Compact Reconfigurable Antennas for Wireless Systems and Wearable Applications

The fast growth of wireless communications has driven the necessity of exploiting technological solutions for the needs of faster connectivity. While bandwidth allocation and effective radiated power (ERP) are subjected to regulatory constrain, alternative solutions have been developed to overcome the challenges that arise in terms of wireless coverage and number of users. Reconfigurable antennas (RAs) technology is one of the hardware solutions developed to enhance the connectivity between wireless devices. These new class of radiating elements are able to adapt their physical characteristics in response to the environmental changes or users density and location. Reconfigurable antennas can be divided into two main categories: frequency reconfigurable antennas and pattern reconfigurable antennas. The former class of RAs are able to switch the operational frequency in order to move the communication within unoccupied channels. The latter category defines those antennas that are able to change their radiation characteristics (radiation pattern or polarization) in response to the dynamics of the surrounding environment. Unlike conventional static antennas where the energy is wasted around the surrounding space, the use of RAs allows for a smarter management of the radiated energy as the beam can be focused toward specific directions. As a result, not only data throughput between two devices can be improved but also the interference between adjacent networks can be reduced significantly. n this PhD thesis we focus on the design, prototyping and system application of compact RAs for wireless base stations and mobile devices. Specifically, the first task focuses on the design of a compact reconfigurable antenna capable of generating omnidirectional and directional beams in a single planar design. Next, we propose to apply a miniaturization technique in order to drastically reduce the size of Composite Right-Left Handed Reconfigurable Leaky Wave Antennas (CRLH RLWAs). The large beam steering capabilities along with the miniaturized dimension open new venues for the integration of this antenna technology into mobile devices such as laptop or tablets. Similarly for electrically reconfigurable antennas, characteristics such as input impedance and radiation properties of a radiating element can vary by mechanically change its physical dimension. In other words, instead of changing the metallic geometry through electrical components, the characteristics of an antenna can be changed through physical deformation of its geometry. This principle addresses the second main application of reconfigurable antennas this PhD thesis. Wearable technologies are gaining a lot of attentions due to their strong potential for sensing, communication and tactile interaction applications. Thanks to the progress in knitting facilities and techniques, smart fabrics are generally implemented through sewn-in sensors especially in the fields of medical and athletic applications. Such wearable sensors provide a means to monitor the wearers health through physiological measurements in a natural setting or can be used to detect or alert care providers to potential hazards around the wearer. The feasibility of building electrical devices using conductive fabrics has been analyzed through electrical characterization of textile transmission lines and antennas where conductive fabrics have been applied onto woven fabrics have been demonstrated in recent literature. Previous works show conductive copper foils or fabrics bonded to a flexible substrate. However, these techniques show limitations in terms of electrical losses caused by adhesives or glue chemicals. It is desirable to address these drawbacks by knitting conductive and non-conductive yarns in a single process resulting in smart textiles that are unobtrusively integrated into the host garment so as to eliminate the need for chemical adhesives that degrade electrical performance. The characteristics variations of a fabric-based antenna under physical deformations can be exploited to provide a fully wireless sensing of certain body movements. The second task of this PhD thesis, focuses on the design and testing of these purely textile wireless sensors for biomedical applications. The Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology will be applied fordesigning fabric-based strain sensors through the use of novel inductively-coupled RFID microchips (MAGICSTRAP). As opposed to conventional surface-mount microchips, the MAGICSTRAP does not require any physical soldering connection as the RF energy is inductively coupled from the microchip pads to the antenna arms. A separate interrogator unit can communicate with this knit passive RFID architecture by sending a probing signal; the backscattered component received from the knit tag will indicate the level of stretch, and this information will be translated in the physical phenomenon being monitored. The change in the electrical characteristics of the textile antenna, along with the decoupling of the MAGICTRAP chip allow for more reliable detection of contraction/elongation movements. This study will include comprehensive design and characterization of the textile tag sensor along with performance analysis using a mechanical human mannequin.Ph.D., Electrical Engineering -- Drexel University, 201

MR4RF: MEM-device with impedance and their usage with impedance matching networks for passive RFID tags in the UHF

The passive RFID tag in the UHF has been employed in several different applications including, tracking, logistics, and as a sensing platform for the Internet of things (IoT). The tag is ideal for this industry due to its unique design. It harvests all of its energy from the environment, and is small, cheap, and requires little to no maintenance. However, there are two major issues limiting the potential of the passive RFID systems: the limited power harvested by the tag, and the high susceptibility to interference and coupling. In particular, dynamic environments render the traditionally fixed, RF impedance matching network ineffective. A novel design for a flexible Impedance-Switching Network (ISN) for passive RFID tags in the UHF is presented in this thesis. This novel approach can maximize power harvested by the tag. We propose two approaches to implementing the ISN. First, a more traditional design with a series of varactors is developed and studied. Each varactor is placed in parallel impedance lanes that are controlled via a feedback loop to maximize harvested power. A four-lane ISN is designed, tested, and tuned. The simulations and experiments demonstrate that ISN is capable of compensating for negative effect of mutual coupling in a ferromagnetic-reach environment. The second design employs a new material called a memristive switch that can replace the varactors in the ISN. State of a memristive switch is non-volatile and requires little energy to operate, thus making it ideal for passive RFID tags. We are the first to characterize the Co3O4 based memristive switch in UHF range. The results show that it can be employed as a varying capacitor in the RF front-end design. We propose three general configurations for the ISNs --Abstract, page iii

Advanced Circularly Polarised Microstrip Patch Antennas

The thesis describes outcomes of research on advanced circularly polarised antennas. The proposed designs are intended for integration into small mobile devices, therefore low profile and easy manufacturability are key parameters, along with good CP radiation properties. The designs were validated by simulation and measurement, and are also backed by theory and design guidelines. The primary focus is on the development of planar omnidirectional circularly polarised antennas, which are fabricated using multilayer PCB techniques and thus are lightweight and cost-efficient. Unlike in classical microstrip patch antenna designs, the groundplane of the proposed antenna was substantially reduced. This helps to achieve an omnidirectional circular polarisation pattern and miniaturize the antenna, however at the cost of increased feed circuit complexity. The basic design, its advantages and disadvantages are discussed in Section 3. In the next step, the omnidirectional circularly polarised antenna was extended with additional, advanced features. A miniaturized version is investigated, which offers a 20% footprint reduction by folding parts of the patch underneath itself. Further miniaturization is possible by increasing the dielectric constant of the substrate. A method to adjust the omnidirectional circularly polarised antenna performance by trimming four lumped capacitors is also investigated. Manufacturing inaccuracy in large scale production may cause some of the units to radiate outside of the desired frequencies. By integrating four trimmed capacitors into the antenna it can be precisely tuned to the desired band. Simulated results demonstrate this property by trimming the antenna between GPS L1 band (centre frequency at 1.575 GHz) and Galileo/Beidou-2 E2 band (1.561 GHz). Furthermore, a dual-band omnidirectional circularly polarised antenna is presented, which employs slots and capacitor loading to steer the current path of the first and second resonant mode. The design offers a small frequency ratio of 1.182. The methods to obtain a planar omnidirectional circularly polarised antenna have been further advanced to propose a reconfigurable antenna. The beam reconfiguration is capable of rotating it dipole-like radiation pattern around an axis, thus allowing reception or transmission from any spherical angle. The switching method is simple and does not require any semiconductor devices. Finally, a dual circularly polarised antenna is presented, which achieves dual-polarisation by employing even and odd modes in a coplanar waveguide. This technique allows greater flexibility and size reduction of the feed network, as two signals can be transmitted by a single multi-mode transmission line. Simulated results demonstrate this property by trimming the antenna between GPS L1 band (centre frequency at 1.575 GHz) and Galileo/Beidou-2 E2 band (1.561 GHz). Furthermore, a dual-band omnidirectional circularly polarised antenna is presented, which employs slots and capacitor loading to steer the current path of the first and second resonant mode. The design offers a small frequency ratio of 1.182. The methods to obtain a planar omnidirectional circularly polarised antenna have been further advanced to propose a reconfigurable antenna. The beam reconfiguration is capable of rotating it dipole-like radiation pattern around an axis, thus allowing reception or transmission from any spherical angle. The switching method is simple and does not require any semiconductor devices. Finally, a dual circularly polarised antenna is presented, which achieves dual-polarisation by employing even and odd modes in a coplanar waveguide. This technique allows greater flexibility and size reduction of the feed network, as two signals can be transmitted by a single multi-mode transmission line

Advanced Radio Frequency Antennas for Modern Communication and Medical Systems

The main objective of this book is to present novel radio frequency (RF) antennas for 5G, IOT, and medical applications. The book is divided into four sections that present the main topics of radio frequency antennas. The rapid growth in development of cellular wireless communication systems over the last twenty years has resulted in most of world population owning smartphones, smart watches, I-pads, and other RF communication devices. Efficient compact wideband antennas are crucial in RF communication devices. This book presents information on planar antennas, cavity antennas, Vivaldi antennas, phased arrays, MIMO antennas, beamforming phased array reconfigurable Pabry-Perot cavity antennas, and time modulated linear array

Analyse et exploitation des non linéarités dans les systèmes RFID UHF passifs

Powered by the exploding popularity of the Internet-of-Things (IoT), the demand for tagged devices with labels capable to ensure a reliable communication with added functions beyond the identification, such as sensing, location, health-care, among others, is growing rapidly. Certainly this growing is headed by the well-established Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, and the use of wireless low-cost self-powered tags, in other words passive RFID tags, is the most widespread used alternative. In the constant evolution on this field, usually new software treatments are offered at the application layer with the objective to processing data to produce some new information. Further works aimed at improving the physical layer around the tag antenna miniaturization and matching techniques. So far, little or no work had been done on the exploitation of the communication channel, and certainly none has been done on the exploitation of the non-linear behavior of RFID chips.After presenting the RFID technology and phenomena produced by Radio Frequency (RF) non-linear devices, and leaning in some nearby works on the field, the core of this thesis starts by exposing two characterization platforms for the evaluation of non-linear phenomena presented during the reader-tag communication. One is specialized in radiating measurements considering the whole tag (antenna and chip) under test. The other is specialized in conducted measurements directly over RFID chips, allowing performing different parametric studies (power dependency, impedance, harmonic production, sensitivity). The characterization results show that harmonic signals generated from the passive RFID chip carry information.By exploiting the characterization results and to verify the hypothesis of exploitation of non-linearities in RFID, i.e. the use of harmonic signals, the research is pursued by designing, fabricating, and measuring four different configurations of RFID tags. The new RFID tags operate at the fundamental frequency in the UHF band and at its 3^{rd} harmonic in the microwave band. Antenna design policies, fabrication details, and parametric studies on the performance of the new prototypes are presented. The parametric study takes special care in the antenna structure, kind of chip used, received power, and read range.Finally, some alternatives approaches for the exploitation of non-linear effects generated by rectifying devices are presented. Some theoretical aspects and experimental results are discussed linking the passive RFID technology to the theories of Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) and Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting (EEH). The solution takes advantage of the non-linear nature of rectifying elements in order to maximize the RF-to-DC conversion efficiency of EEH devices and increase the read range of passive RFID tags. The solution triggers on the design of a RF multi-device system. The design procedure and tests consider three non-linear phenomena: (1) the impedance power dependency, (2) the harmonic production, and (3) the rectifying dependence on the RF waveform.Avec l'explosion de l'Internet des Objets (IoT), de nouveaux dispositifs permettant de tagguer les objets sont nécessaires afin de permettre non seulement leur identification mais aussi d'assurer des communications fiables et de nouvelles fonctionnalités comme la détection, la localisation ou la capture d'informations. Cette tendance s'appuie sur la technologie bien établie qu'est la radiofréquence par identification (RFID) et donc l'utilisation d'étiquettes (ou tags) faibles coûts et télé-alimentés. Dans ce contexte, de nombreux travaux au niveau de la couche d'application se tournent vers la mise au point de traitements logiciels complémentaires visant à produire de nouveaux types d'information. D'autres travaux visent à améliorer la couche physique avec l'objectif de miniaturiser encore le tag mais aussi de le doter de nouvelles capacités. Jusqu'à présent, il n'existe quasiment pas de travaux concernant la transmission du signal et aucun sur l'exploitation du comportement non-linéaire des puces RFID. Cette thèse vise à étudier les phénomènes non-linéaires produits lors d'une communication RFID.Dans la première partie, deux plateformes de mesure et de caractérisation spécifiques ont été développées : la première vise à observer les signaux au cours d'une communication RFID, et alors caractériser et analyser les effets liés aux phénomènes non linéaires ; la seconde permet d'effectuer différentes mesures directement sur les puces et les caractériser en termes d'impédance, production d'harmoniques et sensibilité. Ces plateformes ont permis : 1) de mettre en évidence que les fréquences harmoniques sont porteuses d'informations qui peuvent être exploitées et même offrir de nouvelles fonctionnalités ; 2) d'obtenir de nombreuses informations sur les propriétés des puces et d'en établir un modèle électrique précis ; 3) de déterminer des critères permettant d'évaluer la performance des tags dans le contexte étudié.Dans la deuxième partie, plusieurs nouveaux tags RFID ont été conçus, fabriqués, mesurés et évalués. Ces nouveaux tags fonctionnent non seulement dans la bande UHF mais aussi sont adaptés à la troisième harmonique dans la bande des microondes. Une méthodologie et des lignes directives d'aide à la conception de ce type de tags ont été établies et s'appuient sur les deux plateformes développées afin de caractériser les différents éléments. Dans un même temps, les effets liés à la fabrication ont aussi été étudiés et des études paramétriques ont permis de mettre en évidence l'effet sur les performances de la géométrie de l'antenne et du type de puce utilisée.Dans une troisième partie, les études se sont focalisées à exploiter les effets non-linéaires des dispositifs de redressement. L'idée générale est de coupler la RFID passive avec les dispositifs de transferts de puissance et de récupération d'énergie avec pour objectifs 1) de maximiser l'efficacité de conversion RF – continu 2) et d'augmenter la distance de lecture des tags passifs. Plusieurs prototypes ont été réalisés et leurs performances ont été démontrées.L'ensemble de ces travaux a mis en évidence un nouveau concept de communication RFID exploitant les non-linéarités générées par les puces RFID. Ce concept ouvre la voie à de nouvelles applications. et a fait l'objet d'une demande de brevet international

Metamaterials and Metasurfaces

Ye

Miniaturized Microwave Devices and Antennas for Wearable, Implantable and Wireless Applications

This thesis presents a number of microwave devices and antennas that maintain high operational efficiency and are compact in size at the same time. One goal of this thesis is to address several miniaturization challenges of antennas and microwave components by using the theoretical principles of metamaterials, Metasurface coupling resonators and stacked radiators, in combination with the elementary antenna and transmission line theory. While innovating novel solutions, standards and specifications of next generation wireless and bio-medical applications were considered to ensure advancement in the respective scientific fields. Compact reconfigurable phase-shifter and a microwave cross-over based on negative-refractive-index transmission-line (NRI-TL) materialist unit cells is presented. A Metasurface based wearable sensor architecture is proposed, containing an electromagnetic band-gap (EBG) structure backed monopole antenna for off-body communication and a fork shaped antenna for efficient radiation towards the human body. A fully parametrized solution for an implantable antenna is proposed using metallic coated stacked substrate layers. Challenges and possible solutions for off-body, on-body, through-body and across-body communication have been investigated with an aid of computationally extensive simulations and experimental verification. Next, miniaturization and implementation of a UWB antenna along with an analytical model to predict the resonance is presented. Lastly, several miniaturized rectifiers designed specifically for efficient wireless power transfer are proposed, experimentally verified, and discussed. The study answered several research questions of applied electromagnetic in the field of bio-medicine and wireless communication.Comment: A thesis submitted for the degree of Ph

Antennas and Propagation Aspects for Emerging Wireless Communication Technologies

The increasing demand for high data rate applications and the delivery of zero-latency multimedia content drives technological evolutions towards the design and implementation of next-generation broadband wireless networks. In this context, various novel technologies have been introduced, such as millimeter wave (mmWave) transmission, massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO) systems, and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) schemes in order to support the vision of fifth generation (5G) wireless cellular networks. The introduction of these technologies, however, is inextricably connected with a holistic redesign of the current transceiver structures, as well as the network architecture reconfiguration. To this end, ultra-dense network deployment along with distributed massive MIMO technologies and intermediate relay nodes have been proposed, among others, in order to ensure an improved quality of services to all mobile users. In the same framework, the design and evaluation of novel antenna configurations able to support wideband applications is of utmost importance for 5G context support. Furthermore, in order to design reliable 5G systems, the channel characterization in these frequencies and in the complex propagation environments cannot be ignored because it plays a significant role. In this Special Issue, fourteen papers are published, covering various aspects of novel antenna designs for broadband applications, propagation models at mmWave bands, the deployment of NOMA techniques, radio network planning for 5G networks, and multi-beam antenna technologies for 5G wireless communications

Autonomous smart antenna systems for future mobile devices

Along with the current trend of wireless technology innovation, wideband, compact size, low-profile, lightweight and multiple functional antenna and array designs are becoming more attractive in many applications. Conventional wireless systems utilise omni-directional or sectored antenna systems. The disadvantage of such antenna systems is that the electromagnetic energy, required by a particular user located in a certain direction, is radiated unnecessarily in every direction within the entire cell, hence causing interference to other users in the system. In order to limit this source of interference and direct the energy to the desired user, smart antenna systems have been investigated and developed. This thesis presents the design, simulation, fabrication and full implementation of a novel smart antenna system for future mobile applications. The design and characterisation of a novel antenna structure and four-element liner array geometry for smart antenna systems are proposed in the first stage of this study. Firstly, a miniaturised microstrip-fed planar monopole antenna with Archimedean spiral slots to cover WiFi/Bluetooth and LTE mobile applications has been demonstrated. The fundamental structure of the proposed antenna element is a circular patch, which operates in high frequency range, for the purpose of miniaturising the circuit dimension. In order to achieve a multi-band performance, Archimedean spiral slots, acting as resonance paths, have been etched on the circular patch antenna. Different shapes of Archimedean spiral slots have been investigated and compared. The miniaturised and optimised antenna achieves a bandwidth of 2.2GHz to 2.9GHz covering WiFi/Bluetooth (2.45GHz) and LTE (2.6GHz) mobile standards. Then a four-element linear antenna array geometry utilising the planar monopole elements with Archimedean spiral slots has been described. All the relevant parameters have been studied and evaluated. Different phase shifts are excited for the array elements, and the main beam scanning range has been simulated and analysed. The second stage of the study presents several feeding network structures, which control the amplitude and phase excitations of the smart antenna elements. Research begins with the basic Wilkinson power divider configuration. Then this thesis presents a compact feeding network for circular antenna array, reconfigurable feeding networks for tuning the operating frequency and polarisations, a feeding network on high resistivity silicon (HRS), and an ultrawide-band (UWB) feeding network covering from 0.5GHz to 10GHz. The UWB feeding network is used to establish the smart antenna array system. Different topologies of phase shifters are discussed in the third stage, including ferrite phase shifters and planar phase shifters using switched delay line and loaded transmission line technologies. Diodes, FETs, MMIC and MEMS are integrated into different configurations. Based on the comparison, a low loss and high accurate Hittite MMIC analogue phase shifter has been selected and fully evaluated for this implementation. For the purpose of impedance matching and field matching, compact and ultra wideband CPW-to-Microstrip transitions are utilised between the phase shifters, feeding network and antenna elements. Finally, the fully integrated smart antenna array achieves a 10dB reflection coefficient from 2.25GHz to 2.8GHz, which covers WiFi/Bluetooth (2.45GHz) and LTE (2.6GHz) mobile applications. By appropriately controlling the voltage on the phase shifters, the main beam of the antenna array is steered ±50° and ±52°, for 2.45GHz and 2.6GHz, respectively. Furthermore, the smart antenna array demonstrates a gain of 8.5dBi with 40° 3dB bandwidth in broadside direction, and has more than 10dB side lobe level suppression across the scan. The final stage of the study investigates hardware and software automatic control systems for the smart antenna array. Two microcontrollers PIC18F4550 and LPC1768 are utilised to build the control PCBs. Using the graphical user interfaces provided in this thesis, it is able to configure the beam steering of the smart antenna array, which allows the user to analyse and optimise the signal strength of the received WiFi signals around the mobile device. The design strategies proposed in this thesis contribute to the realisation of adaptable and autonomous smart phone systems