Technical Program (archived)
Presentation Abstracts
Circuit Board EMC Design Reviews
By Daryl Gerke, PE – EMI consultant at Kimmel Gerke Associates, Ltd.
Abstract: – Like vaccinations for children, an EMC design review can prevent serious problems later, such as a failed EMC test, or worse, a failed product in the field. This talk addresses ten EMC concerns at both the schematic and board construction levels. Daryl shares the methodology he has used for many years in his EMC consulting practice. As Daryl likes to say, “An ounce of prevention can be worth a pound of shielding.”
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Smart Antennas: Technology Integrating Antennas, DSP, Communications and Networks
By Prof. Constantine A. Balanis, Regents’ Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Arizona State University
Abstract: As the demand for mobile communications is constantly increasing, the need for improved capacity, greater coverage and higher transmission quality rises. Therefore, a more efficient use of the radio spectrum is required. Smart antenna systems are capable of efficiently utilizing the radio spectrum, and they are a promise for an effective solution to meet the desired performance demands in network and communication systems. Smart antenna technology has been considered for mobile platforms such as automobiles, cellular phones (mobile units), and laptops.
Smart antennas integrate many technologies, including antennas, digital signal processing, communications and networks. The advancement and integration of the characteristics of each of these areas is critical to the efficiency and performance of a communication system channel, as measured by Bit-Error-Rate (BER) and network Throughput. This presentation reviews the basic principles of smart antennas, and it presents and compares the BER and Throughput of different antenna array geometries, such as the uniform rectangular array (URA).
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Understanding Device Performance in a Crowded RF Environment: An Overview of ANSI C63.27 and Coexistence Testing
By William F. Young, Group Leader, Shared Spectrum Metrology at NIST
Abstract: With an abundance of wireless devices saturating daily life, the ability of devices to coexist among other devices is of increasing interest. Ideally, a manufacturer would like to understand how their wireless device will perform in a crowded spectrum environment (e.g., the 2.4 GHz ISM band). However, this question is often one that eludes traditional EMC testing which by design excludes the frequency bands where a device intends to communicate. Unlike traditional EMC testing, coexistence testing intentionally focuses on the band(s) in which the device under test uses for wireless communications.
This presentation will examine the fundamental goals of coexistence testing, methods for quantifying coexistence, and the new ANSI C63.27 standard for evaluating wireless coexistence. This standard outlines four coexistence measurement methods and provides some technology specific guidance for common scenarios (e.g., Wi-Fi and Bluetooth). Despite the release of the standard, many challenges related to coexistence metrology remain. These challenges will be discussed along with some of the intricacies of coexistence testing for medical devices.
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Wireless Integration Interference Challenges (aka EMC for highly integrated wireless devices)
By Harry G. Skinner, Director and Senior Principal Engineer, Intel Labs
Abstract: Wireless communication on everything is fast becoming the norm. Unfortunately adding wireless functionality to devices has its own challenges. One of those challenges is the close proximity of intentional wireless transceivers with high speed digital circuitry. This talk is intended to introduce broad concepts related to what is widely known as radio frequency interference. Subject matter will include both platform and RF communications based interference sources and victims. It will cover foundational aspects related to differences between unintentional and intentional radiators including coexistence challenges. As well as addressing current challenges and possible solution paths, the talk will also look ahead at potential challenges related to future communications standards and devices.
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The Internet of Things – Wireless Technologies & Utilization
By Dr. Vignesh Rajamani, Senior Associate, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Practice, Exponent
and Mark Goldstein, President, International Research Center
Abstract: The next Internet wave, the Internet of Things (IoT), will connect tens of billions of new sensors and devices in the coming years driving sustainability while transforming home, business, government, industrial, medical, transportation, and other complex ecosystems. The presentation will examine IoT’s evolving wireless protocols, their pro and cons, and deployment trends and prospects including the impact of 5G. It will also explore how IoT will be implemented and monetized across a various application spaces, creating new business models from pervasive sensor deployments and data gathering, accompanied by new privacy and security risks, as well as roadblocks and operational challenges, emerging standards and protocols, gateways and ecosystem integration, big data strategies, and analytic opportunities.
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Anechoic Absorber Consideration in the W Band and Absorbers Under High Power Incident Field
By Zhong Chen, Director of RF Engineering, ETS-Lindgren
Abstract: This is a two-part presentation. The first presentation is on the absorber considerations for W-band (75 GHz – 110 GHz). The absorber performance data is typically only available only to 40 GHz, and higher frequency data is often extrapolated. This presentation shows the actual measured reflectivities of common microwave absorbers in the W band. It shows that the extrapolated data from lower frequencies might not be accurate. This presentation will also show how paint on the absorber surface might affect the absorber reflectivity, and if black-tip (leaving the tip of the absorbers unpainted) is an effective technique.
The second part of the presentation deals with the power handling of the absorbers, and provides analyses on the thermal behavior of the absorbers under high electromagnetic incident field. Data will be presented on internal and surface temperatures of typical absorbers under varying field strength, and some mitigating factors to lowering the temperatures are also discussed.
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