Conformal multi-functional antennas and rectifying circuits for wireless communication and microwave power beaming by Yang, Guangli,

Ph.D., University of South Carolina, 2005 , 163 pages; AAT 3201372 Abstract (Summary) Conformal multifunctional antennas are greatly desired for man-portable, vehicular, and wireless sensor applications since they can support the functions of multiple antennas with the use of a single aperture. This eliminates inter-antenna mutual coupling while reducing size, cost, and complexity. The most significant challenges in multifunctional antenna research are to achieve the required bandwidth, radiation pattern, gain, and polarization at each operating frequency band with a single antenna aperture. Antennas must also be designed considering their mounting platforms, which greatly alter performance characteristics. In this dissertation the concept of achieving multifunctional operation by antenna geometrical optimization is studied first by developing full-wave three dimensional electromagnetic models of the antenna and its integrating platform, such as vehicles and wireless sensor circuit boards. Several antennas and associated circuits are designed, fabricated, and tested to demonstrate multifunctional performance for applications ranging from land mobile radio to wireless sensors. The solutions proposed in this category include linearly polarized antennas with omnidirectional and directional pattern coverage at 225 and 450 MHz for vehicular application and miniature wideband circularly polarized microstrip patch antennas for wireless sensor application. In the second part of this dissertation a novel switched multifunctional antenna is introduced where a wideband stacked microstrip patch is reconfigured for operation in two frequency bands to support wireless power beaming and data communication to sensors. First, the principles of reconfiguration is illustrated by constructing full-wave simulation models followed by experimental measurements on working prototypes switched with the help of high frequency PIN diodes. It is demonstrated that the reconfigurable antenna has excellent bandwidth, pattern, and gain characteristics to support a directional high gain operation at 5.7 GHz and another nearly omnidirectional, moderate gain operation at 2.45 GHz. This design is scalable in frequency and hence directly relevant to other applications, such as satellite handheld terminals and land mobile radio. Finally, the concept of using our switched multifunctional antenna to beam wireless power to sensors is demonstrated by designing, developing, and testing a high-frequency rectifying circuit integrated with the antenna. Measured results indicate that power transmission conversion efficiency in excess of seventy percent can be readily achieved at 5.7 GHz along with more than adequate high-speed data communication bandwidth at 2.45 GHz. Microwave detection of breast tumors using the finite difference time domain method by Yang, Peng, Ph.D., University of South Carolina, 2006 , 209 pages; AAT 3224487 Abstract (Summary) With the development of modern computer technologies and techniques, a computational approach to accurately and analytically solving complicated electromagnetic problems becomes possible. Various numerical methods were developed to predict the characteristics of the electromagnetic fields in complicated structures. The Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) algorithm, introduced by K. S. Yee in 1996, is one of the most popular tools. FDTD begins with the general Maxwell's curl equations in time domain; it applies to a large number of linear and nonlinear materials and various geometries. Numerous technologies are used to make the FDTD calculation more efficient and accurate, among

these are conformal calculation, non uniform mesh and anisotropic perfect matched layers (APMLs) boundary conditions. It is well known that early detection of tumors is key in reducing cancer mortality. Although X-ray mammography is currently the most popular technology in breast cancer screening, about 10--30% of early cases are missed by the mammogram. It has been found that breast tumors' electrical properties at microwave frequencies are significantly different from those of healthy breast tissues; thus, microwave technology is particularly promising for breast cancer detection. Over the past several years, steady progress has been made towards realizing this dream. In this research, 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional conformal non-uniform FDTD Maxwell's solvers are developed to simulate the breast cancer early detection system. We apply a virtual-focus scanning method to detect a tumor inside a simplified breast model in which breast tissue, ribs, tumor and antennas are simulated to resemble a real case. The tumor can be located very accurately. We believe that a simple method such as the one we propose in this research is needed in order to make a detection system reliable and practical. In addition, conformal calculations and APMLs boundary conditions are applied in the codes which will make the solution more accurate. Conformal calculations use the weighted electromagnetic parameters of the media in the boundary between two objects in the computation domain. APML shows better absorbing results than other absorbing boundary conditions. This research shows that using FDTD to simulate microwave breast tumor detection system is an efficient way to solve the complex electromagnetic problems. Combined with the tumor's high reflections in the microwave band, we get a high signal to noise level. We conclude that FDTD simulation will improve the real detection system which can detect breast cancer in the early stages. Novel embedded antennas and engineered materials in wireless communications and sensing by Shams, Khan Mohammed Ziaus, Ph.D., University of South Carolina, 2007 , 124 pages; AAT 3296685 Abstract (Summary) Recent years have seen a remarkable growth in wireless technology, e.g. mobile telephony, wireless local area network (WLAN), Bluetooth, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs). Given that many of these technologies operating at disparate frequency bands with different bandwidth, pattern, and polarization requirements are being packaged within a single wireless device created a tremendous need for miniature, wideband, highly efficient antennas. However, it is extremely difficult to overcome the challenges associated with achieving these objectives using conventional antenna design methodologies since antenna performance characteristics are largely dependent on its electrical dimensions. In this work the prospects of antenna miniaturization, bandwidth improvement and gain enhancement are studied by exploring a novel non-contact feeding scheme and the design and application of metamaterial loading. A novel non-contact feeding technique to design two miniature embedded antennas is proposed followed by systematic studies on antenna design using metamaterial loading. A Method of Moments (MoM) analysis is performed on a finite length cylindrical dipole antenna enclosed by a homogenous Double Negative (DNG) metamaterial. The dipole exhibits wide bandwidth characteristics due to the relative insensitivity of the impedance with frequency. The dipole also shows resonance at much lower frequencies than its resonant frequency in free space. A new class of SRR (split ring resonator) geometry is introduced which by virtue of its increased inductance provides wider stopband

bandwidth than existing SRRs available in the literature. A simple intuitive design methodology to design metamaterial structures is introduced which utilizes easy to use algebraic equations to predict the operating frequencies of such structures. Experimental prototypes are developed and tested to validate performance. Several applications of metamaterials are investigated experimentally, such as, wireless power transmission to a buried sensor rectenna in concrete, antenna bandwidth improvement, and nearfield energy focusing. It is demonstrated that an SRR metamaterial when placed in front of the transmit antenna helps increase the received power by a rectenna by a factor of three. Similarly, a vertical array of DNG metamaterial when placed surrounding a monopole antenna increases the antenna bandwidth significantly. Finally, in a near-field energy focusing experiment a DNG metamaterial placed between a transmit antenna and a rectenna resulted in a five-fold increase of the rectenna received power when the distance between the DNG and transmit antenna was one wavelength. Designing electrically small antennas and the effects of their radiation on humans by Sayem, Abu Taher Mohammad, Ph.D., University of South Carolina, 2007 , 130 pages; AAT 3296682 Abstract (Summary) Wireless devices, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants, and Bluetooth headsets emit electromagnetic (EM) radiation. Such devices when used near a user result in EM energy absorption in the head or body of the user. The effect of this absorption is thermal and non-ionizing and the metric that is used to characterize the extent of this absorption is called the specific absorption rate (SAR), which is a function of the electric field intensity emitted by the antenna. There are national and international standards organizations that have developed safe limits of SAR based on animal studies, which ensure that the temperature rise in the user's head or body is small enough not to cause any harmful effects. Currently, in order to determine the SAR induced by a particular wireless device measurements are performed in a head or body simulating dielectric liquid phantom using a robot and near-field probes. The process is very complicated and tedious. Reports on SAR computation and modeling techniques are abound but they mostly focus on algorithm refinement or the development of different types of head or body models. At present there is no simple straightforward method to even distinguish the SAR induced by an extremely small RFID (radio frequency identification device) antenna and that by a mobile phone primarily because of our lack of understanding of the relationship between antenna performance characteristics (eg. bandwidth, directivity) and SAR. Yet such relationship can enable us to predict the SAR of an antenna more easily and quickly and for some antennas possibly eliminate the need for testing altogether if they emit a power below a certain threshold. To achieve this goal, in this work, we start from the definition of the fundamental limits of antenna quality factor, design antennas of different types, shapes, and sizes and investigate their performance characteristics and SAR over a wide frequency range both numerically and experimentally. Our results on dipole antennas elucidate that a focusing factor can be defined for antennas near a lossy dielectric object, such as the human head or body and that the smaller antennas focus more energy in the SAR averaging mass than the longer. We also conclude that among all classes, shapes, and sizes of antennas investigated in this study, the dipole antennas generally induce higher SAR compared to all other antennas and that the antenna free-space bandwidth is strongly related to the SAR. Based on these findings we develop a simple easy to use formula which can be used to estimate the threshold power that directly corresponds to the SAR induced by an antenna

once the antenna free- space bandwidth is known. We also design, fabricate, and test two completely new antennas with unique performance characteristics and test our SAR estimation formula on them. The first is a new planar microstrip-fed dual-band Hilbert slot antenna which has two distinct patterns, end-fire and broad-side, at the low and high resonant frequencies, respectively and the second is a miniature spiral diversity antenna with high overall gain and low mutual coupling characteristics. Antenna design using space filling curves and electromagnetic band gap structures by Azad, Mohammed Ziaul, Ph.D., University of South Carolina, 2008 , 154 pages; AAT 3336562 Abstract (Summary) At present there is a tremendous demand for small portable/wearable wireless devices that can accommodate a variety of applications operating in different frequency bands and require different bandwidth, radiation patterns, and polarizations. Miniaturization in the component level is the key to successful device design. This is particularly important when it comes to designing the antennas for such devices. Similarly for base stations or WiMax type terminals that may support directional beams antenna size reduction is essential. However, a systematic study is required to ensure that miniaturization is not achieved at the cost of unsatisfactory bandwidth, pattern, and gain characteristics. The focus of this dissertation is to explore miniature antenna design using spacefilling curves and electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structures. Under the first thrust, the Hilbert curve is used to study and design various platform integrated antennas for application in the mobile telephone, wireless local area network (WLAN), and global positioning system (GPS) frequency bands. The effects of miniaturization on antenna bandwidth, pattern, and gain are investigated in the presence of conductor and dielectric losses. A simple, intuitive, and easy to use method to design Hilbert inverted-F antennas (IFAs) is presented which can also be used to design diversity antennas that have superior performance in a fading environment. The feasibility of using a miniaturized implanted GPS Hilbert antenna to track the elderly with declining mental capacity, such as Alzheimer's disease is demonstrated. This was done first by performing numerical simulations of the implanted antenna in a representative block muscle and skin model as well as in an anatomically based human body model. Finally the validity of the design was demonstrated by performing experimental field tests where the antenna was immersed in an equivalent tissue simulating fluid. Under the second thrust a new method is proposed using which wideband directional printed dipole antennas can be designed for base stations or WiMax type terminals. The proposed design method exploits the effects of the EBG reflection phase on the antenna impedance and thus generates a reflection phase that results in a thin wideband design. Following this technique a novel wideband directional dipole antenna is fabricated and tested to validate performance from 1.75 GHz to 2.5 GHz. Proximity coupled non-intrusive wireless sensors for monitoring and diagnostics by Bhuiyan, Rashed Hossain, Ph.D., University of South Carolina, 2010 , 199 pages; AAT 3433122 Abstract (Summary) Automated wireless sensors to monitor infrastructure, such as power systems have drawn a great deal of attention in the research community recently. To ensure reliable and uninterrupted power

supply, sensors can be developed which will probe the power cables non-intrusively, transmit the fault information wirelessly to a central control unit and harvest the required energy for the operation of the sensor. This work explores and develops new ideas to design and develop automated, self-sustaining wireless sensor patches that can be distributed on power transmission lines. The primary thrusts of this dissertation are on (1) in-situ static electric field type sensor development which can be wrapped around power line cables in critical locations that are more prone to insulation damage either due to high humidity and temperature, (2) a broadband conformal low-profile surface wave exciter development which can be used to inject a broadband pulse to determine the location of faults using reflectometry principles such as time domain reflectometry, frequency domain reflectometry or joint time frequency domain reflectometry, (3) efficient 915 MHz antenna design with wide pattern and gain coverage to support the data telemetry functions of the sensor, and finally (4) a miniature energy harvester design and development using thin high permeability magnetic materials, which can charge the batteries needed to make the non-intrusive wireless sensor functional. Electromagnetic exposure in a phantom in the near and far fields of wire and planar antennas by Mazady, Md. Anas Boksh, M.S., University of South Carolina, 2010 , 102 pages; AAT 1483674 Abstract (Summary) Due to the wide availability and usage of wireless devices and systems there have been and are concerns regarding their effects on the human body. Respective regulatory agencies have developed safety standards based on scientific research on electromagnetic (EM) exposure from wireless devices and antennas. The metric that quantifies the exposure level is called the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). Wireless devices must satisfy the regulatory standards before being marketed. In the past, researchers have primarily focused on investigating the EM exposure from wireless devices that are used very near to the user's head or body (less than 25 mm). But as time progressed many more wireless devices have become ubiquitous (vehicular wireless devices, laptop PCMCIA cards, Bluetooth dongles, wireless LAN routers, cordless phone base stations, and pico base stations are to name a few) and are operated at distances greater than 25 mm yet smaller than 200 mm. Given the variations in operating frequency, distance, and antenna size and type it is challenging to develop an approach using which EM exposure from a wide variety of wireless devices can be evaluated. The problem becomes more involved owing to the difficulties in identifying the antenna zone boundaries, e.g. reactive near-field, radiating near-field, far-field etc. The focus of this thesis is to investigate a large class of low and highly directive antennas and evaluate the EM exposure from them into a large elliptical phantom. The objective is to be able to predict threshold power levels that meet the SAR limits imposed by the regulatory agencies. It was observed that among the low directivity antennas at close near-field distances, electrically small antennas induced distinguishably higher SAR than electrically larger antennas. But differences in SAR were small as the phantom moved into the far-fields of the antennas. SAR induced by highly directive antennas were higher when the phantom was in the far-field of the antennas and was facing the antenna frontal plane. The same was not true when the phantom was in the near-field of the antennas. Finally, by analyzing the simulation and measurement data threshold power formulas were developed for low directivity antennas using which power levels corresponding to the safe exposure limits independent of device type or geometry can be estimated.