Design of a Tri-Band Wearable Antenna for Millimeter-Wave 5G Applications

A printed monopole antenna for millimeter-wave applications in the 5G frequency region is described in this research. As a result, the proposed antenna resonates in three frequency bands that are designated for 5G communication systems, including 28 GHz, 38 GHz, and 60 GHz (V band). For the sake of compactness, the coplanar waveguide (CPW) method is used. The overall size of the proposed tri-band antenna is 4 mm × 3 mm × 0.25 mm. Using a watch strap and human tissue, such as skin, the proposed antenna gives steady results. At 28 GHz, 38 GHz, and 60 GHz, the antenna’s gain is found to be 5.29 dB, 7.47 dB, and 9 dB, respectively. The overall simulated radiation efficiency is found to be 85% over the watch strap. Wearable devices are a great fit for the proposed tri-band antenna. The antenna prototype was built and tested in order to verify its performance. It can be observed that the simulated and measured results are in close contact. According to our comparative research, the proposed antenna is a good choice for smart 5G devices because of its small size and simple structure, as well as its high gain and radiation efficiency

PIFA antenna for smart watch application in the 2.4 GHz band

[EN] This paper presents a Planar Inverted-F Antenna (PIFA) design for a smartwatch application, optimized to operate on the 2.4 GHz Bluetooth frequency band, on the proximity of the human forearm. The PIFA antenna is mounted on the watchstrap that is used as the antenna substrate. The antenna is fed in a singular way, since a coplanar wave-guide (CPW) transmission line is used to excite the antenna. The antenna is integrated in the watchstrap, curved over the phantom forearm and simulated along with the watchcase. A return loss of ¿20 dB is obtained at 2.4 GHz, and an efficiency of ¿5 dB, which represents a good efficiency taking into account the effect of the human forearm.This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Ministerio Ciencia e Innovación) under project PID2019-107885GB-C32.Abdelhakim, A.; Cabedo Fabres, M.; Ferrando Bataller, M. (2021). PIFA antenna for smart watch application in the 2.4 GHz band. IEEE. 703-704. https://doi.org/10.1109/APS/URSI47566.2021.970448070370

Design of a PIFA antenna integrated in the watchstrap for smart watch application in the 2.4 GHz Bluetooth band

[EN] This paper presents a Planar Inverted-F Antenna (PIFA) design for a smartwatch application, optimized to operate on the 2.4 GHz Bluetooth frequency band, on the proximity of the human forearm. The PIFA antenna is mounted on the watchstrap that is used as the antenna substrate. The antenna is fed in a singular way, since a coplanar wave-guide (CPW) transmission line is used to excite the antenna. The antenna is integrated in the watchstrap, curved over the phantom forearm and simulated along with the watchcase. A return loss of ¿20 dB is obtained at 2.4 GHz, and an efficiency of -5 dB, which represents a good efficiency taking into account the effect of the human forearm.This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Ministerio Ciencia e Innovación) under project PID2019-107885GB-C32.Abdelhakim, A.; Cabedo Fabres, M.; Ferrando Bataller, M. (2021). Design of a PIFA antenna integrated in the watchstrap for smart watch application in the 2.4 GHz Bluetooth band. Íñigo Cuiñas Gómez. 1-3. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/1910631

A Smart Watch with Embedded Sensors to Recognize Objects, Grasps and Forearm Gestures

n/

A Framework For Abstracting, Designing And Building Tangible Gesture Interactive Systems

This thesis discusses tangible gesture interaction, a novel paradigm for interacting with computer that blends concepts from the more popular fields of tangible interaction and gesture interaction. Taking advantage of the human innate abilities to manipulate physical objects and to communicate through gestures, tangible gesture interaction is particularly interesting for interacting in smart environments, bringing the interaction with computer beyond the screen, back to the real world. Since tangible gesture interaction is a relatively new field of research, this thesis presents a conceptual framework that aims at supporting future work in this field. The Tangible Gesture Interaction Framework provides support on three levels. First, it helps reflecting from a theoretical point of view on the different types of tangible gestures that can be designed, physically, through a taxonomy based on three components (move, hold and touch) and additional attributes, and semantically, through a taxonomy of the semantic constructs that can be used to associate meaning to tangible gestures. Second, it helps conceiving new tangible gesture interactive systems and designing new interactions based on gestures with objects, through dedicated guidelines for tangible gesture definition and common practices for different application domains. Third, it helps building new tangible gesture interactive systems supporting the choice between four different technological approaches (embedded and embodied, wearable, environmental or hybrid) and providing general guidance for the different approaches. As an application of this framework, this thesis presents also seven tangible gesture interactive systems for three different application domains, i.e., interacting with the In-Vehicle Infotainment System (IVIS) of the car, the emotional and interpersonal communication, and the interaction in a smart home. For the first application domain, four different systems that use gestures on the steering wheel as interaction means with the IVIS have been designed, developed and evaluated. For the second application domain, an anthropomorphic lamp able to recognize gestures that humans typically perform for interpersonal communication has been conceived and developed. A second system, based on smart t-shirts, recognizes when two people hug and reward the gesture with an exchange of digital information. Finally, a smart watch for recognizing gestures performed with objects held in the hand in the context of the smart home has been investigated. The analysis of existing systems found in literature and of the system developed during this thesis shows that the framework has a good descriptive and evaluative power. The applications developed during this thesis show that the proposed framework has also a good generative power.Questa tesi discute l’interazione gestuale tangibile, un nuovo paradigma per interagire con il computer che unisce i principi dei più comuni campi di studio dell’interazione tangibile e dell’interazione gestuale. Sfruttando le abilità innate dell’uomo di manipolare oggetti fisici e di comunicare con i gesti, l’interazione gestuale tangibile si rivela particolarmente interessante per interagire negli ambienti intelligenti, riportando l’attenzione sul nostro mondo reale, al di là dello schermo dei computer o degli smartphone. Poiché l’interazione gestuale tangibile è un campo di studio relativamente recente, questa tesi presenta un framework (quadro teorico) che ha lo scopo di assistere lavori futuri in questo campo. Il Framework per l’Interazione Gestuale Tangibile fornisce supporto su tre livelli. Per prima cosa, aiuta a riflettere da un punto di vista teorico sui diversi tipi di gesti tangibili che possono essere eseguiti fisicamente, grazie a una tassonomia basata su tre componenti (muovere, tenere, toccare) e attributi addizionali, e che possono essere concepiti semanticamente, grazie a una tassonomia di tutti i costrutti semantici che permettono di associare dei significati ai gesti tangibili. In secondo luogo, il framework proposto aiuta a concepire nuovi sistemi interattivi basati su gesti tangibili e a ideare nuove interazioni basate su gesti con gli oggetti, attraverso linee guida per la definizione di gesti tangibili e una selezione delle migliore pratiche per i differenti campi di applicazione. Infine, il framework aiuta a implementare nuovi sistemi interattivi basati su gesti tangibili, permettendo di scegliere tra quattro differenti approcci tecnologici (incarnato e integrato negli oggetti, indossabile, distribuito nell’ambiente, o ibrido) e fornendo una guida generale per la scelta tra questi differenti approcci. Come applicazione di questo framework, questa tesi presenta anche sette sistemi interattivi basati su gesti tangibili, realizzati per tre differenti campi di applicazione: l’interazione con i sistemi di infotainment degli autoveicoli, la comunicazione interpersonale delle emozioni, e l’interazione nella casa intelligente. Per il primo campo di applicazione, sono stati progettati, sviluppati e testati quattro differenti sistemi che usano gesti tangibili effettuati sul volante come modalità di interazione con il sistema di infotainment. Per il secondo campo di applicazione, è stata concepita e sviluppata una lampada antropomorfica in grado di riconoscere i gesti tipici dell’interazione interpersonale. Per lo stesso campo di applicazione, un secondo sistema, basato su una maglietta intelligente, riconosce quando due persone si abbracciano e ricompensa questo gesto con uno scambio di informazioni digitali. Infine, per l’interazione nella casa intelligente, è stata investigata la realizzazione di uno smart watch per il riconoscimento di gesti eseguiti con oggetti tenuti nella mano. L’analisi dei sistemi interattivi esistenti basati su gesti tangibili permette di dimostrare che il framework ha un buon potere descrittivo e valutativo. Le applicazioni sviluppate durante la tesi mostrano che il framework proposto ha anche un valido potere generativo

Design and development of novel radio frequency identification (RFID) tag structures

The objective of the proposed research is to design and develop a series of radio frequency identification (RFID) tag structures that exhibit good performance characteristics with cost optimization and can be realized on flexible substrates such as liquid crystal polymer (LCP), paper-based substrate and magnetic composite material for conformal applications. The demand for flexible RFID tags has recently increased tremendously due to the requirements of automatic identification in various areas. Several major challenges existing in today's RFID technologies need to be addressed before RFID can eventually march into everyone's daily life, such as how to design high performance tag antennas with effective impedance matching for passive RFID IC chips to optimize the power performance, how to fabricate ultra-low-cost RFID tags in order to facilitate mass production, how to integrate sensors with passive RFID tags for pervasive sensing applications, and how to realize battery-free active RFID tags in which changing battery is not longer needed. In this research, different RFID tag designs are realized on flexible substrates. The design techniques presented set the framework for answering these technical challenges for which, the focus will be on RFID tag structure design, characterization and optimization from the perspectives of both costs involved and technical constraints.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Tentzeris, Manos; Committee Member: DeJean, Gerald; Committee Member: Ingram, Mary; Committee Member: Kavadias, Stylianos; Committee Member: Laskar, Jo