Conformal Magnetic Composite RFID for Wearable RF and Bio-Monitoring Applications

©2008 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or distribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE. This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.10.1109/TMTT.2008.2006810This paper introduces for the first time a novel flexible magnetic composite material for RF identification (RFID) and wearable RF antennas. First, one conformal RFID tag working at 480 MHz is designed and fabricated as a benchmarking prototype and the miniaturization concept is verified. Then, the impact of the material is thoroughly investigated using a hybrid method involving electromagnetic and statistical tools. Two separate statistical experiments are performed, one for the analysis of the impact of the relative permittivity and permeability of the proposed material and the other for the evaluation of the impact of the dielectric and magnetic loss on the antenna performance. Finally, the effect of the bending of the antenna is investigated, both on the S-parameters and on the radiation pattern. The successful implementation of the flexible magnetic composite material enables the significant miniaturization of RF passives and antennas in UHF frequency bands, especially when conformal modules that can be easily fine-tuned are required in critical biomedical and pharmaceutical applications

Design rules for RF and microwave flip-chip

Ph.D.Joy Laska

Design of Experiments Technique for Microwave / Millimeter Wave Flip Chip Optimization

We present a design of experiments (DOE) technique for microwave/millimeter wave flip chip characterization and optimization. Two optimization approaches, signal bump misalignment and transmission line compensation, are combined together for optimal performance for high frequency operation. First, the design of experiments method is presented and its advantages are emphasized. Then, the two techniques are combined together in a factorial experiment with the purpose of optimizing the return loss to any desired frequency. The experiment is based on test structure fabrication and measurements. The one-factor-at-a-time strategy shows that return loss performance is increased with the misalignment values and decreased with compensation for the frequency range of interest. However, the statistical analysis revealed that the optimal performance is achieved for maximum compensation, and minimum misalignment. The optimal structure is measured from 1 to 75 GHz and shows return loss better than 17 dB. The method can be extended to include more optimization factors in different analysis intervals

Microwave/Millimeter Wave Metamaterial Development Using the Design of Experiments Technique

Abstract: The successful use of Design of Experiments (DOE) approach in a feasibility and design study of a metamaterial structure is presented. The frequency of interest is 40 GHz and the technology used is multilayer Low Temperature Cofired Ceramic (LTCC). The chosen approach for the Double Negative Metamaterial implementation is a loaded Coplanar Waveguide (CPW) transmission line. The design goals are a resonant frequency of 40 GHz and minimum insertion loss at that frequency. The electromagnetic performance of the loaded transmission line is simulated with a full wave time domain commercial simulator. The results of these simulations are incorporated into the DOE technique. First, the significant factors in achieving each of the goals are identified, then statistical models are developed for the two output variables and applied to optimize the structure

Performance capability modeling and optimization of RF/millimeter wave integrated functions and modules using a hybrid statistical/electromagnetic technique that includes process variations

Abstract — Various uses of statistical tools combined with deterministic electromagnetic simulators in the analysis, design and optimization of RF and microwave systems are presented. First, the statistical methods are introduced, showing the advantages over the conventional techniques. The statistical tools used in the methodology include sources of variation tools such as ANOVA (Analysis of Variance), SPC (Statistical Process Control), and MC (Monte Carlo) simulation, to account for the process variability. Using this methodology, the developed transfer functions predict both the nominal values and the variation expected for system performance. This is of great value for complex 3D RF integrated modules, RF MEMS and reconfigurable systems, especially at high frequencies where the fabrication tolerances affect the system more due to the smaller circuit features. The methodology can be extended to predict performance of multi-level systems, for which the outputs of the lower-level system become the inputs of the higher-level system. The presented methodology is applied for the analysis, design and optimization of a benchmarking geometry of 60 GHz cavity filters in LTCC (low temperature cofired ceramic) technology. Index Terms — performance capability, optimization, RF systems, statistical tools, hybrid methods

40 GHz Metamaterial Development Using Hybrid Electromagnetic/Statistical Tools

Abstract: The successful use of Design of Experiments (DOE) and Path of Ascent (POA) approaches in conjunction with time-domain full wave commercial simulators in a feasibility and design study of a metamaterial structure is presented. The frequency of interest is 40 GHz and the technology used is multilayer Low Temperature Cofired Ceramic (LTCC). The chosen approach for the Double Negative Metamaterial implementation is a loaded Coplanar Waveguide (CPW) transmission line. The design goals are a resonant frequency of 40 GHz and minimum insertion loss at that frequency. The electromagnetic performance of the loaded transmission line is simulated with a full wave time domain commercial simulator. The results of these simulations are incorporated into the DOE and POA techniques. First, the significant factors in achieving each of the goals are identified, then statistical models are developed for the two output variables and applied to optimize the structure

Design and Optimization of 3D Multilayer Balun Architectures Using the Design of Experiments Technique

The increased demands for compactness and functionality in modern 3D modules and packages [1] make the design and optimization processes of such systems more and more challenging. Existing optimization packages included in the commercial electromagnetic simulators like High Frequency Structure Simulato

288 Hybrid Electrical/Mechanical Optimization Technique Using Time- Domain Modeling, Finite Element Method and Statistical Tools for Composite Smart Structures

(DOE) and Response Surface Methods (RSM) approaches in a simultaneous electrical and mechanical optimization study for a load-bearing antenna structure is presented. The benchmarking geometry is a stacked patch antenna integrated in a sandwich structure made of composite laminates and Nomex honeycomb. The antenna is electromagnetically modeled in time domain and it is found that, for the chosen geometry, the honeycomb structure improves the gain of the antenna without affecting the bandwidth. The structure is then optimized using the same experiment that integrates both the electrical and mechanical (calculated with finite elements) parameters of the system. The simple factorial design is very simple to implement and gives a clear understanding of the system behavior, including the interaction between the mechanical changes and electrical performance thus allowing the engineer to integrate, for the first time, both the electrical and mechanical features of the system in the same optimization technique. Index Terms- Time domain modeling, hybrid optimization, mechanical performance, composite smart structure