Antennas and Radio Wave Propagation Projects

Compact Antennas

(Contact:  Dr. C.J. Coleman, ccoleman@eleceng.adelaide.edu.au)

An increasing number of RF systems require antennas that can be incorporated with the electronics into a small package. This can necessitate novel approaches, including the use of active antenna elements. Furthermore, because the antenna environment is often unpredictable, the antennas will need to work well under a variety of conditions. This project seeks to develop compact antennas for a variety of applications and also techniques that can be used to analyse their performance within complex environments.

Support: The University of Adelaide

The Effect of Ionospheric Irregularity upon Radar and Communications Systems

(Contact:  Dr. C.J. Coleman, ccoleman@eleceng.adelaide.edu.au)

This project aims to develop the theoretical connection between anomalies in radio wave propagation and disturbances in the ionosphere that supports this propagation. Such anomalies can cause deterioration in the capabilities of communications and radar systems and the aim of the project is to develop irregularity mitigation strategies.

Support: Defence Science and Technology Organisation

Propagation Techniques for Mobile Communication

(Contact:  Dr. C.J. Coleman, ccoleman@eleceng.adelaide.edu.au)

This project seeks to develop propagation techniques based on the reciprocity principle. Such techniques have the potential to greatly accelerate propagation calculations and hence allow complex environments to be assessed. The practical application is mainly directed towards the analysis of mobile communication in the urban environments.

Support: Defence Science and Technology Organisation

Modelling of Electromagnetic Propagation: Electromagnetic Propagation as a Discrete Stochastic Process

(Contact:  Dr. T. Rainsford, tamath@eleceng.adelaide.edu.au)

Modelling and predicting characteristics of electromagnetic (EM) fields that propagate in complex environments are very important for our understanding of wireless communication. Knowledge of propagation properties – such as path loss, power delay profiles, time delay spread and large-scale fading – aids in the planning of radio networks and the development of wireless communication systems in indoor, outdoor, urban, suburban and rural scenarios. Typically EM propagation in such scenarios is described empirically or with deterministic models that have huge data input requirements. The aim of this project is to approximate EM propagation through sequential reflections of an optical ray in a percolation lattice of disordered lossless scatterers. This stochastic formulation has two key advantages: the data input requirements are minimal; and for some important physical observables the approach can be solved exactly.

Support: The University of Adelaide

Wireless Systems Projects

Compression and Control: Managing the Ever Increasing Visual Data Generated
by Wireless Sensor Networksy

(Contact:  Dr. C.C. Lim, cclim@eleceng.adelaide.edu.au)

Wireless sensor networks are proliferating worldwide for use in important surveillance and monitoring applications. Modern image and video sensors, however, are quickly approaching the point where their ability to generate data exceeds the capacity of the wireless sensor network to manage it, reducing the effectiveness of visual information. The aim of the proposed project is to develop and test new image compression techniques, network architectures, traffic management protocols and algorithms in order to reduce the size of the
packets of information being transferred from point to point, regulate their movement, speed
data access and improve storage.

Downlink Resource Allocation for Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access Systems

(Contact:  Dr. C.C. Lim, cclim@eleceng.adelaide.edu.au)

With the rapid progress in telecommunications, more and more services are provided on the basis of broadband communications, including mobile communications. In order to satisfy the high data rate requirement and efficiently support multimedia services, the modulation and multiple access scheme must be much more spectrally efficient than the current mobile systems. This research aims to develop the combination of adaptive techniques, such as the adaptive modulation and coding scheme and adaptive frequency allocation scheme, with optimal power control so that the spectral efficiency of the mobile system would be substantially increased.

Support: The University of Adelaide

Wireless Microvalve for Biomedical Applications

(Contact:  Dr. S.F. Al-Sarawi, alsarawi@eleceng.adelaide.edu.au)

This program will investigate and perform an in-laboratory proof-of-concept demonstration of a polymer microvalve that can operate by a remote control radio signal. This will be a wireless microvalve that does not require a battery power source. This advance in the technology and scientific knowledge will have important applications for humankind ranging from drug delivery services through to valves in chips that can perform microfluidic chemical analysis. A far reaching long-range vision is its use in electronically reversible male fertility control. The community benefit in terms of novel biomedical devices and the resulting large international commercial market is significant.

Support: Australian Research Council