Smartphone and Bluetooth Smart Sensor Usage in IoT Applications

Bluetooth Low Energy is an interesting short-range radio technology that could be used for connecting tiny devices into the Internet of Things (IoT) through gateways or cellular networks. For example, they are widely used in various contexts, from building and home automation to wearables. This paper proposes a method to improve the use of smartphones with a smart wireless sensor network acquisition system through Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). A new BLE Smart Sensor, which acquires environmental data, was designed and calibration methods were performed. A detailed deviation is calculated between reference sensor and sensor node. The data obtained from laboratory experiments were used to evaluate battery life of the node. An Android application for devices such as Smartphones and Tablets can be used to collect data from a smart sensor, which becomes more accurate

Building Blocks for Adaptive Modular Sensing Systems

This thesis contributes towards the development of systems and strategies by which sensor and actuator components can be combined to produce flexible and robust sensor systems for a given application. A set of intelligent modular blocks (building blocks) have been created from which composite sensors (made up of multiple sensor and actuator components) can be rapidly reconfigured for the construction of Adaptive Modular Sensing Systems. The composite systems are expected to prove useful in several application domains including industrial control, inspection systems, mobile robotics, monitoring and data acquisition. The intelligent building blocks, referred to as transducer interface modules, contain embedded knowledge about their capabilities and how they can interact with other modules. These modules encapsulate a general purpose modular hardware architecture that provides an interface between the sensors, the actuators, and the communication medium. The geometry of each transducer interface module is a cube. A connector mechanism implemented on each face of the module enables physical connection of the modules. Each module provides a core functionality and can be connected to other modules to form more capable composite sensors. Once the modules are combined, the capabilities (e.g., range, resolution, sample rate, etc.) and functionality (e.g., temperature measurement) of the composite sensor is determined and communicated to other sensors in the enviornment. For maximum flexibility, a distributed software architecture is executed on the blocks to enable automatic acquisition of configuration-specific algorithms. This logical algorithm imparts a collective identity to the composite group, and processes data based on the capabilities and functionalities of the transducers present in the system. A knowledge representation scheme allows each module in the composite group to store and communicate its functionality and capabilities to other connected modules in the system

Multi-coil Qi charger

Cílem této bakalářské práce je popsat bezdrátový přenos energie. Základní příklad indukčního bezdrátového přenosu energie jsou dvě vázané cívky se vzdušným jádrem a kompenzujícími kapacitátory kvůli nastavení resonující frekvence na daný rozsah(200 kHz). Tato práce se hlavně soustředí na indukční přenos energie s komoenzujícími kapacitátory. Cílem této bakalářské práce je prozkoumat do jaké míry pozice přijímače ovlivňuje vázání cívek komunikaci a energii. Před hlavním experimentem byl sestaven prototyp na získání přenášecí funkce a chyb na které by systém mohl narazit. Dvojvrstvý plošný spoj byl sestrojen aby se ukázalo vázání cívek s přenosem energie přes 60 procent. Hlavní nález studie je, že efektivita klesá se vzrůstající vzdáleností mezi cívkami. Bezdrátový přenos energie je možný pouze s vysokou frekvencí (více jak 87 kHz) a obě cívky musí resonovat.The present bachelor thesis explores the wireless power transfer systems. The basic example of inductive WPT system may be considered as 2 coupled inductors with air-core and compensating capacitors for setting the resonant frequency of the system to the required range (200 kHz). This paper concentrates mostly on inductive power transfer with compensating capacitors. The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to investigate to what extent the position of receiver effects the coupling of the coils in near field and power transfer. Before the main experiment the prototype design was assembled to obtain the transfer function and faults the system may face. Two-layer PCB was assembled in order to show the coupling between transmitter and receiver coils with power transfer over 60 percent. Major finding of the study is that the overall efficiency decreases when transmitter coil is moved away from receiver coil. Wireless power transfer is only possible in high frequency (more than 87 kHz) and both transmitter and receiver coils should be in resonance

Propelling design evolution: using a scientifically driven design process to incrementally advance architecture

This thesis explores the influence of design evolution within the professions of architecture, industrial design, and engineering. Design evolution is a process that can be accelerated through collaboration between various groups linked to the development and production of designed objects. Working as interdisciplinary professionals, I support the incremental advancement of contemporary products in order to encourage positive human progress. As a case study, I investigate standard electrical systems used in architectural construction. It is apparent that for nearly 100 years the same basic electrical systems and components have been installed in buildings throughout the world. To promote design evolution in the field of architecture, I implement a scientific design approach to incrementally advance the designs of two century-old electrical components, the single-pole switch and the duplex outlet receptacle. The goal of this thesis is to investigate how analytical design methods can reveal incremental advances that yield more appropriately designed products

Low cost fabrication processing for microwave and millimetre-wave passive components

Microwave and millimetre-wave technology has enabled many commercial applications to play a key role in the development of wireless communication. When dissipative attenuation is a critical factor, metal-pipe waveguides are essential in the development of microwave and millimetre-wave systems. However, their cost and weight may represent a limitation for their application. In the first part of this work two 3D printing technologies and electroless plating were employed to fabricate metal pipe rectangular waveguides in X and W-band. The performance for the fabricated waveguides was comparable to the one of commercially available equivalents, showing good impedance matching and low attenuation losses. Using these technologies, a high-performance inductive iris filter in W-band and a dielectric flap phase shifter in X-band were fabricated. Eventually the design and fabrication of a phased antenna array is reported. For microwave and millimetre-wave applications, system-on-substrate technology can be considered a very valuable alternative, where bulky coax and waveguide interconnects are replaced by low-loss transmission lines embedded into a multilayer substrate, which can include a wide range of components and subsystems. In the second part of this work the integration of RF MEMS with LTCC fabrication process is investigated. Three approaches to the manufacture of suspended structures were considered, based on laser micromachining, laser bending of aluminium foil and hybrid thick/thin film technology. Although the fabrication process posed many challenges, resulting in very poor yield, two of the solution investigated showed potential for the fabrication of low-cost RF MEMS fully integrated in LTCC technology. With the experience gained with laser machining, the rapid prototyping of high aspect ratio beams for silicon MEMS was also investigated. In the third part of this work, a statistical study based on the Taguchi design of experiment and analysis of variance was undertaken. The results show a performance comparable with standard cleanroom processing, but at a fraction of the processing costs and greater design flexibility, due to the lack of need for masks.Open Acces

Energy Technology and Management

The civilization of present age is predominantly dependent on energy resources and their utilization. Almost every human activity in today's life needs one or other form of energy. As world's energy resources are not unlimited, it is extremely important to use energy efficiently. Both energy related technological issues and policy and planning paradigms are highly needed to effectively exploit and utilize energy resources. This book covers topics, ranging from technology to policy, relevant to efficient energy utilization. Those academic and practitioners who have background knowledge of energy issues can take benefit from this book

Transparent and Flexible Radio Frequency (RF) Structures

With increasing demand for a wearable devices, medical devices, RFID, and small devices, there is a growing interest in the field of transparent and flexible electronics. In order to realize optically transparent and flexible microwave components, novel materials can be used. The combination of new materials and radio frequency (RF) structures can open interesting perspectives for the implementation of cost effective wireless communication system and wearable device design. The transparent and flexible RF structures can facilitate its application in the transparent and curved surfaces. In this dissertation, we present several demonstrations, all based on optically transparent and flexible materials and structures. We firstly demonstrate an optically transparent, flexible, polarization-independent, and broadband microwave absorber. The bow-tie shaped array which possesses double resonances is designed and measured. The combined resonances lead to more than 90% total absorption covering a wide frequency range from 5.8 to 12.2 GHz. Due to the use of thin metal and PDMS, the whole structure is optically transparent and flexible. Secondly, we demonstrate a new method for fabricating transparent and stretchable radiofrequency small antennas by using stretchable micromesh structures. Size reduction is achieved by using the zeroth-order resonant (ZOR) property. The antennas consist of a series of tortuous micromesh structures, which provides a high degree of freedom for stretching when encapsulated in elastomeric polymers and is optically transparent. Accordingly, these antennas can be stretched up to 40% in size without breaking. The resonant frequency of the antennas is linearly reconfigurable from 2.94 GHz to 2.46 GHz upon stretching. Next, we describe an ultra-low profile and flexible triple-polarization antenna. It is realized by using ZOR array antenna with high port-to-port isolation. This flexible antenna is fabricated with a flexible substrate and silver nanowire vias to be used in various wearable applications. Lastly, we demonstrate a dual-band tri-polarized antenna based on half-mode hexagonal (HMH) SIW structure. CRLH HMHSIW antenna and ZOR HMHSIW antenna are designed to have dual-band operating frequencies. This novel antenna can provide much improved wireless communication efficiency for the WBAN system under various incident field angles and polarizations.PHDElectrical EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147562/1/tjang_1.pd

Wideband Reconfigurable Rolled Planar Monopole Antenna

A novel technique to reconfigure the frequency range of a planar monopole antenna is presented. By adjusting the degree of spiral tightness, a shift of the well-matched operating frequency range is achieved. The proposed antenna is capable of covering the frequencies in the range from 2.9 to 15 GHz, depending on the degree of spiral tightness. The antenna yields a high-efficiency across the full operating bandwidth. Radiation patterns show good omni-directional features in all primary cuts and remain relatively stable with the change of antenna configuration, so that it is a remarkable candidate for indoor or mobile applications where a large frequency range and omnidirectional radiation are required

Optically powered radio-over-fiber systems in support of 5G cellular networks and IoT

We propose using power-over-fiber (PoF) in some part of future 5G cellular solutions based on radio access networks considering currently installed front-haul solutions with single mode fiber to optically power communication systems for 5G new radio (NR) data transmission. Simulations addressing design parameters are presented. Radio-over-fiber (RoF) transmission over single mode fiber (SMF) is experimentally implemented and tested for link lengths ranging from 100 m up to 10 km with injected PoF signals up to 2 W. 64QAM, 16QAM and QPSK data traffic of 100 MHz bandwidth are transmitted simultaneously with the PoF signal showing an EVM compliant with 5G NR standard, and up to 0.5 W for 256QAM. EVM of 4.3% is achieved with RF signal of 20 GHz and QPSK modulation format in coexistence with delivering 870 mW of optical power to a photovoltaic cell (PV) after 10 km-long SMF link. Using PoF technology to optically powering remote units and Internet-of-Things (IoT) solutions based on RoF links is also discussed.This work was supported in part by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Comunidad de Madrid and H2020 European Union programme under Grants RTI2018-094669-B-C32, Y2018/EMT-4892, and 5G PPP Bluespace project grant n°.762055, respectively

Applications of Machine Learning Strategy for Wireless Power Transfer and Identification

The objective of my research is to propose and demonstrate Machine Learning (ML) applications of wireless power transfer and identification technology. Several works describe the implementation of a ML strategy based on 1) the use of Neural Networks (NN) for real-time range-adaptive automatic impedance matching of Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) applications, 2) the Naive Bayes algorithm for the prediction of the drone’s position, thus enhancing the WPT efficiency, and 3) the Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification strategy for read/interrogation enhancement in chipless RFID applications. The ML approach for the effective prediction of the optimal parameters of the tunable matching network, and classification range-adaptive transmitter coils (Tx) is introduced, aiming to achieve an effective automatic impedance matching over a wide range of relative distances. A novel WPT system consisting of a tunable matching circuit and 3 Tx coils which have different radius controlled by trained NN models is characterized. A proof-ofconcept WPT platform which allows the accurate prediction of the drone’s position based on the flight data utilizing ML classification using the Naive Bayes algorithm is also given. A ML-based approach for classification and of detection tag IDs has been presented, which can perform effective transponder readings for a wide variety of ranges and contexts, while providing high tag-ID detection accuracy. A SVM algorithm was trained using measurement data, and its accuracy was tested and characterized as a function of the included training data. In summary, this research sets a precedent, opening the door to a rich and wide area of research for the implementation of ML methods for the enhancement of WPT and chipless RFID applications.Ph.D