the minimum interrogation field
the receiving characteristics of the antenna and increase strength (Hmin criterion of VICCs). Typical values for
coil self-inductance to levels which may make power VICC interrogation H range from 0.075 A/m to 5 A/m.
matching remarkably difficult to achieve. Other factors, As recommended in the ISO 15693 standard, the loaded
such as typical tag traveling speed, orientation, and VCD antenna Q, QL, must lie in the range of 15–20 for
transmitted data volume, are also considered in the good performance (Figure 2) [5, 8].
system requirement study [6]. The effect on travel speed
and data transmission, which are remarkably critical in Assuming Ccoil is remarkably small at fop, the antenna is
simultaneous multiple tag identification, could be linked approximately a first-order series resonator with a large
to the VCD, baud rate, and sojourn time of tags in the 𝐿
time constant 𝜏 = 𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙 . Therefore, the unloaded quality
field. 𝑅𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙
factor of the antenna, Q0, is given by Equation (4). The
Antenna design. In the reactive near-field region of the high unloaded Q (due to the large τ) could be lowered to
square loop antenna, the power is predominantly a recommended overall value, QL, by loading the antenna
inductive and tends to be real as d increases. Therefore, with a large shunt resistance Rpar to produce an effective
the square loop could be equivalently represented by a anti-resonance with a low-quality factor.
series RL lumped element connection; with distributed
𝑅𝑝𝑎𝑟
capacitance coil between coil turns, the antenna exhibits 𝑄𝑒𝑥𝑡 = , Since Rpar >> Rcoi,
𝜔𝑜𝑝 𝐿𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙
bandpass filtering properties. At fop and with a core of
magnetic permeability µ, an s-side square loop antenna
QL = Q0||Qext ≈ Qext.
constructed from N turns of a conductor of diameter h and
conductivity σ presents an input resistance Rcoil, which
Therefore, in designing the damping network, a desired
combines its radiation resistance Rrad and ohmic
QL is first selected, and the appropriate shunt resistor
resistance Rloss Equation (2). Additionally, the antenna
value can be determined as Rpar ≈ ωopLcoilQL. This
exhibits a self-inductance Lcoil that could be evaluated by
resistance value could be fine-tuned for optimum
the expression in Equation (3) [17].
performance.
4
4𝑠 4𝑁𝑠 𝑓 𝜇 𝜔𝑜𝑝 𝐿𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙
𝑅𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙 ≈ 20𝜋 2 𝑁 2 ( ) + √ 𝑜𝑝 , (2) 𝑄0 = 2𝜋𝑓𝑜𝑝 𝜏 = . (4)
𝜆𝑜𝑝 ℎ 𝜋𝜎 𝑅𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙

𝜇 2𝑎
𝐿𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙 ≈ 2𝑁 2 𝑠 ( ) − 0.774. (3)
𝜋 ℎ

Antenna turning network Q-Damping. In VICC-to-


VCD communication, the modulated tag response is
captured by the antenna of VCD and relayed to its
receiver front-end for demodulation. The received signal
is directly downconverted, amplified, and bandpass
filtered to remove DC and high-order conversion
components, extracting only the frequency band holding
the subcarrier signal, that is, the sidebands of the received
signal spectrum.

𝑓𝑜𝑝
A large quality factor 𝑄 = indicates high output
𝐵𝑊3𝑑𝐵
power for the antenna but narrow half-power bandwidth, Figure 2. Antenna Bandpass Characteristics with Low
BW3dB, and possible stability issues. Therefore, the design and High Q (Addo et al. [22])

Makara J. Technol. 1 December 2022 | Vol. 26 | No. 3


106 Kommey, et al.

Impedance matching and resonance. At HF


frequencies, RF voltage can no longer be considered
stationary but must be treated as an EM wave in the
supply cable. Therefore, a 50Ω coaxial or shielded cable
is commonly used to feed the antenna coil to prevent
undesired standing-wave phenomena, such as parasitic
power emissions and signal reflections. Zcoil must be
transformed to the feed resistance RX = 50Ω using a
passive matching circuit as shown in Figure 3 to achieve
power matching between the antenna and the reader
output module via the coax supply. Furthermore, the
tuning network should feature a capacitance 𝐶𝑝𝑎𝑟 =
1
2 𝐿 , which brings the antenna to resonance at fop Figure 4. Transformation of Zcoil′ by C1 to C2 is
𝜔𝑜𝑝 𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙
when shunted across the coil. The peaking of voltage at Represented in the Z-plane (Addo et al. [22])
fop for a given Lcoil increases the generated magnetic flux
required to supply power to the tag for reading, writing,
or locking operations. Therefore, the performance of this
resonant circuit influences the read range of the reader
system. Additionally, an excellent power matching
translates to the large energy available for flux generation.

A practical configuration of capacitance matching is


shown in Figure 5. In this matching circuit, the shunt Cpar
is split into series and parallel capacitance elements C1
and C2, each satisfying the resonance and input
impedance matching conditions, respectively. C1 shifts
the damped antenna impedance Zcoil′ = Zcoil||Rpar in the
direction of the jX axis shown in Figure 4, while C2 shifts
the Zcoil′ away from the origin in a circular path in the Z-
Figure 5. Circuit of Antenna Coil with a Balanced
plane [20]. The splitting of Cpar into C1 and C2 introduces Capacitance Matching Network
an additional degree of freedom to the matching network (Addo et al. [22])
design [10]. A simplified dimensioning of C2 and C1 from
Cpar, Rpar, and RX is approximated in Equations (5) and 3. Prototyping of Antenna
(6), respectively. The obtained values of C2 and C1 are
inexact and may need tuning. The circuit is then refined A single-turn square loop HF antenna with 40 cm side
to function as a balun to eliminate effects, such as dimensions was designed to operate at fop, simulated, and
common mode noise, ringing, or unwanted coax realized from a copper wire with 1 mm diameter. From
radiation. These effects may arise due to the high (AC) Equations (2) and (3) with σCu = 5.8 × 107 S/m and µ =
voltage difference between the coax core and the µ0 = 4π × 10−7 H/m, Rcoil and Lcoil were computed as
grounded outer shield. Figure 5 shows the balanced 0.495Ω and 1.891 µH, respectively. Therefore, the
capacitance matching circuit. calculated impedance of the square loop antenna was Zcoil
= 0.495 + j161.45Ω. The analytical derivation of the
𝑅𝑝𝑎𝑟 antenna input impedance was validated using CST
𝐶2 ≈ 𝐶𝑝𝑎𝑟 √ , (5)
𝑅𝑥
Microwave Studio. The simulated antenna model
presented in Figure 6 has an input impedance of 0.506 +
𝐶2 𝐶𝑝𝑎𝑟
𝐶1 = . (6) j164.44Ω. The simulated and computed Zcoil are in good
𝐶2 −𝐶𝑝𝑎𝑟
agreement. The antenna was fabricated by molding the
copper wire into a 40 cm side square loop and affixing it
to cardboard. The loop was then fitted with a terminal
block receptacle for easy connection (disconnection) to
the (from) the antenna tuning network. The input
impedance of the realized antenna was determined by
measuring the complex power reflection coefficient S11
at the antenna port using an Agilent E5071c vector
network analyzer (VNA) via a terminal block-to-coax
Figure 3. Connection of an Antenna Coil to a VCD via
connector and coaxial cable. The antenna prototype is
50Ω Technology
shown in Figure 7. The measured input impedance of the

Makara J. Technol. 1 December 2022 | Vol. 26 | No. 3


High Frequency Antenna for Vicinity Coupling Devices 107

antenna at fop was ZcoilM = RcoilM + jXcoilM = 2.187 + for connecting the circuit to the antenna and the reader
j191.282Ω. Therefore, the measured input resistance and supply, respectively. SMD resistors and capacitors as
self-inductance of the antenna were RcoilM = 2.187Ω and well as the connectors were soldered to the copper traces
𝑋𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑀 to complete the matching circuit. Rpar, C1, and C2 were
𝐿𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑀 = = 2.245𝜇𝐻, respectively. The increase
𝜔𝑜𝑝 formed with a combination of low-valued devices due to
or deviation of the measured input impedance the unavailability of exact valued discrete components.
considering the analytical and simulated values could be
mainly attributed to the increase in D and s due to error The component part list is summarized in Table 1 and
during prototyping Equation (2) and (3). For Recoil, Figure 10 shows the fabricated matching circuit.
although Read has a quartic dependence on s, the 1/top
multiplicative factor diminishes the effect of increasing s The antenna matching circuit assembly was measured
because s <a < top. Thus, the increment in Recoil mainly using the VNA and then tuned for optimal matching at
corresponds to the osmic loss increase. However, the fop. The measurement setup is shown in Figure 11.
operation of HF-RFID antennas does not depend on Read
because such systems rely solely on inductive power. By
contrast, the increase in Local is attributed to the rise of the
unloaded Q of the antenna coil Q0 ≈ 87 (Equation (4))
2𝑠
due to𝑠 In ( ), which was more than four times the

recommended limit. Designing for a QL =17, a shunt
resistor Rap = ωopLcoilMQL = 3.25kΩ was used as an initial
guess. This resistance value was tuned later for optimum
performance. The capacitance matching technique was
used to transform the damped antenna impedance to RX.
The resonance capacitance Cpar was determined to be = Figure 7. Prototype of the Designed HF Antenna
1
2 = 61.36 pF, whiles C1 and C2 were 70 and 495
𝜔𝑜𝑝 𝐿𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑀
pF (Equations (5) and (6), respectively). The circuit
representation of the reader antenna connected to a
balanced capacitance matching network was simulated
and tuned in the NI AWR Design Environment. The
optimized damping and matching circuit parameter
values were Rpar = 3.266kΩ, C1 = 70pF, and C2 = 384pF
(Figure 8). As shown in the plot in Figure 9, the
optimized balanced matching circuit resonates at 13.82
MHz and has an input impedance Zin = 50.04 − j0.0768Ω
at fop. The antenna achieved a simulated 68.17 dB return
loss at its input port when connected to the 50Ω port
(coax supply).
Figure 8. Schematic of HF Antenna with the Simulated and
The matching network was fabricated on an FR-4 PCB Optimized Balanced Matching Circuit
with etched copper traces for the easy connection of
circuit components. The PCB was fitted with a terminal
mounting header and an SMA Female PCB Edge Mount

Figure 9. Impedance Plot of Zin and Zcoil Over a 2 MHz


Figure 6. 3D Model of the Antenna Band Centered at fop

Makara J. Technol. 1 December 2022 | Vol. 26 | No. 3


108 Kommey, et al.

Table 1. Bill of Material for the Matching The RF energy supply of the VCD was activated, and the
noise floor was measured to ensure that the amplitude of
Circuit Optimal interference level was sufficiently low such that tag
Part Number Part Value Quantity
Elements Value responses could easily be identified even at low signal
Rpar 3.266 kΩ RS 123-4452 3.3 kΩ 1 levels. A low noise floor was also an indication of a good
antenna matching circuit and test environment setup.
RS 774-0594 100 pF 2 Differences in maximum and minimum noise levels
C1 70 pF should be less than 20 mV for good reader–tag
RS 106-2893 7–50 pF 2
communication. The average noise level recorded was 6
RS 699-8666 220 pF 1 mV, while differences between extreme levels were 5
mV. Notably, in addition to the losses due to mismatch
C2 384 pF RS 916-3056 150 pF 1 between the cable and the antenna, the reader also drives
varied output currents depending on the antenna
RS 721-5350 6.5–30 pF 1 impedance, resulting in power variance [21]. A 50 Ω load
draws approximately 0.3 A of current. No current flows
when the output is open, and the current is limited to 1.0
A in the event of a short circuit.

The read range of three NXP VICCs (Hmin = 0.09A/m)


was tested. Each card was positioned at the center of and
in parallel with the reader antenna plane. Assuming
perfect matching at the reader and antenna ports, for the
single-turn s2 square loop reader antenna, the maximum
theoretical read range of the HF-RFID system with a
parallel tag is given by Equation (7). The distance
between each card and the reader antenna fixture was
increased until the magnetic coupling between the two
Figure 10. Prototype of the Balanced Damping and units was severed and the card reading was lost. The
Matching Circuit
longest recorded read range was 0.48 m. The measured
range demonstrated fair agreement with the results
obtained in Equation (7). Table 2 summarizes the
properties and read range performance of the presented
design compared with the recent state-of-the-art
implementation of HF antennas for VCDs.

2
𝑁𝐼𝑠 2 3 𝑠 2
𝑑𝑚𝑎𝑥 ≈ √( ) − ( ) ≈ 0.52𝑚 (7)
𝜋𝐻𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑁𝑋𝑃 2

The measurement of the S parameter over a 2 MHz band


as depicted in Figure 13 provides a typical overview of
the prototype antenna performance.

Figure 11. Measurement and Tuning of Antenna Port


Matching Level

4. Results and Discussion


Read range measurements were conducted to test the
performance of the VCD antenna. The antenna assembly
was affixed to a wooden stand and fed by an OBID i-
scan® HF long-range reader via a 50Ω coaxial line. The
reader hardware was connected serially (via RS232
interface) to a measurement software (ID ISOStart
software) on a computer. The measurement setup is
shown in Figure 12. Figure 12. Read Range Measurement Setup (Addo et al. [22])

Makara J. Technol. 1 December 2022 | Vol. 26 | No. 3


High Frequency Antenna for Vicinity Coupling Devices 109

Table 2. Comparison of the Presented Work to the State- in this work produces superior read performance while
of-the Art using a simple construction approach.
Li Soheyl Petrariu This
et al [5] et al. [7] et al. [6] Work References
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PCB
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[17] C.A. Balanis, Antenna theory: Analysis and design,
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a 13.56 MHz VCD has been described in this paper. The [18] X. Qing, Z.N. Chen, IEEE Antennas Propag. Mag.
design of a balanced damping and matching circuit 51/2 (2009) 26.
required to adjust the input impedance, resonance, and [19] G. Xiao, Z. Zhang, H. Fukutani, Y. Tao, IEEE J.
quality factor of the antenna has been outlined. The Radio Freq. Identif. 2 (2018) 111.
matching circuit was optimized, fabricated, and [20] K. Finkenzeller (Ed.), RFID handbook:
connected to the antenna using a 50Ω technology feed. fundamentals and applications in contractless smart
The antenna assembly was tuned, fed using an industry cards, radio frequency identification and near field
standard ISO 15963 compliant reader, and tested for read communication, 3rd ed., Wiley Publishing, New
performance on vicinity cards. The designed antenna York, 2010, 480.
with the reader achieved a good read range, which [21] FEIG Electronics, HF Loop Antenna, ID
demonstrated fair agreement with the calculated ISC.ANT310/310, Amerika Serikat, 2019.
theoretical maximum read range. Compared with recent [22] E.O. Addo, B. Kommey, A.S. Agbemenu, H.
state-of-the-art implementations, the antenna presented Kumbong, Eng. Rep. 3/10 (2020) e12407.

Makara J. Technol. 1 December 2022 | Vol. 26 | No. 3

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