<p>The first flexible chip-less RFID temperature sensor system for food monitoring to have a  resolution of 0.2  <strong>°</strong>C for temperature measurements between 79  <strong>°</strong>C and -22.8  <strong>°</strong>C is introduced. This  system has a significant improvement in temperature range compared to current flexible RFID  sensors and can provide high accuracy measurements for real time food monitoring at the system  level. Flexible sensors provide low-cost, better flexibility, and longer service life; hence, flexible  sensor systems can provide a new future for food monitoring in commercial applications. The  proposed system presents a new feature and enables a food monitoring system that utilizes a  flexible sensor system. The system introduced in this paper enables a wireless measurement system  providing 100 dB dynamic range with 160 Msps and 16-bit resolution for precise temperature  measurements that are critical for food quality within 100  <strong>°</strong>C temperature range. The full sensing  system is designed, tested and measurements results are confirmed to be within expected accuracy </p>

This thesis explores the possibility of using ultra wideband technology to localize anoutdoor mobile robot. More explicitly, this project focuses on the multilaterationproblem where the topology of the static reference anchors are changed. Insteadof having stationary anchors they are placed on a mobile robot and by pinpointingone single static tag node the position of the robot is established. The research usesa robotic lawn mover from Husqvarna, the Automover 430X. The robot is used asa base platform for this thesis to evaluate if this approach is applicable for othergeneric robots in the same size. The feasibility of this solution is demonstratedthrough simulation using Matlab and the robot simulation environment Gazebo.Results show that this specific topology is feasible for tracking a specific point butis also suitable for positioning a mobile robot if coupled with an accurate headingsensor. The system was evaluated for several scenarios of which all indicated anadequate accuracy, provided that data from an encoder was used. The upper limitfor the position error in a one sided 95% confidence interval was 0.469m at a rangeof 40m. / Detta examensarbete tar sig an problemet att lokalisera en långsamtgående mobilrobot i en utomhusmiljö genom att använda sig av ultra wideband radioteknik. Vanligtvisplaceras stationära noder i miljön som används för att positionera en ensamnod i dess närhet. Detta projekt tar sig an frågeställningen om det är möjligt attvända på problemet och placera dessa stationära noder på den mobila roboten föratt sedan fixera robotens position genom att bestämma vart den ensamma nodenär placerad. Husqvarnas robotgräsklippare Automover 430X har används som plattformför att evaluera och testa om denna tes är applicerbar för andra generiska robotari samma storlek. Positionsuppskattningen utförs genom simulationer i Matlabsamt simulationsmiljön Gazebo som tar hänsyn till diverse fysiska fenomen. Resultatenpekar på att denna topologi är möjlig för att lösa multilatereringsproblemetom en riktningssensor med hög precision används. För alla scenarion som simuleradesindikerades att en någorlunda god precision kan uppnås och det krävdes attsystemet kombinerades med annan indata, som en enkoder i detta fall för att förbättraestimeringen. Den övre gränsen för felet i ett 95% konfidensintervall var 0.469mpå ett avstånd upp till 40m.

In this research, the transport properties of ZnO were studied through the use of electron and neutron beam irradiation. Acceptor states are known to form deep in the bandgap of doped ZnO material. By subjecting doped ZnO materials to electron and neutron beams we are able to probe, identify and modify transport characteristics relating to these deep accepter states. The impact of irradiation and temperature on minority carrier diffusion length and lifetime were monitored through the use of the Electron Beam Induced Current (EBIC) method and Cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy. The minority carrier diffusion length, L, was shown to increase as it was subjected to increasing temperature as well as continuous electron irradiation. The near-band-edge (NBE) intensity in CL measurements was found to decay as a function of temperature and electron irradiation due to an increase in carrier lifetime. Electron injection through application of a forward bias also resulted in a similar increase of minority carrier diffusion length. Thermal and electron irradiation dependences were used to determine activation energies for the irradiation induced effects. This helps to further our understanding of the electron injection mechanism as well as to identify possible defects responsible for the observed effects. Thermal activation energies likely represent carrier delocalization energy and are related to the increase of diffusion length due to the reduction in recombination efficiency. The effect of electron irradiation on the minority carrier diffusion length and lifetime can be attributed to the trapping of non-equilibrium electrons on neutral acceptor levels. The effect of neutron irradiation on CL intensity can be attributed to an increase in shallow donor concentration. Thermal activation energies resulting from an increase in L or decay of CL intensity monitored through EBIC and CL measurements for p-type Sb doped ZnO were found to be the range of Ea = 112 to 145 meV. P-type Sb doped ZnO nanowires under the influence of temperature and electron injection either through continuous beam impacting or through forward bias, displayed an increase in L and corresponding decay of CL intensity when observed by EBIC or CL measurements. These measurements led to activation energies for the effect ranging from Ea = 217 to 233 meV. These values indicate the possible involvement of a SbZn-2VZn acceptor complex. For N-type unintentionally doped ZnO, CL measurements under the influence of temperature and electron irradiation by continuous beam impacting led to a decrease in CL intensity which resulted in an electron irradiation activation energy of approximately Ea = 259 meV. This value came close to the defect energy level of the zinc interstitial. CL measurements of neutron irradiated ZnO nanostructures revealed that intensity is redistributed in favor of the NBE transition indicating an increase of shallow donor concentration. With annealing contributing to the improvement of crystallinity, a decrease can be seen in the CL intensity due to the increase in majority carrier lifetime. Low energy emission seen from CL spectra can be due to oxygen vacancies and as an indicator of radiation defects.

Over the last ten years, Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) technology has attracted tremendous research attention. Frequency allocation of 3.1-10.6 GHz for UWB application by FCC made it apparent that UWB will be the technology for future wireless high speed communication applications. With the promise of high data rates (high channel capacity), UWB also offers advantages such as communication security, high multi-path resolution, good penetration capability, ability to coexist with other communication schemes in the same band, and finally, circuit simplicity. The theoretical advantages of UWB has made it a great candidate for short distance communications, however, UWB communications have many challenges, for example, sub-nanosecond pulse generation, timing sensitivity of modulation and synchronization, flat antenna performance over a wide bandwidth, effect of existing systems on UWB systems. In order to experiment with various UWB modulation schemes, and to study transmitter and receiver structures, an accurate channel model need be established. In this dissertation, our first contribution is to evaluate and implement two major statistical channel models. The first model is proposed by AT\&T Labs and is in the form of an autoregressive IIR filter. Although this is an accurate channel model to represent UWB behavior, it is proposed before the allocation of 3.1-10.6 GHz frequency band, hence, it could not simulate the correct frequency spectrum. The second model is proposed by Saleh and Valenzuela, which has been widely accepted by UWB community to be the most accurate channel model for UWB systems. Recently disbanded task group 802.15.3a which was assigned to standardize a UWB communication scheme has also accepted the latter model. Our second contribution is to derive optimal pulses for PPM signals. Using the accurate channel model in computer simulations, we experimented on various UWB communication schemes. We found that the traditional UWB pulses being used in pulse position modulated UWB systems did not perform optimally. A set of optimized UWB pulses and the methodology to calculate optimal pulses for any modulation index for PPM systems have been proposed in this dissertation. It is found that the optimal pulse can improve the performance of UWB systems by as much as 0.7 dB. With the PPM pulse optimization, the theoretical performance limits of PPM systems are derived. The third contribution from this dissertation is to design near optimal practical implementable receiver structures. Some of the results obtained from PPM pulse optimization are found to be theoretical and not practical. More practical approach to the receiver structures were needed for industrial interest. We proposed simple sub-optimal receiver structures that are able to perform only a few dB less than the optimal receivers are proposed. These simple, low-cost receiver structures are strong alternatives to the complex traditional optimal receivers.

No / This study presents a miniaturised multiple input and multiple output /diversity antenna which is suitable for high data-rate communication systems such as mobile ultra-wideband (UWB). This antenna assembly comprises two identical planar inverted-F antennas, a T-shaped structure connecting them and a finite ground plane. The T-shaped structure improves the impedance matching and suppresses the mutual coupling between the antenna elements over a wider bandwidth than previously reported. The compact envelope dimension of this antenna is 50 x 90 x 7.5 mm(3). Theoretical and experimental S-parameters are illustrated for this antenna that fully cover the UWB operating frequency band of 3.1-10.6 GHz, with a reflection coefficient and mutual coupling better than -10 and -20 dB, respectively. Acceptable agreement is obtained between computed and measured radiation patterns, gains, envelope correlation coefficient and channel capacity loss. The proposed antenna is an attractive candidate to provide pattern diversity and enhance channel capacity in a rich scattering environment.

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[pt] Este trabalho apresenta a idealização, caracterização e medições de um absorvedor metamaterial ultrafino com uma banda ultra larga, baseado em espiras quadradas arranjadas periodicamente. O circuito equivalente dessa estrutura é proposto para fornecer uma maior compreensão teórica. Os parâmetros desse circuito são extraídos utilizando um algoritmo baseado no método dos mínimos quadrados, usando uma abordagem direta, que pode ser aplicada aos absorvedores com banda larga em geral. O mecanismo de absorção da estrutura proposta é discutido e detalhado. Um dos resultados da simulação mostrou uma absortividade acima de 90 porcento de 11.4 até 20 GHz, cobrindo a banda Ku inteiramente tanto para a polarização TM quanto para a TE, e essa banda larga é confirmada pelas medições experimentais. Além disso, a espessura do absorvedor metamaterial proposto é lambda/16.4, considerando o maior comprimento de onda da banda de operação, e apresenta estabilidade angular até 50 graus Celsius. Ademais, o uso do absorvedor proposto para redução da seção transversal de radar em antenas de microfita é investigado e reduções até 12.8 dB são obtidas, e uma parede absorvedora é apresentada para diminuição do acoplamento mútuo em conjuntos de antenas. / [en] This work presents the design, characterization, and measurement of an ultrathin and ultrawideband metamaterial absorber based on periodicallyarranged metallic square spiral and its equivalent circuit is proposed to provide a theoretical insight. The parameters of the equivalent circuit are extracted using an algorithm based on the least-square method and using a straightforward approach, which can be applied to broadband absorbers in general. The mechanism of absorption of the proposed structure is discussed and detailed. One of the simulated results showed an absorptivity of more than 90 percent from 11.4 to 20.0 GHz, covering the Ku band for TM as well as TE polarization, and this broadband feature is confirmed by the experimental measurement. Furthermore, the proposed metamaterial absorber is lambda/16.4 thick at the lowest frequency of absorption and presents angle stability up to 50 Celsius degrees. In addition, the usage of the proposed absorber to the radar crosssection reduction in microstrip antennas is investigated and reductions up to 12.8 dB are achieved, and an absorber wall is presented to decrease the mutual coupling in antenna arrays.

In recent years, the indoor positioning system (IPS) has attracted significant interests in both academical research and industrial development. It has seen many applications, such as hostage search and rescue, indoor navigation, and warehouse management, all of which can take advantage of precise positioning. However, in indoor environments, traditional methods, like the Global Positioning System (GPS), are usually either unreliable or incorrect because of the complicated physical characteristics of various objects reflecting and dispersing signals, such as the presence of people, walls, obstructions, and furniture. In contrast to other technologies such as WiFi and Bluetooth, which are not suitable to extract accurate timing information, UWB technology has the potential to reach center-meter level accuracy in indoor positioning. In this thesis, we developed a real-time, low-cost, IPS based on commercial-off-the-shelf UWB transceivers. Both the Two Way Ranging (TWR) and Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) approaches have been implemented to obtain a target's location. To alleviate the effect of multipath propagation, we detect the presence of outliers by comparing the first path signal level and estimated receiving signal level. Moreover, we have designed the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) and evaluated performance by deploying the system both in a lab environment and in a two-story historical building during the 2018 Microsoft Indoor Localization Competition. The results show that we achieve a 28.9cm 95%-quantile 2D tracking error in the lab environment and a 92cm average tracking error for 3D localization on the Microsoft Indoor Localization Competition site. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

With the emergence of multi-standard and cognitive radios, the need for reconfigurable RF circuits increased. Such circuits require wide-band quadrature voltage controlled oscillators (QVCOs) to provide the local oscillator (LO) signal for up and down conversion. Wide-band QVCOs performance has lagged behind their narrowband VCO counterparts and numerous circuit techniques have been introduced to bridge the gap. This dissertation presents techniques that have been used to implement wide-band reconfigurable QVCOs with focus on dual-resonance based circuits. System and circuit analysis are performed to understand the tuning-range, phase noise, and power tradeoffs and to consider quadrature phase errors. An 8.8-15.0 GHz actively coupled QVCO and a 13.8-20GHz passively coupled QVCO are presented. Both oscillators employ dual-resonance to achieve extended tuning ranges. Impulse sensitivity functions were used to study the impact of different passive and active device noises on the overall phase noise performance of the dual-resonance oscillator and the actively and passively coupled quadrature oscillators. The quadrature phase error due to the different architecture parameters were investigated for the actively and passively coupled quadrature oscillators. The advantages of using switched capacitor tuning as a major part of passive tuning are identified, and the advantage of employing switches with large bandwidths, such as those associated with phase change materials, is mathematically quantified. Furthermore, a novel method for accurate off chip phase error measurement using discrete components and phase shifters that does not require calibration is introduced.