La boîte à outils géotechniques de demain: EN 1997-1: 202x Règles générales

This paper describes the development of the final Project Team (PT) draft of the next generation of Eurocode 7 Part 1 (EN 1997-1:202x). The use of Nationally Determined Parameters and the drive for ease-of-use is highlighted. Key changes from the previous version of EN 1997-1 are explained, including the introduction of the Geotechnical Design Model; revision of the Geotechnical Categories and their application; the implementation of Consequence Classes and Geotechnical Complexity Classes in achieving the reliability required by the Eurocodes; elaboration on the use of numerical methods within Eurocode 7; the treatment of rock on an equal basis with soil; and greater emphasis on the Observational Method.Postprint (published version

A new compact wideband MIMO antenna – the double-sided tapered self-grounded monopole array

We present a new compact wideband multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna—the double-sided 4-port arm-tapered self-grounded monopole array, briefly referred to as the butterfly antenna, in the communication. The antenna is very compact with low correlation between ports and high diversity gain. The genetic algorithm optimization scheme has been employed in the design. Simulation results have been verified against measurements. The measured reflection coefficients at all ports are below -7 dB over 0.5–9 GHz and below -4.5 dB over 0.4–0.5 GHz and 9–15 GHz. The measured correlation coefficients are below 0.4 over 0.4–15 GHz and lower than 0.1 in most of the frequency band. This new MIMO antenna is developed as a transmit antenna in reverberation chambers, and we believe that it will find more applications in other systems, such as micro base station antennas in wireless communication systems

Diversity Characterization of Optimized Two-Antenna Systems for UMTS Handsets

This paper presents the evaluation of the diversity performance of several two-antenna systems for UMTS terminals. All the measurements are done in a reverberation chamber and in a Wheeler cap setup. First, a two-antenna system having poor isolation between its radiators is measured. Then, the performance of this structure is compared with two optimized structures having high isolation and high total efficiency, thanks to the implementation of a neutralization technique between the radiating elements. The key diversity parameters of all these systems are discussed, that is, the total efficiency of the antenna, the envelope correlation coefficient, the diversity gains, the mean effective gain (MEG), and the MEG ratio. The comparison of all these results is especially showing the benefit brought back by the neutralization technique