Development and Experimental Analysis of Wireless High Accuracy Ultra-Wideband Localization Systems for Indoor Medical Applications

This dissertation addresses several interesting and relevant problems in the field of wireless technologies applied to medical applications and specifically problems related to ultra-wideband high accuracy localization for use in the operating room. This research is cross disciplinary in nature and fundamentally builds upon microwave engineering, software engineering, systems engineering, and biomedical engineering. A good portion of this work has been published in peer reviewed microwave engineering and biomedical engineering conferences and journals. Wireless technologies in medicine are discussed with focus on ultra-wideband positioning in orthopedic surgical navigation. Characterization of the operating room as a medium for ultra-wideband signal transmission helps define system design requirements. A discussion of the first generation positioning system provides a context for understanding the overall system architecture of the second generation ultra-wideband positioning system outlined in this dissertation. A system-level simulation framework provides a method for rapid prototyping of ultra-wideband positioning systems which takes into account all facets of the system (analog, digital, channel, experimental setup). This provides a robust framework for optimizing overall system design in realistic propagation environments. A practical approach is taken to outline the development of the second generation ultra-wideband positioning system which includes an integrated tag design and real-time dynamic tracking of multiple tags. The tag and receiver designs are outlined as well as receiver-side digital signal processing, system-level design support for multi-tag tracking, and potential error sources observed in dynamic experiments including phase center error, clock jitter and drift, and geometric position dilution of precision. An experimental analysis of the multi-tag positioning system provides insight into overall system performance including the main sources of error. A five base station experiment shows the potential of redundant base stations in improving overall dynamic accuracy. Finally, the system performance in low signal-to-noise ratio and non-line-of-sight environments is analyzed by focusing on receiver-side digitally-implemented ranging algorithms including leading-edge detection and peak detection. These technologies are aimed at use in next-generation medical systems with many applications including surgical navigation, wireless telemetry, medical asset tracking, and in vivo wireless sensors

Backscatter Transponder Based on Frequency Selective Surface for FMCW Radar Applications

This paper describes an actively-controlled frequency selective surface (FSS) to implement a backscatter transponder. The FSS is composed by dipoles loaded with switching PIN diodes. The transponder exploits the change in the radar cross section (RCS) of the FSS with the bias of the diodes to modulate the backscattered response of the tag to the FMCW radar. The basic operation theory of the system is explained here. An experimental setup based on a commercial X-band FMCW radar working as a reader is proposed to measure the transponders. The transponder response can be distinguished from the interference of non-modulated clutter, modulating the transponder’s RCS. Some FSS with different number of dipoles are studied, as a proof of concept. Experimental results at several distances are provided

UWB Precise Indoor Localization System Performance, Limitations and its Integration

An indoor localization system that was built at University of Tennessee is extensively studied and improved. The goal of the system is to achieve mm down to sub-mm accuracy/precision. Sub-sampling is used to alleviate the high sampling rate required for UWB signals. Current commercial direct sampling systems are still too slow or prohibitively expensive for UWB applications. We developed two different sub-sampling techniques, but the two systems suffer numerous shortcomings: low throughput, non-robustness, non-linearity. A third system is introduced that achieve both high accuracy and high through-put. Changes in the detection algorithm and the frame synchronization are developed to accommodate the new scheme. We present our efforts to replace hybrid components by recently developed MMIC chips, and an integrated digital module developed by ULM University and UT respectively. Similar localization performance was achieved but rather with significantly reduced power consumption, much smaller footprints, and higher throughput. Step Recovery Diode (SRD) based UWB pulse generators suffer from jitter caused by AM-to-PM conversion, SRD shot noise and clock jitter. A mathematical model for simulation of the jitter and amplitude variation effect in the equivalent time sampling technique has been developed and used in SystemVue simulations. A criterion as an estimate of system accuracy is defined as Signal to Distortion Ratio (SDR) and used. Similarly, a model for AM and PM noise analysis for an SRD based UWB pulse generator is developed that was validated experimentally. We estimate the achievable system localization error. A mathematical model and simulation platform are developed to describe its behavior. Limits on the location accuracy as a function of the parameters of the UWB system are described. A discussion of the dominant reasons for errors that include picoseconds pulsar jitter, sampling clock jitter, sampling rate, and system additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) is presented. We show a simple method to calculate the total system jitter, and describe error biasing phenomenon as the tag moves approaching one base-station and distancing another. Design curves are provided to determine the specifications of system components to achieve a certain positioning accuracy

Hardware Development of an Ultra-Wideband System for High Precision Localization Applications

A precise localization system in an indoor environment has been developed. The developed system is based on transmitting and receiving picosecond pulses and carrying out a complete narrow-pulse, signal detection and processing scheme in the time domain. The challenges in developing such a system include: generating ultra wideband (UWB) pulses, pulse dispersion due to antennas, modeling of complex propagation channels with severe multipath effects, need for extremely high sampling rates for digital processing, synchronization between the tag and receivers’ clocks, clock jitter, local oscillator (LO) phase noise, frequency offset between tag and receivers’ LOs, and antenna phase center variation. For such a high precision system with mm or even sub-mm accuracy, all these effects should be accounted for and minimized. In this work, we have successfully addressed many of the above challenges and developed a stand-alone system for positioning both static and dynamic targets with approximately 2 mm and 6 mm of 3-D accuracy, respectively. The results have exceeded the state of the art for any commercially available UWB positioning system and are considered a great milestone in developing such technology. My contributions include the development of a picosecond pulse generator, an extremely wideband omni-directional antenna, a highly directive UWB receiving antenna with low phase center variation, an extremely high data rate sampler, and establishment of a non-synchronized UWB system architecture. The developed low cost sampler, for example, can be easily utilized to sample narrow pulses with up to 1000 GS/s while the developed antennas can cover over 6 GHz bandwidth with minimal pulse distortion. The stand-alone prototype system is based on tracking a target using 4-6 base stations and utilizing a triangulation scheme to find its location in space. Advanced signal processing algorithms based on first peak and leading edge detection have been developed and extensively evaluated to achieve high accuracy 3-D localization. 1D, 2D and 3D experiments have been carried out and validated using an optical reference system which provides better than 0.3 mm 3-D accuracy. Such a high accuracy wireless localization system should have a great impact on the operating room of the future

A Compact Ultra Wide-Band Radar System for See-Through-Wall Applications

A compact Ultra wide-band (UWB) radar system for through-wall applications has been developed. Lightweight, portable and low in power consumption, it is configurable for both bistatic and monostatic operation. It uses low cost, off-the-shelf surface mount components, and is ideally suited for ranging, 3d-imaging, and wall characterization. Tests show excellent pulse width generation, resulting in very broadband transmission (0.7 – 5.6 GHz) and good receiver dynamic range, resulting in accurate measurement capabilities

Next-generation IoT devices: sustainable eco-friendly manufacturing, energy harvesting, and wireless connectivity

This invited paper presents potential solutions for tackling some of the main underlying challenges toward developing sustainable Internet-of-things (IoT) devices with a focus on eco-friendly manufacturing, sustainable powering, and wireless connectivity for next-generation IoT devices. The diverse applications of IoT systems, such as smart cities, wearable devices, self-driving cars, and industrial automation, are driving up the number of IoT systems at an unprecedented rate. In recent years, the rapidly-increasing number of IoT devices and the diverse application-specific system requirements have resulted in a paradigm shift in manufacturing processes, powering methods, and wireless connectivity solutions. The traditional cloud-centering IoT systems are moving toward distributed intelligence schemes that impose strict requirements on IoT devices, e.g., operating range, latency, and reliability. In this article, we provide an overview of hardware-related research trends and application use cases of emerging IoT systems and highlight the enabling technologies of next-generation IoT. We review eco-friendly manufacturing for next-generation IoT devices, present alternative biodegradable and eco-friendly options to replace existing materials, and discuss sustainable powering IoT devices by exploiting energy harvesting and wireless power transfer. Finally, we present (ultra-)low-power wireless connectivity solutions that meet the stringent energy efficiency and data rate requirements of future IoT systems that are compatible with a batteryless operation

Passive and active components development for broadband applications

Recently, GaN HEMTs have been proven to have numerous physical properties, resulting in transistors with greatly increased power densities when compared to the other well-established FET technologies. This advancement spurred research and product development towards power-band applications that require both high power and high efficiency over the wide band. Even though the use of multiple narrow band PAs covering the whole band has invariably led to better performance in terms of efficiency and noise, there is an associated increase in cost and in the insertion loss of the switches used to toggle between the different operating bands. The goal, now, of the new technology is to replace the multiple narrow band PAs with one broadband PA that has a comparable efficiency performance. In our study here, we have investigated a variety of wide band power amplifiers, including class AB PAs and their implementation in distributed and feedback PAs.Additionally, our investigation has included switching-mode PAs as they are well-known for achieving a relatively high efficiency. Besides having a higher efficiency, they are also less susceptible to parameter variations and could impose a lower thermal stress on the transistors than the conventional-mode PAs. With GaN HEMTs, we have demonstrated: a higher than 37 dBm output power and a more than 30% drain efficiency over 0.02 to 3 GHz for the distributed power amplifier; a higher than 30 dBm output power with more than a 22% drain efficiency over 0.1 to 5 GHz for the feedback amplifier; and at least a 43 dBm output power with a higher than 63% drain efficiency over 0.05 to 0.55 GHz for the class D PA. In many communication applications, however, achieving both high efficiency and linearity in the PA design is required. Therefore, in our research, we have evaluated several linearization and efficiency enhancement techniques.We selected the LInear amplification with Nonlinear Components (LINC) approach. Highly efficient combiner and novel efficiency enhancement techniques like the power recycling combiner and adaptive bias LINC schemes have been successfully developed and verified to achieve a combined high efficiency with a relatively high linearity