Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis is about the design, simulation and measuring of ultra wide band antennas for use in the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The SKA is a radio astronomy project with one of the aims of detecting hydrogen particles in deep space. Several thousand antennas over a wide band of frequencies are needed to receive the radiation from these particles. This motivates the need for a low-cost ultra wide band antenna with the focus on the low frequency part of the SKA. In this thesis we present two design strategies: The first design strategy is for a printed LPDA on a substrate and design curves are generated. A scale model was built and measurements did not correlate with simulation results. This is due to manufacturing tolerances and assembly of the pyramidal structure. The second design strategy is for a full scale zig-zag antenna and design curves were also generated. The aim here is to produce a low-cost prototype by using brazing rods for the wire structure and mount it on a wooden frame. A full scale model was built and measurements on the roof produced much interference for the radiation pattern, but the reflection coefficient was good. We suggest doing measurements in an interference free environment in order to achieve the needed results. To conclude we suggest using the zig-zag antenna for the SKA. Some issues do however need more attention as the transformer has some losses, the cross polarisation is probably not good enough and the beamwidth does not reach the specification. We demonstrated a low cost prototype and there is the possibility of low-cost large scale manufacturing but this needs to be addressed. This has however not been analysed as many factors for large scale manufacturing are very difficult to predict beforehand and lies outside the scope of this thesis. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis gaan oor die ontwerp, simulasie en opmeting van ultrawyebandantennas vir gebruik in die SKA ("Square Kilometre Array"). Die SKA is ’n radioastronomie projek met die doel om waterstof partikels op te spoor in die ruimte. Duisende antennas wat oor ’n wye band van frekwensies strek is nodig om die energie van die partikels op te vang. Hieruit is daar ’n aanvraag vir lae-koste ultrawyebandantennas met die fokus op die lae frekwensie deel van die SKA. In hierdie tesis word twee ontwerpstrategieë voorgestel: Die eerste ontwerpstrategie is vir ’n gedrukte logaritmies periodiese dipool reeks (LPDR) op ’n substraat tesame met ontwerpskurwes wat gegenereer word. ’n Skaal model is gebou en die gemete resultate stem nie ooreen met die simulasie nie. Dit kan toegeskryf word aan vervaardigingstoleransies en die aanmekaar sit van die piramide struktuur. Die tweede ontwerpstrategie is vir ’n vol skaal sigsag ("zig-zag") antenna met ontwerpskurwes wat ook gegenereer word. Die doel is om ’n lae-koste prototipe te bou deur sweissoldeerdraad te gebruik vir die draadstruktuur en dan op ’n hout raam te plaas. ’n Vol skaal model is gebou en metings op die dak het baie interferensie veroorsaak vir die stralingsveld, maar tog was die weerkaatskoëffisient goed. Ons stel voor om die metings te herhaal in ’n steuringvrye omgewing om sodoende die korrekte resultate te verkry. Om af te sluit stel ons voor om die sigsag antenna vir die SKA te gebruik. Sekere kwessies soos die transformator wat verlieserig is, die kruispolarisasie wat moontlik nie goed genoeg is nie en die bundelwydte wat nie die spesifikasie haal nie moet nog aandag geniet. Ons het ’n lae-koste prototipe gedemonstreer en daar is die moontlikheid om dit op grootskaalse vervaardiging ook goedkoop te doen, maar dit moet nog uigesorteer word. Dit was wel nie geanaliseer nie, siende dat vele faktore ’n rol speel by grootskaalse vervaardiging wat uiters moeilik is om voor die tyd te voorspel en buite die omvang van die tesis lê.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:55:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 BrunaALS_DISSERT.pdf: 4847936 bytes, checksum: ecc365df0d6ba32afff7d15a2ae1d14a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-06-14 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / The microstrip antennas are largely used in wireless communication systems due to their low cost, weight, less complex construction and manufacturing, in addition to its versatility. UWB systems have emerged as an alternative to wireless communications over short distances because they offer of higher capacity and lower multipath distortion than other systems with the same purpose. Combining the advantages of microstrip antennas to the characteristics of UWB, it is possible to develop more and more smaller devices, with diverse geometries to operate satisfactorily in these systems. This paper aims to propose alternatives to microstrip antennas for UWB systems operate in the range between 3.1 and 10.6 GHz, with a patch on circular ring. Some techniques are analyzed and employed to increase the bandwidth of proposed antenna: the insertion of a parasitic elements and a rectangular slit in the displaced ground plane. For this, key issues are presented as the basic principles of UWB systems, the fundamental theory of antennas and microstrip antennas. The simulations and experimental characterization of constructed antennas are presented, as well as analysis of parameters such as bandwidth and radiation pattern / As antenas de microfita s?o amplamente utilizadas nos sistemas de comunica??o sem fio devido ?s suas caracter?sticas de baixo custo, peso, menor complexidade de constru??o e fabrica??o, al?m de sua versatilidade. Os sistemas UWB surgiram como uma alternativa ?s comunica??es sem fio de curtas dist?ncias por oferecerem maior capacidade e menor distor??o por multipercurso que outros sistemas com a mesma finalidade. Aliando as vantagens das antenas de microfita ?s caracter?sticas do UWB ? poss?vel desenvolver dispositivos cada vez menores e com geometrias diversificadas para operar satisfatoriamente nesses sistemas. Este trabalho tem como objetivo propor alternativas de antenas de microfita para operar em sistemas UWB, na faixa entre 3,1 e 10,6 GHz, com patch em anel circular. S?o empregadas e analisadas algumas t?cnicas para aumentar a largura de banda das antenas propostas: a inser??o de elementos parasitas e de uma fenda retangular no plano terra deslocado. Para isto, s?o apresentados temas fundamentais como os princ?pios b?sicos dos sistemas UWB, a teoria fundamental de antenas e antenas de microfita. S?o apresentadas as simula??es e caracteriza??es experimentais das antenas constru?das, bem como uma an?lise de par?metros como a largura de banda e o diagrama de radia??o

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the feasibility of a wireless architectural approach for intra-vehicle communications. The current wired architecture was compared to a wireless approach based on three prominent wireless protocols, namely Bluetooth Low-Energy, Ultra Wide-Band, and 60 GHz Millimeter wave technology. The evaluation was focused on their potential use within the intra-vehicle domain, and judged by characterizing properties such as frequency, bandwidth utilization, and power efficiency. A theoretical study targeting the propagating behavior of electromagnetic waves was also involved. In particular, wireless behavior has been investigated both in general aspects as well as specifically aimed towards the intra-vehicle application. The theoretical study was then concluded and presented with a course of action regarding wireless connectivity. Beneficial design considerations, potentials and challenges were highlighted together with a discussion on the feasibility of a wireless architectural approach. Suggestions for future work and research have been given, which include further expansion of targeted protocols, alleviating the restricted security aspects, and extend the physical aspects onto more software based approaches.

Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le projet de communication à proximité aux départements Electronique et Physique et Communications, Images et Traitement de l’Information de l’Institut Télécom Sud Paris. Le projet comporte la mise au point d’un récepteur basé sur une méthode de détection pseudo-cohérente des signaux Ultra Large Bande à double impulsion (TR-UWB), méthode désignée par Time Delayed Sampling and Correlation (TDSC). La première partie de ce document comporte la réalisation d’une plate-forme modulaire de communication UWB basée sur le système de détection TDSC. Cette plate-forme comporte une puce CMOS 0.35μm conçue précédemment au laboratoire EPH. Elle offre la possibilité d’enregistrer des signaux TR-UWB réels et de réaliser des tests de fonctionnement. La deuxième partie est une étude approfondie du récepteur utilisant la méthode TDSC. La détection des signaux UWB et la procédure de synchronisation sont évalués en utilisant les signaux réels acquis à partir de la plate-forme. Un ensemble de tests ont été menés avec des signaux en bande de base et des signaux transposés en fréquence, dans les deux cas en transmission sur câble puis par radio. Les résultats ont permis de valider la détection et le principe de la synchronisation. La troisième partie est une proposition d’estimation de la distance entre deux dispositifs d’un réseau radio UWB utilisant un récepteur TDSC, pour une localisation en intérieur. L’étude fait la synthèse de plusieurs propositions et expérimentations et conduit à la définition des meilleurs critères pour une mesure du temps d’arrivée (TOA) et son implémentation pratique sur un récepteur TDSC / This thesis is part of the Electronics and Physics (EPH) department’s research work at Institut Telecom SudParis in collaboration with the Information, Images and Information Processing (CITI) Department. The project included the development of a receiver architecture called Time Delayed Sampling and Correlation (TDSC) that works with Transmitted Reference Ultra Wideband signals (TR-UWB), and which could achieve a good performance without channel estimation. The first part of this work included the design of a modular UWB communication system based on the TDSC method. This platform uses a 0.35μm CMOS chip conceived by the EPH laboratory. This gives the possibility to record real TR-UWB signals and to achieve functional tests. A second part of the thesis was to deepen the use of the TDSC method for detection of UWB signals and the synchronization procedure of the receiver using real signals acquired by the platform. A series of tests were conducted in this regard by using baseband signals as well as frequency translated signals, through cable channels and radio transmission. The results let us validate the TDSC detection and the synchronization procedure. Finally, a third line of work was the study and development of a distance estimation proposal based on the time of arrival (TOA) of TR-UWB signals, for indoor localization purposes. The study included a synthesis of several proposals and experimental works. Simulations were made and compared with other methods. Experimental results and their good convergence with the simulations let conclude that the proposal is a feasible solution to the measurement of the TOA, based on a TR-UWB receiver with low-complexity architecture

Dans cette thèse nous nous sommes principalement concentrés sur les transmissions impulsion radio Ultra Large Bande (UWB-IR) qui a plusieurs avantages grâce à la nature de sa bande très large (entre 3.1GHZ et 10.6GHz) qui permet un débit élevé et une très bonne résolution temporelle. Ainsi, la très courte durée des impulsions émises assure une transmission robuste dans un canal multi-trajets dense. Enfin la faible densité spectrale de puissance du signal permet au système UWB de coexister avec les applications existantes. En raison de toutes ces caractéristiques, la technologie UWB a été considérée comme une technologie prometteuse pour les applications WSN. Cependant, il existe plusieurs défis technologiques pour l'implémentation des systèmes UWB. A savoir, une distorsion différente de la forme d'onde du signal reçu pour chaque trajet, la conception d'antennes très larges bandes de petites dimensions et non coûteuses, la synchronisation d'un signal impulsionnel, l'utilisation de modulation d'onde d'ordre élevé pour améliorer le débit etc. Dans ce travail, Nous allons nous intéresser à l'étude et l'amélioration de la synchronisation temporelle dans les systèmes ULB. / The basic concept of Impulse-Radio UWB (IR-UWB) technology is to transmit and receive baseband impulse waveform streams of very low power density and ultra-short duration pulses (typically at nanosecond scale). These properties of UWB give rise to fine time-domain resolution, rich multipath diversity, low power and low cost on-chip implementation facility, high secure and safety, enhanced penetration capability, high user capacity, and potential spectrum compatibility with existing narrowband systems. Due to all these features, UWB technology has been considered as a feasible technology for WSN applications. While UWB has many reasons to make it a useful and exciting technology for wireless sensor networks and many other applications, it also has some challenges which must be overcome for it to become a popular approach, such as interference from other UWB users, accurate modelling of the UWB channel in various environments, wideband RF component (antennas, low noise amplifiers) designs, accurate synchronization, high sampling rate for digital implementations, and so on. In this thesis, we will focus only on one of the most critical issues in ultra wideband systems: Timing Synchronization.

Ce travail de thèse s’articule autour de la problématique du respect des gabarits spectraux d’émission imposés par les règlementations et les normes dans le domaine des émetteurs radio impulsionnels ultra-large bande. Le choix a été fait de réaliser un capteur in-situ venant extraire les informations nécessaires à une estimation sur puce de la densité spectrale de puissance. Un algorithme d’estimation embarqué peut alors permettre de détecter les gabarits violés et pouvoir rétroagir sur le dispositif. La grande diversité constatée parmi les règlementations et les normes en vigueur ainsi que dans les différentes architectures de générateurs d'impulsions a alors motivé la réalisation d'un système de calibration universel à tous les émetteurs par prise d'informations en sortie. Le manuscrit s'est alors employé à représenter une impulsion à partir de son enveloppe instantanée et de sa fréquence instantanée, ces deux grandeurs temporelles pouvant être extraites pour tout type d'impulsions. Il a été également proposé dans le chapitre une première technique de calibration basée sur la modification de l'enveloppe à des instants précis qui permet de faire rentrer le spectre dans le gabarit tout en maximisant l'occupation de celui-ci. Enfin, l'extraction de l'enveloppe instantanée et de la fréquence instantanée a été abordée en proposant une technique d'extraction par transposition de l'information en bande de base. La conception des dispositifs électroniques nécessaires a été présentée et ceux-ci ont été implémentés sur la même puce qu'un générateur d'impulsions dans le but de réaliser un démonstrateur qui a validé l'utilisation du système étudié. / This thesis focusses on the power emission constraints defined by regulations and standards for every kinds of ultra-wide band impulse radio transmitters. In fact, these power emission constraints have to be respected all along the device life. Also, an integrated sensor able to extract the essential information for an on-chip estimation of the power spectral density has been realized. Then, an embedded algorithm is added to the system and detects if a power limit is broken. If necessary, it acts on the transmitter to solve the problem. In the first chapter, a large variety of power constraints shapes and several architectures of impulse generators have been observed and studied. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to realise a calibration system which would be universal to all impulse radio transmitters. After its extraction at the output of the transmitter, information have to be downconverted in order to reduce the constraints on conversion stage but without using a local oscillator and a mixer. A model for the impulse signal based on the instantaneous envelop and on the instantaneous frequency has been proposed in the second chapter. A new calibration method based on these two signals is also presented. The last chapter concentrates on detailing the extraction of the instantaneous envelop and the instantaneous frequency. The design of the electronic devices essential to this extraction is presented and a chip has been realised and the viability of the solution shown.

Les réseaux de capteurs sans fil ont connu depuis quelques années un intérêt majeur dans tous les domaines d’activités. Une des informations attendue est la localisation des nœuds capteurs ; pourtant, compte-tenu des contraintes imposées aux capteurs en termes d’encombrement et d’énergie, il est peu envisageable d’équiper le capteur d’équipements spécifiques dédié à la localisation comme un récepteur GPS. Dès lors, localiser le capteur en exploitant le signal de communication est une option intéressante. A l’inverse des techniques Range-Free exploitant des hypothèses de connectivité du réseau, les techniques généralement connues pour atteindre une bonne précision de localisation par la radio sont de type Range-Based, et se basent, dans notre cas, sur la mesure du temps de vol du signal radio UWB. Nos contributions portent alors sur le choix d’une couche physique performante, sur la mise en place d’outils favorisant une bonne précision temporelle dans les échanges radio, et l’élaboration d’un protocole original d’évaluation de la distance. Les travaux présentés dans ce manuscrit visent donc à aborder la problématique générale de la localisation d’intérieur dans les réseaux de capteurs sans fil, et en particulier la fonctionnalité de ranging qui est le mécanisme d’évaluation de la distance entre les nœuds. Dans un premier temps, nous implémentons puis évaluons les protocoles de référence rencontrés dans la littérature. Nous identifions et corrigeons par la suite, les erreurs susceptibles de biaiser la métrique du temps de vol. Nous proposons alors le protocole 2M-TWR (2 Messages – Two Way Ranging) comme une amélioration du protocole de référence TWR. Enfin, nous proposons et implémentons le protocole BB-TWR (Beacon Based –TWR), qui permet d’effectuer le ranging, de manière séquentielle et non séquentielle, en incluant les informations temporelles nécessaires dans tout trafic natif diffusé existant. Les preuves de concept ont été prototypées et évaluées sur un banc de test réel. / In recent years, Wireless Sensor Networks has gained an important interest in all fields of activity. One of the expected information is the sensor nodes localization; However, due to the sensors constraints in terms of memory and energy, it is not possible to equip the sensor with specific equipment dedicated to the localization as the GPS receiver. Thus, locating the sensor by using the communication signal is an interesting option. In contrast to Range-Free techniques which use assumptions of network connectivity, the Range-Based techniques are known to reach good localization accuracy and, in our case, they are based on the measurement of the time of flight of the radio signal UWB. Our contributions focus on the choice of an efficient physical layer, on the implementation of tools that promote a good temporal accuracy in radio exchanges, and the development of an original distance evaluation protocol. Research works presented in this manuscript aim to address the global general problem of indoor localization in wireless sensor networks, and particularly the ranging functionality which is the distance evaluation mechanism between nodes. At first we implemented and evaluated the well-known protocols encountered in the literature. Then, we identify and correct errors that may bias the Time of flight metric. We propose the 2M-TWR protocol (2 Messages - Two Way Ranging) as an improvement to the TWR reference protocol. Finally, we propose and implement the BB-TWR (Beacon Based-TWR) protocol, which is able to perform ranging, sequentially and non-sequentially, by including the necessary time information in any existing broadcast native traffic. The proofs of concept were prototyped and evaluated on a real testbed.

L'UWB (Ultra Wide Band) consiste à transmettre des signaux entre 3.1 et 10.6 GHz avec une puissance limitée à -41.3 dBm/MHz. Pour les communications hauts débits (100 à 500 Mbit/s) et courtes portées (1 à 10 m), les solutions de l'état de l'art reposent sur des traitements numériques complexes. Mitsubishi ITE propose une solution alternative multi-bandes (MB) impulsionnelle basée sur un récepteur non-cohérent. La démodulation OOK est effectuée par une détection d'énergie originale avec un seuillage adapté dynamiquement suivant les conditions de propagation. La parallélisation complète de ce système MB-OOK permet à la fois d'éviter les interférences inter-symboles et de récupérer la quasi totalité de l'énergie disponible. En outre, l'approche impulsionnelle limite les évanouissements du signal sur canal multi-trajets. La comparaison des systèmes MB-OOK et MB-OFDM démontre la pertinence de la solution proposée pour des applications très hauts débits, courte portée et faible consommation.

Phase Shifters are one of the most important building cells of the applications in microwave and millimeter-wave range, especially for communications and radar applications / to steer the main beam for electronic scanning. This thesis includes all of the stages starting from the theoretical design stage to the measurements of the phase shifters. In detail, all-pass network phase shifter configuration is used to achieve broadband and ultra wide-band differential phase characteristics. For these reasons, 1 to 2 GHz, 2 to 4 GHz, and 3 to 6 GHz 4-bit, 22.5&deg / phase resolution phase shifter realization with surface micromachined lumped components are designed, simulated, fabricated and measured. Basic building blocks of the phase shifters, i.e., surface micromachined lumped components, square planar spiral inductors and Metal-Insulator-Metal capacitors are designed with EM simulation and lumped equivalent model extractions. The validation of the designed square planar spiral inductors is done with fabrication and measurement steps, very low error, below 1%, between the designs and fabricated samples are observed. Using this knowledge on lumped elements finally phase shifters are designed with surface micromachined lumped components, fabricated using an in house technology provided by METU-MEMS facilities, RF MEMS group. Low phase rms error, good return and insertion loss considerations are aimed, and achieved. In addition to the main work of this thesis, a generalized theoretical calculation method for 2n-1 number of stages all-pass network phase shifters is presented for the first time in literature. A different, new, broadband, and combined phase shifter topology using two-stage all-pass filters is presented. Moreover, the implementation of this idea is proved to be practical to 3 to 6 GHz 5.625&deg / and 11.25&deg / combined phase shifter. A new approach for stage numbers other than power of 2 is indicated, which is different from what is already presented in the literature. An example practical implementation results are provided for the three-stage 4-bit 1 to 6 GHz phase shifter. Also, a small improvement in SRF of the high inductance valued inductors is achieved with the mitering of the corners of square planar spiral inductors. Comparison of the measured data between the normal inductors and mitered versions shows that the first SRF of the inductors are increased about 80 MHz, and second SRF of the inductors are increased about 200 MHz.

This thesis focuses on the development of tools and methods dedicated for ultra wide band (UWB) localization systems in indoor environment. The thesis work was conducted within the European FP7 project Where2, about the cooperative localization in cellular networks. Data from a measurement campaign conduct during the project are used to validate the proposed algorithms. This thesis is divided in four parts : The first part is focused on the description of an original raytraing tool based on a graph description. In order to be compliant with the requirement of a mobile simulation, a new concept of rays signature enabling incremental computation, and a vectorized formalism for processing rays are described and implemented. The second part is focused on the indoor localization techniques, where a novel technique based on interval analysis approaches is presented and compared to alternative techniques. Advantageously using this approach, a specific processing based on an hypothesis testing method using received power observations to resolve ambiguities appearing in under determined localization problems is described. A third part describes different aspects of the dynamic platform. In particular a realistic mobility model based on ''steering behaviors'', a graph description of the network scene and an inter agents communication protocol are detailed. The fourth section uses measured data obtained from an heterogeneous measurement campaign to validate both the developed software platform and the proposed localization algorithms.