259 research outputs found
High frequency surface wave radar demonstrator
High Frequency Surface Wave Radar (HFSWR) is used around the globe for the mapping of sea currents and coastal monitoring of the Exclusive Economic Zone. Decision to build an HF radar at the University of Cape Town (UCT) was made by Daniel O’Hagan and Andrew Wilkinson in February 2015 immediately after seeing a demonstration of the CODAR system at IMT. Their intention was subsequently discussed at several meetings, including a South African Radar Interest Group (SARIG) meeting and one at IMT in order to gauge interest and raise funding. There was both interest (mainly for ocean current monitoring) and scepticism (expressed by CSIR and SARIG members) of the value of HF radar for ship monitoring. This reports the design, construction, test, and evaluation of the UCT HFSWR demonstrator. A modular approach was taken in its design and construction making it easy to replicate and upscale. A pillar of this work is to prove the feasibility of a software defined radar (SDR) based HF radar demonstrator. Every part of the demonstrator was designed and constructed from scratch as UCT had no prior HF activities, and therefore no legacy antennas or components to utilise. A low-cost RF frontend follows the HF antennas, which were also designed for this project. Combined with an SDR platforn known as the Red Pitaya (RP), a complete HF radar demonstrator was assembled and trials were conducted at the UCT rugby field and at the IMT facilities in Simon’s Town. A preliminary assessment of the results reveal the effects of Bragg resonance scatter and detection of two stationary targets (mountains) distinguishable by both range and azimuth. This assessment of the results indicates that the demonstrator is operational
Information-theoretic analysis of MIMO channel sounding
The large majority of commercially available multiple-input multiple-output
(MIMO) radio channel measurement devices (sounders) is based on time-division
multiplexed switching (TDMS) of a single transmit/receive radio-frequency chain
into the elements of a transmit/receive antenna array. While being
cost-effective, such a solution can cause significant measurement errors due to
phase noise and frequency offset in the local oscillators. In this paper, we
systematically analyze the resulting errors and show that, in practice,
overestimation of channel capacity by several hundred percent can occur.
Overestimation is caused by phase noise (and to a lesser extent frequency
offset) leading to an increase of the MIMO channel rank. Our analysis
furthermore reveals that the impact of phase errors is, in general, most
pronounced if the physical channel has low rank (typical for line-of-sight or
poor scattering scenarios). The extreme case of a rank-1 physical channel is
analyzed in detail. Finally, we present measurement results obtained from a
commercially employed TDMS-based MIMO channel sounder. In the light of the
findings of this paper, the results obtained through MIMO channel measurement
campaigns using TDMS-based channel sounders should be interpreted with great
care.Comment: 99 pages, 14 figures, submitted to IEEE Transactions on Information
Theor
Definition, Characteristics and Determining Parameters of Antennas in Terms of Synthesizing the Interrogation Zone in RFID Systems
The radio frequency identification (RFID) systems are gaining in popularity in automated processes of object identification in various socioeconomic areas. However, despite the existing belief, there is no universal RFID system on the commercial market that could be used in all user applications. All components of a developed solution should be carefully selected or designed according to the specification of objects being recognized and characteristics of their environment. In order to determine parameters of propagation or inductively coupled system, especially when it is dedicated to uncommon applications, a multiaspect analysis has to be taken into consideration. Due to complexity, the problem is reduced to analytical or experimental determination of RFID system operation range and a “trial and error” method is mostly used in the industry practice. In order to cope with the barriers existing in the RFID technology, the authors give the review of latest achievements in this field. They focus on the definition, comprehensive characteristics and determination of the antenna parameters. They also pay attention to the 3D interrogation zone (IZ) that is the main parameter in which multitude technical aspects of the RFID systems are gathered simultaneously, as regards the theoretical synthesis as well as market needs
Evolution of the Milky Way in Semi-Analytic Models: Detecting Cold Gas at z=3 with ALMA and SKA
We forecast the abilities of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
(ALMA) and the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) to detect CO and HI emission lines
in galaxies at redshift z=3. A particular focus is set on Milky Way (MW)
progenitors at z=3 for their detection within 24 h constitutes a key science
goal of ALMA. The analysis relies on a semi-analytic model, which permits the
construction of a MW progenitor sample by backtracking the cosmic history of
all simulated present-day galaxies similar to the real MW. Results: (i) ALMA
can best observe a MW at z=3 by looking at CO(3-2) emission. The probability of
detecting a random model MW at 3-sigma in 24 h using 75 km/s channels is
roughly 50%, and these odds can be increased by co-adding the CO(3-2) and
CO(4-3) lines. These lines fall into ALMA band 3, which therefore represents
the optimal choice towards MW detections at z=3. (ii) Higher CO transitions
contained in the ALMA bands geq6 will be invisible, unless the considered MW
progenitor coincidentally hosts a major starburst or an active black hole.
(iii) The high-frequency array of SKA, fitted with 28.8 GHz receivers, would be
a powerful instrument for observing CO(1-0) at z=3, able to detect nearly all
simulated MWs in 24 h. (iv) HI detections in MWs at z=3 using the low-frequency
array of SKA will be impossible in any reasonable observing time. (v) SKA will
nonetheless be a supreme ha survey instrument through its enormous
instantaneous field-of-view (FoV). A one year pointed HI survey with an assumed
FoV of 410 sqdeg would reveal at least 10^5 galaxies at z=2.95-3.05. (vi) If
the positions and redshifts of those galaxies are known from an
optical/infrared spectroscopic survey, stacking allows the detection of HI at
z=3 in less than 24 h.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, 5 table
Technology Advances for Radio Astronomy
The field of radio astronomy continues to provide fundamental contributions to the understanding of the evolution, and inner workings of, our universe. It has done so from its humble beginnings, where single antennas and receivers were used for observation, to today's focal plane arrays and interferometers. The number of receiving elements (pixels) in these instruments is quickly growing, currently approaching one hundred. For the instruments of tomorrow, the number of receiving elements will be in the thousands. Such instruments will enable researchers to peer deeper into the fabric of our universe and do so at faster survey speeds. They will provide enormous capability, both for unraveling today's mysteries as well as for the discovery of new phenomena.
Among other challenges, producing the large numbers of low-noise amplifiers required for these instruments will be no easy task. The work described in this thesis advances the state of the art in three critical areas, technological advancements necessary for the future design and manufacturing of thousands of low-noise amplifiers. These areas being: the automated, cryogenic, probing of \diameter100 mm indium phosphide wafers; a system for measuring the noise parameters of devices at cryogenic temperatures; and the development of low-noise, silicon germanium amplifiers for terahertz mixer receivers. The four chapters that comprise the body of this work detail the background, design, assembly, and testing involved in these contributions. Also included is a brief survey of noise parameters, the knowledge of which is fundamental to the design of low-noise amplifiers and the optimization of the system noise temperature for large, dense, interferometers.</p
M-sequenze based ultra-wideband radar and its application to crack detection in salt mines
Die vorliegende Dissertation beschreibt einen innovativen ultra-breitband
(UWB)elektromagnetischen Sensor basierend auf einem
Pseudo-Rauschverfahren.Der Sensor wurde für zerstörungsfreies Testen in
zivilen Anwendungen entwickelt.Zerstörungsfreies Testen entwickelt sich zu
einem immer wichtiger werdenden Bereich in Forschung und Entwicklung. Neben
unzähligen weiteren Anwendungen und Technologien, besteht ein primäres
Aufgabenfeld in der Ăśberwachung und Untersuchung von Bauwerken und
Baumaterialien durch berĂĽhrungslose Messung aus der Ferne.Diese Arbeit
konzentriert sich auf das Beispiel der Auflockerungszone im Salzgestein.Der
Hintergrund und die Notwendigkeit, den Zustand der oberflächennahen
Salzschichten in Salzminen kennen zu mĂĽssen, werden beleuchtet und die
Messaufgabe anhand einfacher theoretischer Ăśberlegungen beschrieben. Daraus
werden die Anforderungen fĂĽr geeignete UWB Sensoren abgeleitet. Die
wichtigsten Eigenschaften sind eine sehr hohe Messband breite sowie eine sehr
saubere Systemimpulsantwort frei von systematischen Gerätefehlern. Beide
Eigenschaften sind notwendig, um die schwachen RĂĽckstreuungen
der Auflockerungen trotz der unvermeidlichen starken Oberflächenreflexion
detektieren zu können.Da systematische Fehler bei UWB Geräten technisch
nicht von vorne herein komplett vermeidbar sind, muss der Sensor eine
Gerätekalibrierung erlauben, um solche Fehler möglichst gut zu
unterdrĂĽcken.Aufgrund der genannten Anforderungen und den Nebenbedingungen
der Messumgebung unter Tage, wurde aus den verschiedenen UWB-Technologien
ein Prinzip ausgewählt, welches pseudozufällige Maximalfolgen als
Anregungssignal benutzt. Das M-Sequenzkonzept dient als Ausgangpunkt fĂĽr
zahlreiche Weiterentwicklungen. Ein neues Sendemodul erweitert dabei die
Messbandbreite auf 12~GHz. Die äquivalente Abtastrate wird um den Faktor
vier auf 36~GHz erhöht, ohne den geringen Abtastjitter des ursprünglichen
Konzepts zu vergrössern.Weiterhin wird die Umsetzung eines
Zweitormesskopfes zur Erfassung von S-Parametern sowie einer automatische
Kalibriereinheit beschrieben. Etablierte Kalibrierverfahren aus dem Bereich
der Netzwerkanalyse werden kurz rekapituliert und die Adaption des 8-Term
Verfahrens mit unbekanntem Transmissionsnormal fĂĽr das
M-Sequenzsystem beschrieben. Dabei werden Kennwerte vorgeschlagen, die dem
Bediener unter Tage einfach erlauben, die Kalibrierqualität einzuschätzen
und Hinweise auf mögliche Gerätefehler oder andere Probleme zu bekommen.
Die Kalibriergenauigkeit des neuen Sensors im Labor wird mit der eines
Netzwerkanalysators verglichen. Beide Geräte erreichen eine störungsfreie
Dynamik von mehr als 60~dB in den Systemimpulsantworten fĂĽr Reflexion und
Transmission.Der neu entwickelte UWB Sensor wurde in zahlreichen Messungen
in Salzminen in Deutschland getestet. Zwei Messbeispiele werden vorgestellt
- ein sehr alter, kreisrunder Tunnel sowie ein ovaler Tunnelstumpf,
welcher kurz vor den Messungen erst aufgefahren wurde. Messaufbauten und
Datenverarbeitung werden beschrieben. SchlieĂźlich werden Schlussfolgerungen
und Vorschläge für zukünftige Arbeiten mit dem neuen M-Sequenzsensor sowie
der Messung von Auflockerungen im Salzgestein diskutiert.This dissertation describes an innovative ultra-wideband
(UWB) electromagnetic sensor device based on a pseudo-noise principle
developed in the context of non-destructive testing in civil
engineering.Non-destructive testing is becoming a more and more important
fieldfor researchers and engineers alike. Besides the vast field of
possibleapplications and testing technologies, a prime and therefore
typical topic is the inspection and monitoringof constructions and
materials by means of contactless remote sensing techniques.This work
focuses on one example the assessment of the disaggregation zone in salt
rock tunnels.The background and relevance of knowing the state of salt rock
layers near a tunnel's surface are explainedand simple theoretical
considerations for requirements of suitable UWB sensor devices are shown.
The most important sensor parameters are a very large measurement bandwidth
and a very clean impulse response. The latterparameter translates into the
mandatory application of calibration techniques to remove systematic errors
of the sensor system itself. This enables detection of weak scattering
responses from near-surface disaggregation despite the presence of a strong
surface reflection.According to the mentioned requirements and other side
conditions in salt mine environments an UWB sensor principlebased on
pseudo-noise stimuli namely M-Sequences is selected as a starting point for
system development. A newtransmitter frontend for extending the stimulus
bandwidth up to 12~GHz is presented. Furthermore, a technique for
increasing the (equivalent) sampling rate while keeping the stable and
low-jitter sampling regime of the M-Sequencesapproach is introduced and its
implementation is shown. Moreover, an automatic calibration unit for full
two-port coaxial calibration of the new UWB sensor has been developed.
Common calibration techniques from the area of vector network analysers are
shortly reviewed and a reasonablealgorithm the 8-term method with an
unknown line standard - is selected for the M-Sequences device. The 8-term
method is defined in the frequency domain and is adapted for use with time
domain devices. Some performance figures and comparisonwith calibration
results from network analysers are discussed to show the effectiveness of
the calibration.A spurious-free dynamic range of the time domain impulse
responses in excess of 60~dB has been achieved for reflection as well as
transmission measurements.The new UWB sensor was used in various real world
measurements in different salt mines throughout Germany. Two
measurementexamples are described and results from the disaggregation zone
of a very old and a freshly cut tunnel will be presented. Measurement setup
and data processing are discussed and finally some conclusions for future
work on this topic are drawn
Compressive Sensing and Its Applications in Automotive Radar Systems
Die Entwicklung in Richtung zu autonomem Fahren verspricht, kĂĽnftig einen sicheren
Verkehr ohne tödliche Unfälle zu ermöglichen, indem menschliche Fahrer vollständig
ersetzt werden. Dadurch entfällt der Faktor des menschlichen Fehlers, der aus
MĂĽdigkeit, Unachtsamkeit oder Alkoholeinfluss resultiert. Um jedoch eine breite
Akzeptanz für autonome Fahrzeuge zu erreichen und es somit eines Tages vollständig
umzusetzen, sind noch eine Vielzahl von Herausforderungen zu lösen. Da in einem
autonomen Fahrzeug kein menschlicher Fahrer mehr in Notfällen eingreifen kann,
müssen sich autonome Fahrzeuge auf leistungsfähige und robuste Sensorsysteme
verlassen können, um in kritischen Situationen auch unter widrigen Bedingungen
angemessen reagieren zu können. Daher ist die Entwicklung von Sensorsystemen
erforderlich, die für Funktionalitäten jenseits der aktuellen advanced driver assistance
systems eingesetzt werden können. Dies resultiert in neuen Anforderungen, die erfüllt
werden müssen, um sichere und zuverlässige autonome Fahrzeuge zu realisieren, die
weder Fahrzeuginsassen noch Passanten gefährden. Radarsysteme gehören zu den
SchlĂĽsselkomponenten unter der Vielzahl der verfĂĽgbaren Sensorsysteme, da sie im
Gegensatz zu visuellen Sensoren von widrigen Wetter- und Umgebungsbedingungen
kaum beeinträchtigt werden. Darüber hinaus liefern Radarsysteme zusätzliche
Umgebungsinformationen wie Abstand, Winkel und relative Geschwindigkeit zwischen
Sensor und reflektierenden Zielen. Die vorliegende Dissertation deckt im Wesentlichen
zwei Hauptaspekte der Forschung und Entwicklung auf dem Gebiet der Radarsysteme
im Automobilbereich ab. Ein Aspekt ist die Steigerung der Effizienz und Robustheit
der Signalerfassung und -verarbeitung fĂĽr die Radarperzeption. Der andere Aspekt ist
die Beschleunigung der Validierung und Verifizierung von automated cyber-physical
systems, die parallel zum Automatisierungsgrad auch eine höhere Komplexität
aufweisen.
Nach der Analyse zahlreicher möglicher Compressive Sensing Methoden, die im
Bereich Fahrzeugradarsysteme angewendet werden können, wird ein rauschmoduliertes
gepulstes Radarsystem vorgestellt, das kommerzielle Fahrzeugradarsysteme in
seiner Robustheit gegenĂĽber Rauschen ĂĽbertrifft. Die Nachteile anderer gepulster
Radarsysteme hinsichtlich des Signalerfassungsaufwands und der Laufzeit werden
durch die Verwendung eines Compressive Sensing-Signalerfassungs- und Rekonstruktionsverfahrens
in Kombination mit einer Rauschmodulation deutlich verringert.
Mit Compressive Sensing konnte der Aufwand fĂĽr die Signalerfassung um 70% reduziert
werden, während gleichzeitig die Robustheit der Radarwahrnehmung auch für signal-to-noise-ratio-Pegel nahe oder unter Null erreicht wird. Mit einem validierten
Radarsensormodell wurde das Rauschradarsystem emuliert und mit einem
kommerziellen Fahrzeugradarsystem verglichen. Datengetriebene Wettermodelle
wurden entwickelt und während der Simulation angewendet, um die Radarleistung
unter widrigen Bedingungen zu bewerten. Während eine Besprühung mit Wasser die
Radomdämpfung um 10 dB erhöht und Spritzwasser sogar um 20 dB, ergibt sich die
eigentliche Begrenzung aus der Rauschzahl und Empfindlichkeit des Empfängers. Es
konnte bewiesen werden, dass das vorgeschlagene Compressive Sensing Rauschradarsystem
mit einer zusätzlichen Signaldämpfung von bis zu 60 dB umgehen kann
und damit eine hohe Robustheit in ungĂĽnstigen Umwelt- und Wetterbedingungen
aufweist.
Neben der Robustheit wird auch die Interferenz berĂĽcksichtigt. Zum einen wird
die erhöhte Störfestigkeit des Störradarsystems nachgewiesen. Auf der anderen
Seite werden die Auswirkungen auf bestehende Fahrzeugradarsysteme bewertet und
Strategien zur Minderung der Auswirkungen vorgestellt.
Die Struktur der Arbeit ist folgende. Nach der EinfĂĽhrung der Grundlagen
und Methoden fĂĽr Fahrzeugradarsysteme werden die Theorie und Metriken hinter
Compressive Sensing gezeigt. DarĂĽber hinaus werden weitere Aspekte wie Umgebungsbedingungen,
unterschiedliche Radararchitekturen und Interferenz erläutert.
Der Stand der Technik gibt einen Überblick über Compressive Sensing-Ansätze und
Implementierungen mit einem Fokus auf Radar. DarĂĽber hinaus werden Aspekte
von Fahrzeug- und Rauschradarsystemen behandelt. Der Hauptteil beginnt mit
der Vorstellung verschiedener Ansätze zur Nutzung von Compressive Sensing für
Fahrzeugradarsysteme, die in der Lage sind, die Erfassung und Wahrnehmung von
Radarsignalen zu verbessern oder zu erweitern. AnschlieĂźend wird der Fokus auf
ein Rauschradarsystem gelegt, das mit Compressive Sensing eine effiziente Signalerfassung
und -rekonstruktion ermöglicht. Es wurde mit verschiedenen Compressive
Sensing-Metriken analysiert und in einer Proof-of-Concept-Simulation bewertet. Mit
einer Emulation des Rauschradarsystems wurde das Potential der Compressive Sensing
Signalerfassung und -verarbeitung in einem realistischeren Szenario demonstriert.
Die Entwicklung und Validierung des zugrunde liegenden Sensormodells wird ebenso
dokumentiert wie die Entwicklung der datengetriebenen Wettermodelle. Nach der
Betrachtung von Interferenz und der Koexistenz des Rauschradars mit kommerziellen
Radarsystemen schlieĂźt ein letztes Kapitel mit Schlussfolgerungen und einem
Ausblick die Arbeit ab.Developments towards autonomous driving promise to lead to safer traffic, where fatal
accidents can be avoided after making human drivers obsolete and hence removing
the factor of human error. However, to ensure the acceptance of automated driving
and make it a reality one day, still a huge amount of challenges need to be solved.
With having no human supervisors, automated vehicles have to rely on capable and
robust sensor systems to ensure adequate reactions in critical situations, even during
adverse conditions. Therefore, the development of sensor systems is required that
can be applied for functionalities beyond current advanced driver assistance systems.
New requirements need to be met in order to realize safe and reliable automated
vehicles that do not harm passersby.
Radar systems belong to the key components among the variety of sensor systems.
Other than visual sensors, radar is less vulnerable towards adverse weather and
environment conditions. In addition, radar provides complementary environment
information such as target distance, angular position or relative velocity, too. The
thesis ad hand covers basically two main aspects of research and development in the
field of automotive radar systems. One aspect is to increase efficiency and robustness
in signal acquisition and processing for radar perception. The other aspect is to
accelerate validation and verification of automated cyber-physical systems that
feature more complexity along with the level of automation.
After analyzing a variety of possible Compressive Sensing methods for automotive
radar systems, a noise modulated pulsed radar system is suggested in the thesis at
hand, which outperforms commercial automotive radar systems in its robustness
towards noise. Compared to other pulsed radar systems, their drawbacks regarding
signal acquisition effort and computation run time are resolved by using noise modulation
for implementing a Compressive Sensing signal acquisition and reconstruction
method. Using Compressive Sensing, the effort in signal acquisition was reduced by
70%, while obtaining a radar perception robustness even for signal-to-noise-ratio
levels close to or below zero. With a validated radar sensor model the noise radar
was emulated and compared to a commercial automotive radar system. Data-driven
weather models were developed and applied during simulation to evaluate radar performance
in adverse conditions. While water sprinkles increase radome attenuation
by 10 dB and splash water even by 20 dB, the actual limitation comes from noise
figure and sensitivity of the receiver. The additional signal attenuation that can be
handled by the proposed compressive sensing noise radar system proved to be even up to 60 dB, which ensures a high robustness of the receiver during adverse weather
and environment conditions.
Besides robustness, interference is also considered. On the one hand the increased
robustness towards interference of the noise radar system is demonstrated. On
the other hand, the impact on existing automotive radar systems is evaluated and
strategies to mitigate the impact are presented.
The structure of the thesis is the following. After introducing basic principles
and methods for automotive radar systems, the theory and metrics of Compressive
Sensing is presented. Furthermore some particular aspects are highlighted such as
environmental conditions, different radar architectures and interference. The state of
the art provides an overview on Compressive Sensing approaches and implementations
with focus on radar. In addition, it covers automotive radar and noise radar related
aspects. The main part starts with presenting different approaches on making use
of Compressive Sensing for automotive radar systems, that are capable of either
improving or extending radar signal acquisition and perception. Afterwards the focus
is put on a noise radar system that uses Compressive Sensing for an efficient signal
acquisition and reconstruction. It was analyzed using different Compressive Sensing
metrics and evaluated in a proof-of-concept simulation. With an emulation of the
noise radar system the feasibility of the Compressive Sensing signal acquisition and
processing was demonstrated in a more realistic scenario. The development and
validation of the underlying sensor model is documented as well as the development
of the data-driven weather models. After considering interference and co-existence
with commercial radar systems, a final chapter with conclusions and an outlook
completes the work
Development and characterization of subsystems for a 2.45 GHz RFID research environment
Nowadays, the Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technology is a very fast emerging
and developing technology with a wide range of applications in different fields. Due to the technological progress, the number of applications has increased enormously, leading to the creation of many different standards in several distinct frequency bands for supporting these applications.
The majority of this standards are not compatible with each other and moreover, there is not an unique UHF band standard worldwide. For this reason, a possible solution to achieve a compatible RFID system around the world is by means of the 2.45 GHz microwave ISM band. More and more this 2.45 GHz RFID band is considered and currently
there are systems working at this frequency.
This thesis describes the design and the implementation of a frontend for a 2.45 GHz
RFID testbed. Inside the document, relevant RFID basics and the assumed regulations are discussed. The system concept designed is explained and selected elements are tested and optimized. The development of the transmitter and receiver board is described
and finally for both boards the characterization and the measurements results are shown
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