Design and Synthesis of Quasi Dual-mode, Elliptic Coaxial Filter

This article introduces the design of a novel quasi dual-mode, elliptic coaxial filter. The transfer function is mapped to a generalized Chebyshev prototype with symmetrically located transmission zeros (TZs) where the coupling values are extracted. Furthermore, the miniaturization is achieved by incorporating stepped-impedance coaxial line with inductive element shunted at the center to exhibit a quasi dual-mode property. Theoretical analysis together with experimental prototype is presented. The center frequency of the filter is 2.7 GHz. The simulated and measured insertion loss/return loss are 1.2 dB/ 15 dB and 2.5 dB/11.5 dB respectively. Both theoretical and measured results show a very good agreement

A Heuristic Approach for Optical Transceiver Placement to Optimize SNR and Illuminance Uniformities of an Optical Body Area Network

The bi-directional information transfer in optical body area networks (OBANs) is crucial at all the three tiers of communication, i.e., intra-, inter-, and beyond-BAN communication, which correspond to tier-I, tier-II, and tier-III, respectively. However, the provision of uninterrupted uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) connections at tier II (inter-BAN) are extremely critical, since these links serve as a bridge between tier-I (intra-BAN) and tier-III (beyond-BAN) communication. Any negligence at this level could be life-threatening; therefore, enabling quality-of-service (QoS) remains a fundamental design issue at tier-II. Consequently, to provide QoS, a key parameter is to ensure link reliability and communication quality by maintaining a nearly uniform signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) within the coverage area. Several studies have reported the effects of transceiver related parameters on OBAN link performance, nevertheless the implications of changing transmitter locations on the SNR uniformity and communication quality have not been addressed. In this work, we undertake a DL scenario and analyze how the placement of light-emitting diode (LED) lamps can improve the SNR uniformity, regardless of the receiver position. Subsequently, we show that using the principle of reciprocity (POR) and with transmitter-receiver positions switched, the analysis is also applicable to UL, provided that the optical channel remains linear. Moreover, we propose a generalized optimal placement scheme along with a heuristic design formula to achieve uniform SNR and illuminance for DL using a fixed number of transmitters and compare it with an existing technique. The study reveals that the proposed placement technique reduces the fluctuations in SNR by 54% and improves the illuminance uniformity up to 102% as compared to the traditional approach. Finally, we show that, for very low luminous intensity, the SNR values remain sufficient to maintain a minimum bit error rate (BER) of 10−9 with on-off keying non-return-to-zero (OOK-NRZ) modulation format

Design of Compact Parallel-Connected Chained Function Filters

The design of compact parallel-connected chained function filters is presented in this paper. The proposed filters will offer reduced sensitivity to manufacturing tolerance within the specified bandwidth in comparison to conventional Chebyshev filters for C-band applications. A new filtering function according to a chained configuration is derived for fourth-order filters, and the synthesis procedures are presented. To demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, the circuit simulation based on parallel-connected topology is performed in an advanced design system, while the design and simulation of a fourth-order filter in dielectric technology are carried out in high-frequency simulation software. The prototype of fourth-order microstrip topology is fabricated using open-loop resonators. The overall circuit size of the filter is 2.5 cm × 4 cm. The achieved simulation and measured insertion/return loss are 0.409 dB/20 dB and 2.674 dB/18.074 dB, respectively. Extensive sensitivity analysis is conducted to prove the fabrication tolerance of the filter. The reduced sensitivity of the proposed filter to manufacturing tolerance is fully demonstrated using an open-loop microstrip technology, and its reliability is proven by theoretical analysis. The prototype results in this research are validated and agree with the theoretical results. In terms of implementation, this design technique will be a very useful mathematical tool for any filter design engineer

Recent advances of wearable antennas in materials, fabrication methods, designs, and their applications: state-of-the-art

The demand for wearable technologies has grown tremendously in recent years. Wearable antennas are used for various applications, in many cases within the context of wireless body area networks (WBAN). In WBAN, the presence of the human body poses a significant challenge to the wearable antennas. Specifically, such requirements are required to be considered on a priority basis in the wearable antennas, such as structural deformation, precision, and accuracy in fabrication methods and their size. Various researchers are active in this field and, accordingly, some significant progress has been achieved recently. This article attempts to critically review the wearable antennas especially in light of new materials and fabrication methods, and novel designs, such as miniaturized button antennas and miniaturized single and multi-band antennas, and their unique smart applications in WBAN. Finally, the conclusion has been drawn with respect to some future directions

Design and evaluation of a flexible dual-band meander line monopole antenna for on- and off-body healthcare applications

The human body is an extremely challenging environment for wearable antennas due to the complex antenna-body coupling effects. In this article, a compact flexible dual-band planar meander line monopole antenna (MMA) with a truncated ground plane made of multiple layers of standard off-the-shelf materials is evaluated to validate its performance when worn by different subjects to help the designers who are shaping future complex on-/off-body wireless devices. The antenna was fabricated, and the measured results agreed well with those from the simulations. As a reference, in free-space, the antenna provided omnidirectional radiation patterns (ORP), with a wide impedance bandwidth of 1282.4 (450.5) MHz with a maximum gain of 3.03 dBi (4.85 dBi) in the lower (upper) bands. The impedance bandwidth could reach up to 688.9 MHz (500.9 MHz) and 1261.7 MHz (524.2 MHz) with the gain of 3.80 dBi (4.67 dBi) and 3.00 dBi (4.55 dBi), respectively, on the human chest and arm. The stability in results shows that this flexible antenna is sufficiently robust against the variations introduced by the human body. A maximum measured shift of 0.5 and 100 MHz in the wide impedance matching and resonance frequency was observed in both bands, respectively, while an optimal gap between the antenna and human body was maintained. This stability of the working frequency provides robustness against various conditions including bending, movement, and relatively large fabrication tolerances

Design and Evaluation of a Button Sensor Antenna for On-Body Monitoring Activity in Healthcare Applications

A button sensor antenna for on-body monitoring in wireless body area network (WBAN) systems is presented. Due to the close coupling between the sensor antenna and the human body, it is highly challenging to design sensor antenna devices. In this paper, a mechanically robust system is proposed that integrates a dual-band button antenna with a wireless sensor module designed on a printed circuit board (PCB). The system features a small footprint and has good radiation characteristics and efficiency. This was fabricated, and the measured and simulated results are in good agreement. The design offers a wide range of omnidirectional radiation patterns in free space, with a reflection coefficient (S11) of −29.30 (−30.97) dB, a maximum gain of 1.75 (5.65) dBi, and radiation efficiency of 71.91 (92.51)% in the lower and upper bands, respectively. S11 reaches −23.07 (−27.07) dB and −30.76 (−31.12) dB, respectively, with a gain of 2.09 (6.70) dBi and 2.16 (5.67) dBi, and radiation efficiency of 65.12 (81.63)% and 75.00 (85.00)%, when located on the body for the lower and upper bands, respectively. The performance is minimally affected by bending, movement, and fabrication tolerances. The specific absorption rate (SAR) values are below the regulatory limitations for the spatial average over 1 g (1.6 W/Kg) and 10 g of tissues (2.0 W/Kg). For both indoor and outdoor conditions, experimental results of the range tests confirm the coverage of up to 40 m

DESIGN OF MULTI-MODE AND MULTI-BAND MICROWAVE FILTER

A miniaturized microwave bandpass filter based on parallel connected multi-mode network is presented in this thesis. This work demonstrates a new parallel connected topology which is a combination of transversal arrays with multi-mode resonators. The parallel connected network is commonly used to achieve higher order filter due to its advantage of having flexibility of designing and tuning each resonator independently When comparing '.vith com'entional parallel connected topology, the significant difference is that each transversal path of the proposed topology can be either using multi-mode resonator or a cascaded network of single-mode, dual-mode or higher order mode resonator. The theory of this parallel connected multi-mode filter has been developed together with the experimental prototypes

DESIGN OF MULTI-MODE AND MULTI-BAND MICROWAVE FILTER

A miniaturized microwave bandpass filter based on parallel connected multi-mode network is presented in this thesis. This work demonstrates a new parallel connected topology which is a combination of transversal arrays with multi-mode resonators. The parallel connected network is commonly used to achieve higher order filter due to its advantage of having flexibility of designing and tuning each resonator independently When comparing '.vith com'entional parallel connected topology, the significant difference is that each transversal path of the proposed topology can be either using multi-mode resonator or a cascaded network of single-mode, dual-mode or higher order mode resonator. The theory of this parallel connected multi-mode filter has been developed together with the experimental prototypes