Additively Manufactured Shape-changing RF Devices Enabled by Origami-inspired Structures

The work to be presented in this dissertation explores the possibility of implementing origami-inspired shape-changing structures into RF designs to enable continuous performance tunability as well as deployability. The research not only experimented novel structures that have unique mechanical behaviour, but also developed automated additive manufacturing (AM) fabrication process that pushes the boundary of realizable frequency from Sub-6 GHz to mm-wave. High-performance origami-inspired reconfigurable frequency selective surfaces (FSSs) and reflectarray antennas are realized for the first time at mm-wave frequencies via AM techniques. The research also investigated the idea of combining mechanical tuning and active tuning methods in a hybrid manner to realize the first truly conformal beam-forming phased array antenna that can be applied onto any arbitrary surface and can be re-calibrated with a 3D depth camera.Ph.D

2008 Index IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology Vol. 16

This index covers all technical items - papers, correspondence, reviews, etc. - that appeared in this periodical during the year, and items from previous years that were commented upon or corrected in this year. Departments and other items may also be covered if they have been judged to have archival value. The Author Index contains the primary entry for each item, listed under the first author\u27s name. The primary entry includes the coauthors\u27 names, the title of the paper or other item, and its location, specified by the publication abbreviation, year, month, and inclusive pagination. The Subject Index contains entries describing the item under all appropriate subject headings, plus the first author\u27s name, the publication abbreviation, month, and year, and inclusive pages. Note that the item title is found only under the primary entry in the Author Index

2009 Index IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters Vol. 8

This index covers all technical items - papers, correspondence, reviews, etc. - that appeared in this periodical during the year, and items from previous years that were commented upon or corrected in this year. Departments and other items may also be covered if they have been judged to have archival value. The Author Index contains the primary entry for each item, listed under the first author\u27s name. The primary entry includes the coauthors\u27 names, the title of the paper or other item, and its location, specified by the publication abbreviation, year, month, and inclusive pagination. The Subject Index contains entries describing the item under all appropriate subject headings, plus the first author\u27s name, the publication abbreviation, month, and year, and inclusive pages. Note that the item title is found only under the primary entry in the Author Index

Analysis of Miniaturized, Circularly Polarized Antennas for Bidirectional Propagation

Size reduction is necessary to fit the recent demand for small sized communication systems in consumer electronics. Wireless communication systems rely on antennas for long range transmission of signals, so size reduced antennas have been sought after in recent years. Also, not many antennas are designed for use in bidirectional scenarios like subways, tunnels, bridges, etc. Three sized reduced antennas with circular polarization are presented for use in bidirectional communication systems. An electrically small pattern reconfigurable array, an electrically small two-sided printed cross dipole, and a size reduced printed wideband antenna are introduced within this thesis. All antennas’ results are obtained from simulation, with two of the antenna designs being measured to verify their results

Design and Testing of Simple, Electrically Small, Low-Profile, Huygens Source Antennas with Broadside Radiation Performance

© 2016 IEEE. The efficacy of a simple, electrically small, low-profile, Huygens source antenna that radiates in its broadside direction is demonstrated numerically and experimentally. First, two types of electrically small, near-field resonant parasitic (NFRP) antennas are introduced and their individual radiation performance characteristics are discussed. The electric one is based on a modified Egyptian axe dipole NFRP element; the magnetic one is based on a capacitively loaded loop NFRP element. In both cases, the driven element is a simple coax-fed dipole antenna, and there is no ground plane. By organically combining these two elements, Huygens source antennas are obtained. A forward propagating demonstrator version was fabricated and tested. The experimental results are in good agreement with their analytical and simulated values. This low profile, ∼0.05λ0, and electrically small, ka = 0.645, prototype yielded a peak realized gain of 2.03 dBi in the broadside direction with a front-to-back ratio of 16.92 dB. A backward radiating version is also obtained; its simulated current distribution behavior is compared with that of the forward version to illustrate the design principles

Design and implementation of a GTEM chamber for electromagnetic compatibility tests of electronic circuits and systems

Orientador: Luiz Carlos KretlyTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de ComputaçãoResumo: Este trabalho apresenta a análise detalhada, simulações numéricas completas e os procedimentos para o projeto e a implementação de uma câmara GTEM -GigaHertz Transverse Electromagnetic- para análise de pré-conformidade em circuitos e sistemas eletrônicos. O sistema construído é capaz de realizar testes de EMC - Electromagnetic Compatibility, tanto de interferência - EMI quanto de susceptibilidade - EMS, na faixa de freqüência de 500 MHz - 18 GHz. O projeto apresenta uma inovação ao introduzir estruturas metamateriais na câmara tornando-a mais flexível na determinação da freqüência e níveis de RF e Microondas de teste. Os detalhes do projeto, simulações, a tecnologia de fabricação e medidas de validação da GTEM são descritos neste trabalhoAbstract: In this work it is shown a detailed analysis, complete numerical simulations and the guidelines for the design and fabrication of a GTEM - GigaHertz Transverse Electromagnetic chamber, for pre-compliance tests of integrated circuits and electronic boards. With the built structure electromagnetic tests - EMC, including electromagnetic interference - EMI and immunity becomes feasible, on 500 MHz - 18 GHz frequency range. Besides that, an innovative concept is shown with the use of metamaterial technology applied to the GTEM chamber in order to make it more flexible in terms of frequency range. The design, simulation and fabrication strategy are clearly described along throughout this workDoutoradoEletrônica, Microeletrônica e OptoeletrônicaDoutor em Engenharia Elétric

Development of conformal reconfigurable metamaterial-based antennas

Antennas are vital components of any wireless communication device. There has been a wide demand for novel flexible and reconfigurable wireless devices as a result of the rising user applications. This thesis presents the design of flexible low-cost antennas using metamaterial loadings with performance characteristics that can be reconfigured by employing microfluidics. In applications such as biomedicine, this work presents an inkjet-printed dipole antenna on flexible Kapton-foam substrate to be used on lossy host structures. The concept of Artificial Magnetic Conductor (AMC) unit cells is investigated for best impedance and gain performance. When integrated with a dipole radiator, the fabricated AMC-backed antenna maintains broadside radiation with gains of up to 4.8 dBi under planar and bending conditions, and on a lossy blood bag. Antenna reconfiguration is then proposed by developing reconfigurable metasurface loadings implementing continuous-flow microfluidics and digital microfluidics. In the latter technique, a frequency reconfigurable AMC is designed using a pixelized approach with liquid metal interconnects. Simulations show that the pixelized design demonstrates switching by electric actuation between 2.45 GHz and 5 GHz depending on the state of the liquid metal interconnects. On the other hand, a multifunctional reconfigurable metasurface based on liquid metal injection (pressure) is presented. The reflective metasurface formed by two switchable microfluidic layers ??? top layer comprising an array of meandered half-rings and the lower layer, straight meander lines - can be reconfigured into four polarization states. The proposed metasurface becomes a reflector with emptied channels, whereas exhibits linear to cross polarization conversion (or linear to circular polarization conversion) properties when the top (or bottom) layer is filled with liquid metal alloy. The experimental results confirm the simulation results over the 8 GHz to 12 GHz test band. The compactness, structural flexibility and multifunctionality of the proposed designs make them suitable candidates for modern integrated antenna array systems

Analysis of Antenna Designs for the Maximum Power Transmission

Since Nikola Tesla discovered wireless power transmission, it has become a very interesting topic of study in the antennas and wireless propagation community. Various aspects and applications for wireless power transmission are studied today, a few of which are investigated in this work. First, various antenna geometries are analyzed for radiative near-field wireless power transfer in terms of electrical field strength. It is determined that the meander antenna is ideal for maximum power transfer in its radiative near-field region, contrary to its far-field behavior. Next, in the application of radio frequency identification, a directive, UHF RFID tag antenna is designed for pavement embedded applications. The antenna covers 72% of the US required bandwidth (902 – 928 MHz) in measurement and has maximum directivity and read range of 7.38 dBi and 14.2ft (4.3 m), respectively. Although the transmitter and receiver antennas\u27 designs are essential parts of the wireless system, power loss to the wireless channel is another critical factor to consider in ensuring the receiver antenna receives the maximum power. Friis transmission equation is studied in detail, and a section of the Georgia Southern University campus is considered for full cellular coverage in the GSM frequency range. Additionally, using the genetic algorithm in parallel, the optimal position for a 60-GHz wireless router is determined to obtain maximum WIFI coverage in a specific house. Finally, the design procedure for a size-reduced, 15-element Yagi antenna is discussed. A comprehensive comparison is conducted demonstrating the importance of the antenna design, with its similar performance to the full-sized Yagi antenna, while its elements are reduced by 45%

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

A Waveguide Slot Filtering Antenna With an Embedded Metamaterial Structure

A novel waveguide slot filtering antenna with an embedded metamaterial is presented. This filtering antenna consists of a common waveguide slot antenna with longitudinal slots cut on the top broad wall of its rectangular waveguide and a metamaterial surface embedded in the bottom broad wall. The metasurface replaces the conventional metal plane in the form of a bed of nails. In the operating frequency band, the metasurface works as a perfect electric conductor, so the antenna radiates as the traditional waveguide slot antennas. While in the stopband, the metasurface performs as a perfect magnetic conductor to suppress the propagation of electromagnetic wave in the waveguide cavity, so the interference signal is rejected and a filter function is achieved. To show the design process and verify its feasibility, a filtering antenna prototype working in the C-band and having a stopband in the X-band is designed, fabricated, and tested. A good agreement between simulation and measurement is obtained, demonstrating efficient radiations in the working band and a strong suppression of more than 35 dB in the stopband