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A compact, low-profile button antenna for off-body communication is reported. The proposed antenna is composed of coupled circular strips, Y-shaped and L-shaped slots. This configuration covers the application bands such as 0.867 GHz (industrial, scientific, and medical bands), 2.38 GHz (medical body area network), and 5.8 GHz (wireless local area network/industrial, scientific, and medical bands). The percentage bandwidth obtained at the said operating bands is 4.37, 2.10, and 2.56, respectively. The directional radiation pattern obtained from the developed antenna ensures the low backward radiation to the body tissue, thereby, making it more suitable for WBAN applications. The simulated gain and efficiency obtained at the operating bands are 2.5/3.52/4.8 dBi and 78%/85%/89%, respectively. To validate the simulation results, the antenna is fabricated and some experimental results on the body tissue are performed. The SAR value obtained follows the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A reconfigurable frequency-selective surface (RFSS) for electromagnetic shielding applications is presented in this letter. The unit cell of the proposed RFSS contains a pair of shorted square loops separated by a uniform distance. Wideband RFSS with the frequency tuning ratio of 1:2.34 achieved by varying the horizontal spacing is proposed. The RFSS covers the frequencies 3.5, 5, and 5.8 GHz shielding the WiMAX, WLAN, and ISM/WiMAX bands, respectively. The prototype of the proposed RFSS is fabricated and loaded on to the mechanical tuning setup. The tuning setup has a box frame with rotating shafts attached to the bevel gears to control the horizontal spacing. The use of collapsible linkage mechanism ensures uniform spacing during reconfigurable operation. The simulated results are validated with measurements. The proposed FSS offers wideband frequency tuning for electromagnetic shielding applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel planar microwave sensor for nondestructive measurement of strain during testing of printed circuit board (PCBs) is proposed. Planar microstrip patch bridged on both sides with squared split ring resonator is used to measure strain. Measurement of stress of isotropic dielectric materials in their linear elastic region that are uses as PCB substrates is also done using the proposed method. The designed microwave probe works at a frequency of 2.45 GHz. The feasibility of the use of time-domain reflectometry method to monitor strain in materials is presented here. The proposed sensor exhibits a sensitivity of about 333 ps for every 1% change in strain. Finite integration technique and real-time measurements have been done to corroborate the relation derived between the transmit time and the strain experienced by the material. The correlation between the simulated and measured strain is about 99.3%. The proposed sensor can be used for faster and accurate testing of PCB substrates without requiring complex calibrations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A novel reconfigurable 3-D frequency selective surface (FSS) exhibiting bandstop response is proposed in this paper. The unit cell of the proposed 3-D FSS is constructed from concentric threaded cylinders. The proposed novel 3-D FSS achieves reconfigurability by sliding technique. It offers frequency tuning from 1.86 to 3.10 GHz by sliding the outer cylinder over the inner cylinder. The proposed FSS offers bandstop response in the L- and S-band microwave frequencies. In addition, the proposed 3-D FSS provides polarization- and angular-independent operation. The prototype of the 3-D FSS is fabricated, and the simulation results are validated using measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper proposes a method for detection of cracks in bare printed circuit board sheets before etching of interconnects and mounting dies. A microwave planar sensor probe is designed, and the impedance matching property is used for anomaly detection in flame retardant-4 sheets. The proposed technique and apparatus is first validated through finite-integration-based technique and then through measurement. The resonant frequency information thus obtained is then plotted on a 2-D gradient representation matrix. A novel Windows VB-based application software is developed to determine the dimensions of the crack in the sample through various interpolation operations and dimensioning technique on the image matrix. These are then effectively displayed in a graphical user interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A low profile dual-band frequency selective surface (FSS) for shielding the GSM applications is presented in this paper. The proposed FSS contains the unit cell made of modified double square loop elements with paper as its substrate. The overall thickness of the proposed FSS measures only 0.55 mm. The FSS offers band stop response at 930 and 1720 MHz with 18 dB shielding effectiveness for a bandwidth of 100 and 173 MHz, respectively, thus shielding the GSM signals. Additionally, the modified double square loop element-based FSS is symmetrical providing the advantage of polarization independency. It also exhibits angular stability up to 60° for both the horizontal polarized electric field (TE mode) and vertically polarized electric field (TM mode). A prototype of the proposed dual-band low profile FSS is fabricated. The simulation results are compared with the experimental results and are found to be in congruence with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]