Interaction of antenna systems with human body

The research investigates the influence on the human body on a communication system. To understand this, the effect of hands free kit (HFK) on energy absorption in the body was investigated when operating a smart phone at 2G. Findings on the research are given in the thesis report. Also, the influence of the way in which a phone is held on a phone s received power was investigated. The result was compared to that obtained using a hand phantom acquired from SPEAG. This was to check if the hand phantom best represents the human hand when using it in experiments. The setup for the experiment was in an anechoic chamber at Loughborough University. The mobile phone transmitted in the 2G system. In further experiments carried out on the body, two antennas were attached to the body in six different orientations to receive power from a source creating a Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO) system. The antennas used were monopoles mounted on a circular ground plane. These antennas were designed and constructed with the influence of the body taken into consideration. The use of diversity techniques to improve transmission to an on-body system is investigated with the antennas on the body. For each alignment, the transmission to the on-body was compared with the transmission to the corresponding off-body (free space). Experiments for this work were carried out in three environments

Cooperative Radio Communications for Green Smart Environments

The demand for mobile connectivity is continuously increasing, and by 2020 Mobile and Wireless Communications will serve not only very dense populations of mobile phones and nomadic computers, but also the expected multiplicity of devices and sensors located in machines, vehicles, health systems and city infrastructures. Future Mobile Networks are then faced with many new scenarios and use cases, which will load the networks with different data traffic patterns, in new or shared spectrum bands, creating new specific requirements. This book addresses both the techniques to model, analyse and optimise the radio links and transmission systems in such scenarios, together with the most advanced radio access, resource management and mobile networking technologies. This text summarises the work performed by more than 500 researchers from more than 120 institutions in Europe, America and Asia, from both academia and industries, within the framework of the COST IC1004 Action on "Cooperative Radio Communications for Green and Smart Environments". The book will have appeal to graduates and researchers in the Radio Communications area, and also to engineers working in the Wireless industry. Topics discussed in this book include: • Radio waves propagation phenomena in diverse urban, indoor, vehicular and body environments• Measurements, characterization, and modelling of radio channels beyond 4G networks• Key issues in Vehicle (V2X) communication• Wireless Body Area Networks, including specific Radio Channel Models for WBANs• Energy efficiency and resource management enhancements in Radio Access Networks• Definitions and models for the virtualised and cloud RAN architectures• Advances on feasible indoor localization and tracking techniques• Recent findings and innovations in antenna systems for communications• Physical Layer Network Coding for next generation wireless systems• Methods and techniques for MIMO Over the Air (OTA) testin

Cooperative Radio Communications for Green Smart Environments

The demand for mobile connectivity is continuously increasing, and by 2020 Mobile and Wireless Communications will serve not only very dense populations of mobile phones and nomadic computers, but also the expected multiplicity of devices and sensors located in machines, vehicles, health systems and city infrastructures. Future Mobile Networks are then faced with many new scenarios and use cases, which will load the networks with different data traffic patterns, in new or shared spectrum bands, creating new specific requirements. This book addresses both the techniques to model, analyse and optimise the radio links and transmission systems in such scenarios, together with the most advanced radio access, resource management and mobile networking technologies. This text summarises the work performed by more than 500 researchers from more than 120 institutions in Europe, America and Asia, from both academia and industries, within the framework of the COST IC1004 Action on "Cooperative Radio Communications for Green and Smart Environments". The book will have appeal to graduates and researchers in the Radio Communications area, and also to engineers working in the Wireless industry. Topics discussed in this book include: • Radio waves propagation phenomena in diverse urban, indoor, vehicular and body environments• Measurements, characterization, and modelling of radio channels beyond 4G networks• Key issues in Vehicle (V2X) communication• Wireless Body Area Networks, including specific Radio Channel Models for WBANs• Energy efficiency and resource management enhancements in Radio Access Networks• Definitions and models for the virtualised and cloud RAN architectures• Advances on feasible indoor localization and tracking techniques• Recent findings and innovations in antenna systems for communications• Physical Layer Network Coding for next generation wireless systems• Methods and techniques for MIMO Over the Air (OTA) testin

1-D broadside-radiating leaky-wave antenna based on a numerically synthesized impedance surface

A newly-developed deterministic numerical technique for the automated design of metasurface antennas is applied here for the first time to the design of a 1-D printed Leaky-Wave Antenna (LWA) for broadside radiation. The surface impedance synthesis process does not require any a priori knowledge on the impedance pattern, and starts from a mask constraint on the desired far-field and practical bounds on the unit cell impedance values. The designed reactance surface for broadside radiation exhibits a non conventional patterning; this highlights the merit of using an automated design process for a design well known to be challenging for analytical methods. The antenna is physically implemented with an array of metal strips with varying gap widths and simulation results show very good agreement with the predicted performance

Beam scanning by liquid-crystal biasing in a modified SIW structure

A fixed-frequency beam-scanning 1D antenna based on Liquid Crystals (LCs) is designed for application in 2D scanning with lateral alignment. The 2D array environment imposes full decoupling of adjacent 1D antennas, which often conflicts with the LC requirement of DC biasing: the proposed design accommodates both. The LC medium is placed inside a Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) modified to work as a Groove Gap Waveguide, with radiating slots etched on the upper broad wall, that radiates as a Leaky-Wave Antenna (LWA). This allows effective application of the DC bias voltage needed for tuning the LCs. At the same time, the RF field remains laterally confined, enabling the possibility to lay several antennas in parallel and achieve 2D beam scanning. The design is validated by simulation employing the actual properties of a commercial LC medium

Over-The-Air Testing using Wave-Field Synthesis

Today's wireless communication devices, such as GNSS receivers, smart-phones, etc. aim at a high integration grade to save space, costs and energy consumption. Besides small devices, also very large communication devices, e.g. cars with integrated LTE antennas exist. To accelerate the development process and time-to-market, adequate test procedures are needed to ensure proper functioning of all device components. The goal of this thesis is to develop test processes that guarantee for reproducible test conditions and to allow for comparable performance measurements of communication systems of different sizes. This thesis consists of two parts, namely Wave Field Synthesis for electrically small, and Wireless Cable for electrically large devices.Moderne Kommunikationsgeräte, z. B. Smartphones und GPS-Empfänger streben einen hohen Integrationsgrad an, um Kosten, Platz und Energie zu sparen. Es existieren auch große Geräte, wie zum Beispiel Fahrzeuge mit integrierten Long Term Evolution-Antennen. Um den Entwicklungsprozess zu beschleunigen, werden adäquate Testverfahren benötigt, die eine korrekte Funktionsweise aller Gerätekomponenten sicherstellen. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, Testverfahren einschließlich Kalibrierverfahren zu entwickeln, die reproduzierbare Testbedingungen erlauben, um vergleichbare Leistungstests von Kommunikationssystemen zu ermöglichen. Diese Arbeit besteht aus zwei Teilen. Der erste Teil beschäftigt sich mit Wellenfeldsynthese (WFS) für elektrisch kleine Geräte. Der zweite Teil präsentiert ein alternatives Testverfahren für elektrisch große Geräte, welches Wireless Cable (WLC) bezeichnet wird. Im WFS-Teil werden Simulationen durchgeführt, um die Anwendbarkeit der WFS für Over-The-Air-Tests in 2D und 3D zur Erzeugung ebener elektromagnetischer Wellen zu untersuchen. Ein Kalibrierverfahren wird für die 2D-WFS vorgestellt, um den Frequenzgang analoger Systemkomponenten zu entzerren. Das Kalibrierverfahren wird mit Hilfe der Metriken Error Vector Magnitude und Poynting Vector Angular Deviation verifiziert. Es werden zur Verifikation des gesamten WFS-Systems Messungen auf Basis von GPS durchgeführt, die mit kabelgebundenen Tests verglichen werden. Zur Demonstration der Vollständigen Mess- und Testprozedur werden verschiedene Mehrelement-Antennen unter identischen Messbedingungen verglichen. Einflüsse auf ein reales System durch Rauschen, Drift und Temperatureinfluss werden untersucht. Für 3D-WFS wird ein optimierender Algorithmus wird entwickelt und verifiziert, um Emulationsantennen auf einer Sphäre oder Hemisphäre optimal zu verteilen. Im Wireless Cable-Teil wird das gleichnamige Testverfahren vorgestellt, das als alternative Over-The-Air-Testmethode die Untersuchung großer Geräte erlaubt. Die Anwendbarkeit in nicht-reflexionsfreien Umgebungen wird demonstriert. Wie alle Over-The-Air-basierten Testverfahren berücksichtigt Wireless Cable auch Selbstinterferenz. Eine Langzeitstabilitätsanalyse wird durchgeführt, außerdem eine Verifikation der Anwendbarkeit eines realistischen Funkkanals für den Anwendungsfall Long Term Evolution.Today's wireless communication devices, such as GNSS receivers, smart-phones, etc. aim at a high integration grade to save space, costs and energy consumption. Besides small devices, also very large communication devices, e.g. cars with integrated LTE antennas exist. To accelerate the development process and time-to-market, adequate test procedures are needed to ensure proper functioning of all device components. The goal of this thesis is to develop test processes that guarantee for reproducible test conditions and to allow for comparable performance measurements of communication systems of different sizes. This thesis consists of two parts, namely WFS for electrically small, and WLC for electrically large devices. In the WFS part, simulations are conducted to verify the applicability of OTA tests using WFS for two- and three-dimensional emulation of plane electromagnetic waves. A calibration procedure is developed for 2D-WFS to compensate for analog components' frequency responses that include contributions of amplifiers, cables and antennas. This calibration procedure is verified by grid measurements to allow visual inspection of the plane waves, and by analysis of the wave shape using appropriate metrics. Reflections inside the anechoic chamber are analyzed and discussed. A verification measurement is performed and compared to conducted measurements using a GPS use case to verify the whole WFS OTA system. Three different multi-element antennas are investigated by emulation of identical wave-fields in each test run to demonstrate the general test procedure. System imperfections such as noise, drift and the influence of temperature are investigated. For 3D WFS OTA testing, an optimizing sub-sphere algorithm is developed to distribute EA on a sphere or hemisphere adequately. Simulations are conducted to verify the derived distributions. In the WLC part, the homonymous test method is presented as an alternative OTA test method especially suited for large test devices. The applicability even in non-anechoic environments is shown. A long-term stability analysis is performed, and a verification of the application of a realistic measurement-based propagation channel for the use case LTE is made

Recent Topics in Electromagnetic Compatibility

Recent Topics in Electromagnetic Compatability discusses several topics in electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and electromagnetic interference (EMI), including measurements, shielding, emission, interference, biomedical devices, and numerical modeling. Over five sections, chapters address the electromagnetic spectrum of corona discharge, life cycle assessment of flexible electromagnetic shields, EMC requirements for implantable medical devices, analysis and design of absorbers for EMC applications, artificial surfaces, and media for EMC and EMI shielding, and much more

Measurement techniques enhancements for MIMO 4G mobile communication systems. extension of mode stirred reverberation chambers (MSRCs) emulation capabilities

[ENG] Mobile communications have experienced a brutal raise over the past 15 years. What started as a voice communication system (GSM or 2G) has finished yet as a data communication system of any kind, which in some cases has come to replace the conventional cabled data access infrastructure. This change in the use given to mobile devices necessarily entails a change in the underlying technology, which should be capable to provide the transmission speeds that these new applications require. This has emerged in recent years an increasing interest in multiple antenna techniques, usually referred as multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques, as they increase the spectral efficiency (and thus the transmission rate for a given bandwidth) of wireless systems. In this thesis, some of the factors limiting the ideal advantages of these multiantenna techniques are studied, in order to quantify the differences between the ideal behavior of 4G devices and behavior that users will experience in actual use conditions. The effect that the user has on the final performance of the devices is one of the main limitations that these devices are in daily use. Mobile phones are used almost all the time in the vicinity of the user, causing a decrease in the richness of the multipath electromagnetic environment (and thus a reduction of the MIMO benefits). As a result of this reduction, the number of signal paths that reach the user is also reduced. In this thesis both factors (user influence and influence of the number of signal paths) will be studied both for passive devices (antenna prototypes) and active devices (commercial phones). The second part of this thesis consist on the study of how to transfer some of these factors reducing the isotropicity of the environment, to one of the most promising measurement techniques, as it is the mode-stirred reverberation chamber (MSRC). This technique emulates naturally an isotropic rich multipath environment with the signal strength following a Rayleigh distribution. However, in this thesis two new techniques are proposed that allow the emulation of less isotropic environments without altering the basic operating principle of the MSRC. [SPA] Las comunicaciones móviles han experimentado un aumento brutal en los últimos 15 años. Lo que comenzó como un sistema de comunicación de voz (GSM o 2G) ha terminado todavía como un sistema de comunicación de datos de cualquier tipo, que en algunos casos ha llegado a sustituir la infraestructura de cableado convencional de acceso a datos. Este cambio en el uso que se da a los dispositivos móviles implica necesariamente un cambio en la tecnología subyacente, que debe ser capaz de proporcionar las velocidades de transmisión que estas nuevas aplicaciones requieren. Esto se ha convertido en los últimos años un creciente interés en las técnicas de múltiples antenas, normalmente se conoce como técnicas de múltiple entrada y múltiple salida (MIMO), ya que aumentan la eficiencia espectral (y por lo tanto la velocidad de transmisión para un ancho de banda dado) de los sistemas inalámbricos. En esta tesis, algunos de los factores que limitan las ventajas ideales de estas técnicas de múltiples antenas son estudiados, con el fin de cuantificar las diferencias entre el comportamiento ideal de dispositivos 4G y comportamiento que los usuarios experimentarán en condiciones reales de uso. El efecto que el usuario tiene sobre el rendimiento final de los dispositivos es una de las principales limitaciones que estos dispositivos son de uso diario. Los teléfonos móviles se utilizan en casi todo el tiempo en la proximidad del usuario, causando una disminución en la riqueza del entorno electromagnético trayectos múltiples (y por tanto una reducción de los beneficios MIMO). Como resultado de esta reducción, el número de trayectorias de señal que llegan al usuario también se reduce. En esta tesis ambos factores (la influencia del usuario y la influencia del número de caminos de señal) se estudió tanto para dispositivos pasivos (prototipos de antenas) y los dispositivos activos (los teléfonos comerciales). La segunda parte de esta tesis consisten en el estudio de cómo transferir algunos de estos factores que reducen la isotropicity del medio ambiente, a una de las técnicas de medición más prometedores, como es la cámara de agitación de modos (MSRC). Esta técnica emula naturalmente un entorno isotrópico multipath rico con la intensidad de la señal después de una distribución de Rayleigh. Sin embargo, en esta tesis, dos nuevas técnicas que se proponen permitir la emulación de entornos isotrópicos menos sin alterar el principio de funcionamiento básico del MSRC.Universidad Politécnica de Cartagen