Circuit and system design for an 860–960 MHz RFID reader front‐ends with Tx leakage suppression in 0.18 − µm CMOS technology

This paper presents an RF Front‐END for an 860–960thinspaceMHz passive RFID Reader. The direct conversion receiver architecture with the feedback structure in the RF front‐end circuit is used to give good immunity against the large transmitter leakage and to suppress leakage. The system design considerations for receiver on NF and IIP3 have been discussed in detail. The RF Front‐END contains a power amplifier (PA) in transmit chain and receive front‐end with low‐noise amplifier, up/down mixer, LP filter and variable‐gain amplifier. In the transmitter, a differential PA with a new power combiner is designed and fabricated in a 0.18‐µm technology. The chip area is 2.65 mm × 1.35 mm including the bonding pads. The PA delivers an output power of 29 dBm and a power‐added efficiency of 24% with a power gain of 20 dB, including the losses of the bond‐wires. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of appropriate RF blocking impedance for MRI surface coils and arrays

Surface and phased array receiving coils in MRI typically require that RF excitation be accomplished using the body coil. This process requires that the receiving coils contain blocking circuitry to increase the overall circuit impedance during RF excitation and withstand the electromotive force induced by the applied electromagnetic field. The aim of this study was to determine the optimal impedance range required during RF excitation based on an assessment of image quality. The experimental results are fit by an exponential model and establish criteria that can be applied for general receiver coil design.     

Wireless Power Transmission Model Using Coaxial Helical Solenoid Coils for Powering Utility Equipment

Mid-range low-power wireless power transmission systems using resonant–inductive coupling have recently been in use for powering a variety of household gadgets. A modified resonantly coupled system for a wireless power transmission system using coaxial helical solenoid coils is presented, using distributed parameters predominantly at high frequency. The proposed system is reduced using circuit transformations, and the operating power transfer efficiency under varying conditions of source and load are derived. The model is tested with an experiment consisting of a home lighting utility load for the resonant frequency of 1.2 MHz. The experimental results are in close agreement with the proposed analytical model for varying distances between the transmitter and receiver. A comparison of the operating power transfer efficiency of the proposed model with resonantly and inductively coupled models for varying distances between the transmitter and receiver is presented. Maximum power transfer efficiency by matching source and load resistances is simulated using the RF Toolbox (http://www.mathworks.in/products/rftoolbox) on the proposed, resonantly coupled, and inductively coupled models. The simultaneous conjugate-matching technique for increasing the power transfer efficiency to near 100% is also presented.     

Silent BOLD imaging

Pulsed magnetic field gradients in magnetic resonance imaging produce high levels of acoustic noise. In functional magnetic resonance imaging, acoustic scanner noise causes unwanted masking effects. Recently, we proposed a method to perform magnetic resonance imaging experiments undisturbed by acoustic scanner noise by utilizing the property of standard gradient coils to poorly submit acoustic noise in the low frequency range. The silent gradient scheme is now incorporated into a standard T ₂ ^* -weighted sequence. Additionally, simultaneous multi-slice excitation (SIMEX) pulses were implemented to improve the intrinsic low volume coverage of the silent sequence. The proposed silent SI M EX technique was tested and compared with a standard noisy technique using auditory and visual stimulation paradigms. The scanner noise during the silent experiments could be reduced below the range of the ambient noise of the magnet room. This feasibility study shows a trend of decreased activated areas in the noisy experiment for both, the visual and auditory paradigm.     

Impact of number of channels on RF shimming at 3T

Object

At high-field strengths (≥3T) inhomogeneity of the radio frequency (RF) field and RF power deposition become increasingly problematic. Parallel Transmission (PTx)—the use of segmented transmission arrays with independently driven elements—affords the ability to combat both of these issues. There are a variety of existing designs for PTx coils, ranging from systems with two channels to systems with eight or more. In this work, we have investigated the impact of the number of independent channels on the achievable results for both homogeneity improvement and power reduction in vivo.

Materials and methods

A 3T Philips Achieva MRI system fitted with an 8-channel PTx body coil was driven so as to emulate configurations with 1, 2 4 and 8 independent channels. RF shimming was used in two different anatomies in order to assess improvements in RF homogeneity.

Results

Significant homogeneity improvements were observed when increasing from 1 to 2, 2 to 4, and 4 to 8 channel configurations. Reductions in RF power requirements and local SAR were predicted for increasing numbers of channels.

Conclusion

Increasing the number of RF transmit channels adds extra degrees of freedom which can be used to benefit homogeneity improvement or power reduction for body imaging at 3T.     

一种AGC控制的低噪声水声接收机

在深水隔水管监测系统上,为了接收水下节点发射的信号,研究设计了一款低噪声低功耗水下接收机。在海洋环境下,由于发射机发射功率,传播损失以及传播过程中噪声干扰等影响,造成接收信号畸变、衰减、动态范围增大等问题,不利于后端数字处理。本系统选择低噪声芯片,优化电路结构、降低系统噪声,通过六阶椭圆滤波器,选择所需频带信号通过,采用AGC实现大动态范围的压缩。海试结果显示,该系统具有高灵敏度、低噪声、低功耗、接收动态范围大等优点。     

Quiet MRI with novel acoustic noise reduction

Fast scan techniques, which are used to reduce scanning times, have raised scanning noise levels in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, resulting in greater patient discomfort and stress. It is well known that this noise is caused by vibration of the gradient coil due to the Lorentz forces generated by the current in the gradient coil, which is placed in a static magnetic field. We have confirmed that MRI noise can be substantially reduced by sealing the gradient coil in a vacuum chamber to block airborne vibration propagation, by supporting the gradient coil independently to block solid vibration propagation and by decreasing the eddy currents induced in RF coils, the RF shield and the static-field-magnet cryostat. Based on these findings, we have developed a silent MRI system in which scanning noise is markedly reduced under a wide range of scanning conditions.     

Quiet MRI with novel acoustic noise reduction.

Fast scan techniques, which are used to reduce scanning times, have raised scanning noise levels in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, resulting in greater patient discomfort and stress. It is well known that this noise is caused by vibration of the gradient coil due to the Lorentz forces generated by the current in the gradient coil, which is placed in a static magnetic field. We have confirmed that MRI noise can be substantially reduced by sealing the gradient coil in a vacuum chamber to block airborne vibration propagation, by supporting the gradient coil independently to block solid vibration propagation and by decreasing the eddy currents induced in RF coils, the RF shield and the static-field-magnet cryostat. Based on these findings, we have developed a silent MRI system in which scanning noise is markedly reduced under a wide range of scanning conditions.     

A volume adjustable four-coil phased array for high resolution MR imaging of the hip

A four-coil phased array was specifically designed and built for MR imaging of the hip at 1.5 T. Its RF and imaging properties were evaluated using phantom and in-vivo studies and the results were compared to those of three different commercial coils commonly used for hip imaging. Our coil gave a significantly higher S/N at anatomic locations commonly evaluated for hip diagnosis. The increased S/N supports higher image spatial resolution and improves the visualization of fractures and lateral injuries.     

Digital teleprotection units. A technology overview

The authors describe a generic digital teleprotection unit (DTU) and discuss the technical characteristics of current commercial systems. A generic DTU contains a transmitter section, a receiver section and a status section. Some DTUs have a unidirectional option eliminating either the receiver section or the transmitter section. The transmitter section contains an input block, a transmitter logic block and a transmitter block. The receiver consists of a receiver block, a receiver logic block and an output block. The status section contains a selftest block and an alarm block. These subsystems are discussed. a comparison is made between DTUs and their analogue counterparts in the area of transfer trip delay. A direct transfer trip system utilizing redundant DTUs is proposed     

无线扩频工业遥控器收发部分的设计与实现

文中介绍基于SC1128的无线扩频工业遥控器系统。该系统以AT89S52为核心控制电路,扩频芯片SC1128、射频接收芯片MC13156以及锁相环集成芯片LMX2315所构成的射频收发电路,给出了扩频无线收发系统的设计方案,实现了多信道切换。接收机部分采用超外差体系结构,发射机部分采用了直接变容二极管调制。发射与接收的振荡电路均使用了锁相环技术。整个设计多采用集成芯片,系统简单可靠。     

射频功率测量技术及其应用

功率是表征射频信号特性的一个重要参数。近年来随着移动通信技术的迅速发展,准确测量通信系统中发射机与接收机的功率已成为关键技术之一。本文首先介绍利用二极管、等效热功耗、真有效值／直流转换器及对数放大器检测射频功率的4种方法,然后阐述射频功率测量系统的优化设计。所介绍的方法均具有实用价值。     

Investigation of complex phased array coil designs for cardiac imaging

In this study we present a method to simulate complex phased array coil designs for cardiac imaging. It is based on the combination of numerically calculatedB ₁ field vectors for each coil of the array and a noise resistance data set, which is acquired only once with a set of test coils. This technique allowed fast assessment of the SNR performance of arbitrary geometries of single coils to be used as building blocks in complex array configurations. In addition, since clinical scanners usually provide only four receiver channels, we used this method to investigate the use of hardware combiners for different array configurations, consisting of up to eight coils. Simulated array geometries resulted in up to ≈30% gain in SNR for deep cardiac structures, compared to a conventional linear four coil array. This was confirmed by phantom experiments with implemented coils     

定向耦合器反馈型短波低噪声高线性放大器设计

利用双极性晶体管采用定向耦合器负反馈的形式设计了一款适用于短波超宽带接收机的低噪声高线性放大器。负反馈技术拓展了动态范围以及增益平坦度,定向耦合器的低损耗以及隔离吸收对噪声和输入输出端的匹配有很大改善。该放大器射频应用频率是1.5~100MHz,覆盖了6个倍频程。测试结果表明:放大器增益13dBm,噪声低于2.7dB,输出三阶截点高于43dBm,1dB压缩点高于26dBm,,输出二阶截点高于80dBm。     

以电动机为负载的非接触供电技术

自2007年以来非接触供电技术得到了迅速发展,但以电动机为负载的非接触供电技术研究较少。电动机是强冲击、大范围功率变化的机电负载。因此,在用非接触方式为电动机供电时,供电电压易随电动机运行状态的变化而明显波动。针对这一问题,本文在发射端采用LC补偿、在接收端采用串联补偿的方式,以实现发射线圈恒流特性、接收端稳压特性。介绍了LC/S补偿参数的设计方法,搭建了仿真和实验平台。分别利用LC/S和SS两种补偿方式对电动机直接起动和软起动过程进行了对比实验,结果表明,电动机起动前后,SS补偿方式发射线圈电流相对减小了6.03%,输出电压相对减小了22.48%;而LC/S补偿方式发射线圈电流相对减小了3.85%,输出电压相对减小了12.9%。由此表明,LC/S补偿方式具有更好的稳压和抗冲击特性,适于电动机类负载的非接触供电。     

基于EMD-TFPF算法的电力线通信噪声消除技术研究

针对电力线通信系统中,发射端与接收端之间存在大量噪声严重影响通信质量的情况,引用时频峰值滤波算法(T i m e-F r e q u e n c y P e a k F i l t e r i n g,T F P F)作为噪声消除技术。考虑时频峰值滤波算法中窗长选择的严格限制,引用经验模态分解(E m p i r i c a l M o d e D e c o m p o s i t i o n,E M D)方法对T F P F进行改进。将信号分解为不同模态,在不同模态采用不同窗长进行T F P F滤波,以在信号保真和噪声压制方面得到更好的权衡。实验证明,相对原始T F P F,该方法具有更好的信号保真和噪声压制作用,可以有效地消除电力线通信系统噪声,降低误码率(B E R),提高通信质量。     

B1 field-insensitive transformers for RF-safe transmission lines

Objective: Integration of transformers into transmission lines suppresses radiofrequency (RF)-induced heating. New figure-of-eight-shaped transformer coils are compared to conventional loop transformer coils to assess their signal transmission properties and safety profile. Materials and methods: The transmission properties of figure-of-eight-shaped transformers were measured and compared to transformers with loop coils. Experiments to quantify the effect of decoupling from the B₁ field of the MR system were conducted. Temperature measurements were performed to demonstrate the effective reduction of RF-induced heating. The transformers were investigated during active tracking experiments. Results: Coupling to the B₁ field was reduced by 18 dB over conventional loop-shaped transformer coils. MR images showed a significantly reduced artifact for the figure-of-eight- shaped coils generated by local flip-angle amplification. Comparable transmission properties were seen for both transformer types. Temperature measurements showed a maximal temperature increase of 30K/3.5 K for an unsegmented/ segmented cable. With a segmented transmission line a robotic assistance system could be successfully localized using active tracking. Conclusion: The figure-of-eight-shaped transformer design reduces both RF field coupling with the MR system and artifact sizes. Anatomical structure close to the figure-of-eight-shaped transformer may be less obscured as with loop-shaped transformers if these transformers are integrated into e.g. intravascular catheters.     

Active‐terminated transmitter and receiver circuits for high‐speed low‐swing duobinary signaling

In this work, we propose transmitter and receiver circuits for high‐speed, low‐swing duobinary signaling over active‐terminated chip‐to‐chip interconnect. In active‐termination scheme port impedance of transmitter and receiver is matched with characteristic impedance of the interconnect. Elimination of the passive terminators helps in reducing the transmitted signal level without degrading the 0signal detectability of the receiver. High‐speed current‐mode receiver and transmitter circuits are designed, so that the input port impedance of the receiver and the output port impedance of the transmitter are matched with characteristic impedance of the link. These Tx–Rx pair is used to validate the proposed active‐termination scheme. We also propose a duobinary precoder architecture suitable for high‐speed operation and a low‐power broadband equalizer topology for compensating the lossy long interconnect. The duobinary transmitter and receiver circuits are implemented in 1.8 V, 0.18 µm Digital CMOS technology. The designed high‐speed duobinary Tx/Rx circuits work up to 8 Gb/s speed while transmitting the data over 29.5 in. FR4 PCB trace for a targeted bit error rate (BER) of 10^?15. The power consumed in the transmitter and receiver circuits is 42.9 mW at 8 Gb/s. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Eb／n0的频谱分析仪测量方法

Eb／n0是衡量接收机性能的重要指标之一,但难以直接测量。在分析Eb／n0与S／N之间关系的基础上,推导出二者的数学换算式,从而得出可通过测量信号功率S和噪声功率N,再经计算得到Eb／n0的理论依据。详细阐述了实际使用频谱分析仪进行S和N测量的方法和具体操作步骤,对该测量方法进行了实验验证并简要分析了测量不确定度来源。     

基于地面发射机的方位多通道SAR系统通道幅相误差估计方法

方位多通道SAR系统能够克服最小天线面积的限制,从而满足了高分辨率和宽测绘带的性能要求,是星载SAR研究的热点。对于方位多通道SAR系统,通道间的幅相误差对系统成像性能有很大影响,必须对其进行标定。针对幅相误差具有空变性和估计精度易受噪声影响的特点,利用子空间投影算法,提出了一种基于地面发射机的定标方法,通过合理的地面发射机布设策略,解决幅相误差空变特性估计的问题,通过地面发射机容易实现高信噪比的特点,抑制噪声对估计精度的影响。最后通过仿真实验,对提出方法的有效性和精度进行了仿真验证,实验表明,该方法可以通过布设少量地面接收机即可解决幅相误差估计中空变特性和噪声影响的问题,同时还降低了算法的运算量,在仿真中达到了良好的估计精度,实现了成像的校正。