48,585 research outputs found
Wireless distance estimation with low-power standard components in wireless sensor nodes
In the context of increasing use of moving wireless sensor nodes the interest
in localizing these nodes in their application environment is strongly rising.
For many applications, it is necessary to know the exact position of the nodes
in two- or three-dimensional space. Commonly used nodes use state-of-the-art
transceivers like the CC430 from Texas Instruments with integrated signal
strength measurement for this purpose. This has the disadvantage, that the
signal strength measurement is strongly dependent on the orientation of the
node through the antennas inhomogeneous radiation pattern as well as it has a
small accuracy on long ranges. Also, the nodes overall attenuation and output
power has to be calibrated and interference and multipath effects appear in
closed environments. Another possibility to trilaterate the position of a
sensor node is the time of flight measurement. This has the advantage, that the
position can also be estimated on long ranges, where signal strength methods
give only poor accuracy. In this paper we present an investigation of the
suitability of the state-of-the-art transceiver CC430 for a system based on
time of flight methods and give an overview of the optimal settings under
various circumstances for the in-field application. For this investigation, the
systematic and statistical errors in the time of flight measurements with the
CC430 have been investigated under a multitude of parameters. Our basic system
does not use any additional components but only the given standard hardware,
which can be found on the Texas Instruments evaluation board for a CC430. Thus,
it can be implemented on already existent sensor node networks by a simple
software upgrade.Comment: 8 pages, Proceedings of the 14th Mechatronics Forum International
Conference, Mechatronics 201
A CMOS spectrum analyzer frontend for cognitive radio achieving +25dBm IIP3 and −169 dBm/Hz DANL
A dual RF-receiver preceded by discrete-step attenuators is implemented in 65nm CMOS and operates from 0.3– 1.0 GHz. The noise of the receivers is reduced by cross-correlating the two receiver outputs in the digital baseband, allowing attenuation of the RF input signal to increase linearity. With this technique a displayed average noise level below -169 dBm/Hz is obtained with +25 dBm IIP3, giving a spurious-free dynamic range of 89 dB in 1 MHz resolution bandwidth
The role of the reflection coefficient in precision measurement of ultrasonic attenuation
Ultrasonic attenuation measurements using contact, pulse-echo techniques are sensitive to surface roughness and couplant thickness variations. This can reduce considerable inaccuracies in the measurement of the attenuation coefficient for broadband pulses. Inaccuracies arise from variations in the reflection coefficient at the buffer-couplant-sample interface. The reflection coefficient is examined as a function of the surface roughness and corresponding couplant thickness variations. Interrelations with ultrasonic frequency are illustrated. Reliable attenuation measurements are obtained only when the frequency dependence of the reflection coefficient is incorporated in signal analysis. Data are given for nickel 200 samples and a silicon nitride ceramic bar having surface roughness variations in the 0.3 to 3.0 microns range for signal bandwidths in the 50 to 100 MHz range
A Passive Probe for Subsurface Oceans and Liquid Water in Jupiter's Icy Moons
We describe an interferometric reflectometer method for passive detection of
subsurface oceans and liquid water in Jovian icy moons using Jupiter's
decametric radio emission (DAM). The DAM flux density exceeds 3,000 times the
galactic background in the neighborhood of the Jovian icy moons, providing a
signal that could be used for passive radio sounding. An instrument located
between the icy moon and Jupiter could sample the DAM emission along with its
echoes reflected in the ice layer of the target moon. Cross-correlating the
direct emission with the echoes would provide a measurement of the ice shell
thickness along with its dielectric properties. The interferometric
reflectometer provides a simple solution to sub-Jovian radio sounding of ice
shells that is complementary to ice penetrating radar measurements better
suited to measurements in the anti-Jovian hemisphere that shadows Jupiter's
strong decametric emission. The passive nature of this technique also serves as
risk reduction in case of radar transmitter failure. The interferometric
reflectometer could operate with electrically short antennas, thus extending
ice depth measurements to lower frequencies, and potentially providing a deeper
view into the ice shells of Jovian moons.Comment: Submitted to Icaru
Measurements of the Suitability of Large Rock Salt Formations for Radio Detection of High Energy Neutrinos
We have investigated the possibility that large rock salt formations might be
suitable as target masses for detection of neutrinos of energies about 10 PeV
and above. In neutrino interactions at these energies, the secondary
electromagnetic cascade produces a coherent radio pulse well above ambient
thermal noise via the Askaryan effect. We describe measurements of
radio-frequency attenuation lengths and ambient thermal noise in two salt
formations. Measurements in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), located in
an evaporite salt bed in Carlsbad, NM yielded short attenuation lengths, 3-7 m
over 150-300 MHz. However, measurements at United Salt's Hockley mine, located
in a salt dome near Houston, Texas yielded attenuation lengths in excess of 250
m at similar frequencies. We have also analyzed early ground-penetrating radar
data at Hockley mine and have found additional evidence for attenuation lengths
in excess of several hundred meters at 440 MHz. We conclude that salt domes,
which may individually contain several hundred cubic kilometer water-equivalent
mass, provide attractive sites for next-generation high-energy neutrino
detectors.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures, to be submitted to Nuclear Instruments and
Method
In situ characterization of two wireless transmission schemes for ingestible capsules
We report the experimental in situ characterization of 30-40 MHz and 868 MHz wireless transmission schemes for ingestible capsules, in porcine carcasses. This includes a detailed study of the performance of a magnetically coupled near-field very high-frequency (VHF) transmission scheme that requires only one eighth of the volume and one quarter of the power consumption of existing 868-MHz solutions. Our in situ measurements tested the performance of four different capsules specially constructed for this study (two variants of each transmission scheme), in two scenarios. One mimicked the performance of a body-worn receiving coil, while the other allowed the characterization of the direction-dependent signal attenuation due to losses in the surrounding tissue. We found that the magnetically coupled near-field VHF telemetry scheme presents an attractive option for future, miniturized ingestible capsules for medical applications
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