Antenna measurement techniques : measurement hardware-induced pattern distortions

The demand for mobile connectivity is continuously increasing, and by 2020 Mobile and Wireless Communications will serve not only very dense populations of mobile phones and nomadic computers, but also the expected multiplicity of devices and sensors located in machines, vehicles, health systems and city infrastructures. Future Mobile Networks are then faced with many new scenarios and use cases, which will load the networks with different data traffic patterns, in new or shared spectrum bands, creating new specific requirements. This book addresses both the techniques to model, analyse and optimise the radio links and transmission systems in such scenarios, together with the most advanced radio access, resource management and mobile networking technologies. \u3cbr/\u3e\u3cbr/\u3e This text summarises the work performed by more than 500 researchers from more than 120 institutions in Europe, America and Asia, from both academia and industries, within the framework of the COST IC1004 Action on Cooperative Radio Communications for Green and Smart Environments . The book will have appeal to graduates and researchers in the Radio Communications area, and also to engineers working in the Wireless industry. \u3cbr/\u3e\u3cbr/\u3e Topics discussed in this book include: \u3cbr/\u3e\u3cbr/\u3eRadio waves propagation phenomena in diverse urban, indoor, vehicular and body environments\u3cbr/\u3eMeasurements, characterization, and modelling of radio channels beyond 4G networks\u3cbr/\u3eKey issues in Vehicle (V2X) communication\u3cbr/\u3eWireless Body Area Networks, including specific Radio Channel Models for WBANs \u3cbr/\u3eEnergy efficiency and resource management enhancements in Radio Access Networks\u3cbr/\u3eDefinitions and models for the virtualised and cloud RAN architectures \u3cbr/\u3eAdvances on feasible indoor localization and tracking techniques\u3cbr/\u3eRecent findings and innovations in antenna systems for communications\u3cbr/\u3ePhysical Layer Network Coding for next generation wireless systems \u3cbr/\u3eMethods and techniques for MIMO Over the Air (OTA) testing \u3cbr/\u3

Method to match waves of ray-tracing simulations with 3-D high-resolution propagation measurements

High-resolution propagation measurements were carried out to verify the angular and delay dispersion predicted by ray-tracing models. To do the comparison between the measured and simulated results, the corresponding waves should first be identified. This paper introduces a method to find the corresponding relationship of waves automatically. The results show that the algorithm can successfully find the matching simulated and measured waves. It also provides the information to find and further investigate the most dominant propagation mechanisms

Disturbing effects of microwave probe on mm-wave antenna pattern measurements

In order to be able to measure and validate an antenna design in the mm-wave frequency range it must be connected to a Vector Network Analyzer or Spectrum Analyzer. One of the challenges is to interconnect such a small antenna and the measurement equipment without influencing the antenna measurements. A commonly used method for interconnection is making use of a connector or a probe. The problem is that the connector as well as the probe are often many times larger than the antenna under test itself and are located close to the radiating part of the antenna structure. This means that the antenna measurements will be influenced. Therefore, the paper focuses on the disturbing effects of the probe as a reflective and obstructive object on mm-wave antenna pattern measurements, specifically in the 60 GHz band, and how they can be reduced

Dual-channel 56 Gb/s PAM-4 electro-absorption modulator driver for 3D wafer scale packaging

\u3cp\u3e This paper presents the design and measurement of a 2 × 56 Gb/s PAM-4 dual-channel electro-absorption modulator (EAM) driver in a 0.25-μm SiGe:C BiCMOS process for 3D wafer scale packaging. In this paper, a new EAM coupling method for 3D wafer scale packing is presented. The driver employs an optimized output interface with the EAM, which increases the output voltage swing by 53% while keep the same bandwidth and power consumption. The driver has 13.7 dB of gain with a 3 dB bandwidth of 31.5 GHz, which delivers 3 V \u3csub\u3eppd\u3c/sub\u3e at 56 Gb/s PAM-4 and consumes 364.5 mW per channel, resulting in a figure of merit of 6.5 pJ/bit. \u3c/p\u3

A106nW 10 b 80 kS/s SAR ADC with duty-cycled reference generation in 65 nm CMOS

This paper presents a 10 b 80 kS/s SAR ADC with low-power duty-cycled reference generation. It generates a stable reference voltage on chip for the SAR ADC and imparts very good immunity against power supply interference to the ADC. A 0.62 V-VDD 25 nW CMOS reference voltage generator (RVG) is presented, which has only ±1.5% variation over process corners. A duty-cycling technique is applied to enable 10% duty-cycling of the RVG, resulting in negligible power consumption of the RVG compared to that of the ADC. Furthermore, a bi-directional dynamic preamplifier is adopted in the SAR ADC, which consumes about half the power compared with a regular dynamic structure and maintains noise and gain performance. Compared with prior-art low-power ADCs, this work is the first to integrate the reference generation and include it in the power consumption while maintaining a competitive 2.4 fJ/conversion-step FoM. The chip is fabricated in 65 nm CMOS technology

A DC-51.5 GHz electro-absorption modulator driver with tunable differential DC coupling for 3D wafer scale packaging

\u3cp\u3eThis paper presents a DC-51.5 GHz PAM-4 dual-channel electro-absorption modulator (EAM) driver realized in a 0.25-μm SiGe:C BiCMOS technology. The EAM driver is designed for 3D wafer scale packaging which integrates silicon electronics IC and InP photonics IC at wafer scale. A new asymmetric-load differential driver topology is proposed to achieve a tunable DC biasing for the EAM without extra off-chip bias-T, which significantly reduces the packaging complexity and cost. Moreover, the driver uses differential outputs to drive a single-ended EAM, which reduces the voltage swing by a factor two and reduces the power consumption. The driver has 9.4 dB gain with a 3 dB bandwidth of 51.5 GHz and -0.2 ~ -2 V tunable output DC biasing range. It delivers a differential output voltage swing of 2 V\u3csub\u3eppd\u3c/sub\u3e at 56 Gb/s PAM-4 and consumes 219 mW per channel, resulting in a figure of merit of 3.9 pJ/bit.\u3c/p\u3

A 0.20 mm² 3 nW signal acquisition IC for miniature sensor nodes in 65 nm CMOS

Miniature mm3-sized sensor nodes have a very tight power budget, in particular, when a long operational lifetime is required, which is the case, e.g., for implantable devices or unobtrusive IoT nodes. This paper presents a fully integrated signal acquisition IC for these emerging applications. It integrates an amplifier with 32 dB gain and 370 Hz bandwidth that includes positive feedback to enhance input impedance and dc offset compensation. The IC includes also a 10 bit 1 kS/s SAR ADC as well as a clock generator and voltage and current biasing circuits. The overall system achieves an input noise of 27 μVrms, consumes 3 nW from a 0.6 V supply, occupies 0.20 mm2 in 65 nm CMOS, and has a single-wire data interface. The amplifier achieves an noise-efficiency factor (NEF) of 2.1 and the ADC has a figure-of-merit (FoM) of 1.5 fJ/conversion-step. Measurements confirm reliable operation for supplies from 0.50 to 0.70 V and temperatures in the range of 0-85 °C. As an application example, an ECG recording is successfully performed with the system while a 0.69 mm2 photodiode array provides its power supply in indoor lighting conditions

60-GHz low-noise VGA and interpolation-based gain cell in a 40-nm CMOS technology

This paper presents the design and measurement of an interpolation-based low noise and variable gain cell (IBA-cell) in the 60-GHz band, using a 40-nm CMOS technology. The interpolation-based gain cell is designed for an innovative analog beamforming front end, where the array pattern is not only controlled in the phase domain, but also wins the flexibility in the magnitude domain. The circuit specifications are first derived for the application at 60 GHz. Techniques to combine low noise figure (NF) with variable gain tuning are presented focusing on the NF and linearity (IIP₃) on the example of a 60-GHz low noise amplifier and variable gain amplifier. Subsequently, the design and measurement of the whole gain cell (IBA-cell) integrated into a single chip are reported with the technique of a cross-coupled feedback loop to reduce the phase variations over the gain tuning states and enhance the variations of IIP₃. The IBA-cell achieves 15.8-dB maximum gain and 6.5-dB NF at 57 GHz with the gain tuning range from -2 to 15.8 dB and IIP₃ varying from -11.3 to -16 dBm over the gain control range. The IBA-cell consumes a dc power of maximum 54 mA from 1.1 V.\u3cbr/\u3

A DC to 40 GHz 4-Vpp output high-efficiency linear driver for optical communication

\u3cp\u3eThis paper presents a low-power high-efficiency linear driver for optical modulators in a 0.25-m SiGe: C BiCMOS technology. The driver features a small-signal gain of 18 dB and a 3-dB bandwidth of 40 GHz and delivers a maximum output amplitude of 4 Vpp to a 100 differential load. With the inductor-peaking method, this driver achieves 34 ps ± 3 ps group delay from DC to 50 GHz. For time-domain measurement, this driver achieves a symbol rate of 56 Gb/s NRZ and 28.05 Gbaud PAM4 limited by measurement platform limitations while it has potential to achieve 50 Gbaud PAM4 from design analysis and S-parameter measurement. The bandwidth/fT ratio is 22.2%, the power efficiency is 4%, and the power consumption is 499 mW which is 40% lower than the state-of-the-art.\u3c/p\u3

Damper-to-damper path loss characterization for intra-vehicular wireless sensor networks

\u3cp\u3eIntra-Vehicular Wireless Sensor Networks (IVWSNs) is one of the major advances in electrical smart cars. It could extend the driving distance of E-cars by reducing the weight of bulky cables. It can also bring more sensing functions, turning the car into smart units for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Until now, most works of IVWSNs channel characterization are focused on in-car wireless communication. This paper presents for the first time, to author's knowledge, the channel characterization of a non-line-of-sight damper-to-damper wireless communication at 2.4 GHz frequency band, including the signal reflection from ground. A method of 3D EM simulation is provided. Static and dynamic on-field car measurement is also performed on a commercial car with different road profiles. It shows that different road profiles equally impact path loss specification because of similar permittivity. From on-field measurements, it proves that 5.25 MHz frequency isolation leads to uncorrelated channels.\u3c/p\u3