Abstract: A load-pull tuner is disclosed herein. The tuner comprises a transmission line network and dielectrics positionable above the transmission line network. The transmission line network comprising a main transmission line and two stubs connected to the main transmission line, the two stubs being transmission lines. The main transmission line and the two stubs being tunable transmission lines. The load-pull tuner directly connect to a Ground-Signal-Ground (GSG) probe. The load-pull tuner may be used at higher reflection coefficients for phased-array system characterization.

Abstract: A phased antenna array in a package is provided. The phased array antenna in a package comprises an antenna array with an integrated passive beamformer network, and at least one actuation mechanism. The passive beamformer network comprises at least one phase shifter, and each of the at least one phase shifter comprises a transmission line having a slow-wave structure and a ceramic. Each of the at least one actuation mechanism comprises a magnet and an electromagnet coil, where the magnet is coupled to the ceramic. The at least one actuation mechanism configured to increase or decrease a gap between the transmission line and the ceramic.

Abstract: A planar micro-electromechanical system (MEMS)-based phase shifter is described which comprises a dielectric substrate, a grounded coplanar waveguide (GCPW) transmission line for carrying input and output signals, a high-resistivity silicon (HRS) slab coated with metallic gratings over the GCPW line, and a MEMS actuator for adjusting a distance between the HRS slab and the GCPW line to provide a phase shift.

Abstract: A tunable phase shifter is provided which includes a dielectric substrate, a transmission line formed based on the dielectric substrate for carrying input and output signals and a dielectric disturber placed on top of the transmission line. The phase shifter further includes a phase shifting mechanism for adjusting at least one of a distance between the transmission line and the substrate and a distance between the transmission line and the dielectric disturber to effect phase shift.

Abstract: A load-pull tuner is disclosed herein. The tuner comprises a transmission line network and dielectrics positionable above the transmission line network. The transmission line network comprising a main transmission line and two stubs connected to the main transmission line, the two stubs being transmission lines. The main transmission line and the two stubs being tunable transmission lines. The load-pull tuner directly connect to a Ground-Signal-Ground (GSG) probe. The load-pull tuner may be used at higher reflection coefficients for phased-array system characterization.

Abstract: A sensor and method for sleep position detection including: a transmitter configured to transmit electromagnetic waves between 30 GHz and 300 GHz; a receiver configured to receive the electromagnetic waves from the transmitter, wherein the transmitter and receiver are positioned in relation to person sleeping such that the receiver receives reflected electromagnetic waves; and a control station configured to analyze the transmitted and received electromagnetic waves to determine a position of the person sleeping. In some cases, the method may include: forming a radar cube of results; performing a fast fourier transform (FFT) on the radar cube; applying a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) processor to the FFT data; determining a capon gradient; forming a 5-dimensional feature space based on the capon gradient; and conducting an optimization of SVM.

Abstract: A planar micro-electromechanical system (MEMS)-based phase shifter is described which comprises a dielectric substrate, a grounded coplanar waveguide (GCPW) transmission line for carrying input and output signals, a high-resistivity silicon (HRS) slab coated with metallic gratings over the GCPW line, and a MEMS actuator for adjusting a distance between the HRS slab and the GCPW line to provide a phase shift.

Abstract: A tunable phase shifter is provided which includes a dielectric substrate, a transmission line formed based on the dielectric substrate for carrying input and output signals and a dielectric disturber placed on top of the transmission line. The phase shifter further includes a phase shifting mechanism for adjusting at least one of a distance between the transmission line and the substrate and a distance between the transmission line and the dielectric disturber to effect phase shift.

Abstract: A tunable phase shifter is provided which includes a dielectric substrate, a transmission line formed based on the dielectric substrate for carrying input and output signals and a dielectric disturber placed on top of the transmission line. The phase shifter further includes a phase shifting mechanism for adjusting at least one of a distance between the transmission line and the substrate and a distance between the transmission line and the dielectric disturber to effect phase shift.

Abstract: The present invention presents a flexible, stepped frequency, radar based, imaging inspection system. The imaging inspection system can be used in airports, seaport sites, borders, postal processing centres, and sensitive sites. It comprises a millimetre-wave Stepped Frequency Continuous Wave (SFCW) radar module (2) connected to a transmitting channel and a receiving channel. The transmitting channel may comprise a frequency upconvertor (8) and the receiving channel may comprise a frequency downconvertor (10). A digital signal processing unit (14) reconstructs a conductivity profile and a permittivity profile of an object under test (OUT) from measurement data collected via a phase-array antenna or a translational stage (18) based on synthetic aperture focusing (SAF).

Abstract: A multi-view planar near-field scattering tomography system is provided herein. In one aspect the system is developed based on the reformulated signal subspace approach. Utilized for solving the electromagnetic inverse scattering problem, the signal subspace approach is reformulated. The present invention pertains to a computationally efficient approach to an electromagnetic inverse scattering-based permittivity profile estimation technique. In a second aspect, the system is developed at the millimeter-wave and THz frequency range to ensure accuracy by eliminating the multipath effects and without the need for an Anechoic chamber or water as a background medium for clinical, security, and manufacturing applications.

Abstract: An antenna system including a retro-directive adaptive phased array antenna, comprised of a group of antenna modules. There is a phasing cell in each antenna module that adds a certain amount of phase shift to the wireless transmit and receive signals in order to generate a pair of retro-directive radiation beams, such that the wireless transmit and receive beams are aligned to each other. Each phasing cell synthesizes the phase shift values for the transmit and receive beams using only one phase shifter. Therefore, as a beam forming algorithm changes the receive beam forming coefficients (i.e. the phase shifters values) to steer the receiving beam, the transmit beam will be automatically aligned to that of receive beam for arbitrary transmit and receive frequencies.

Abstract: An antenna system including a retro-directive adaptive phased array antenna, comprised of a group of antenna modules. There is a phasing cell in each antenna module that adds a certain amount of phase shift to the wireless transmit and receive signals in order to generate a pair of retro-directive radiation beams, such that the wireless transmit and receive beams are aligned to each other. Each phasing cell synthesizes the phase shift values for the transmit and receive beams using only one phase shifter. Therefore, as a beam forming algorithm changes the receive beam forming coefficients (i.e. the phase shifters values) to steer the receiving beam, the transmit beam will be automatically aligned to that of receive beam for arbitrary transmit and receive frequencies.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for calibrating a phased antenna array. The antennas are excited using several excitation patterns, each changing the state of the antennas by a specific amplitude and phase. The phases correspond to phase values of a basis function of a two-dimensional discrete Fourier transform, and each excitation pattern corresponds to a different basis function. Using a calibration antenna, e.g. at a fixed point inside the system, the phase and amplitude of the radiated field due to each excitation patterns is measured sequentially. From this data, the phase and amplitude of the radiated field for each element at the location of the calibration antenna is obtained and used to adjust the phase shifters and amplifiers. For calibrated systems, the spectral domain representation of radiated fields can be sparse. Taking advantage of this property and a spectrally compressed sensing technique, recalibration can involve fewer measurements to mitigate service interruptions.

Abstract: A tunable phase shifter is provided which includes a dielectric substrate, a transmission line formed based on the dielectric substrate for carrying input and output signals and a dielectric disturber placed on top of the transmission line. The phase shifter further includes a phase shifting mechanism for adjusting at least one of a distance between the transmission line and the substrate and a distance between the transmission line and the dielectric disturber to effect phase shift.

Abstract: The present invention presents a flexible, stepped frequency, radar based, imaging inspection system. The imaging inspection system can be used in airports, seaport sites, borders, postal processing centres, and sensitive sites. It comprises a millimetre-wave Stepped Frequency Continuous Wave (SFCW) radar module (2) connected to a transmitting channel and a receiving channel. The transmitting channel may comprise a frequency upconvertor (8) and the receiving channel may comprise a frequency downconvertor (10). A digital signal processing unit (14) reconstructs a conductivity profile and a permittivity profile of an object under test (OUT) from measurement data collected via a phase-array antenna or a translational stage (18) based on synthetic aperture focusing (SAF).

Abstract: A tunable phase shifter is provided which includes a dielectric substrate, a transmission line formed based on the dielectric substrate for carrying input and output signals and a dielectric disturber placed on top of the transmission line. The phase shifter further includes a phase shifting mechanism for adjusting at least one of a distance between the transmission line and the substrate and a distance between the transmission line and the dielectric disturber to effect phase shift.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for calibrating a phased antenna array. The antennas are excited using several excitation patterns, each changing the state of the antennas by a specific amplitude and phase. The phases correspond to phase values of a basis function of a two-dimensional discrete Fourier transform, and each excitation pattern corresponds to a different basis function. Using a calibration antenna, e.g. at a fixed point inside the system, the phase and amplitude of the radiated field due to each excitation patterns is measured sequentially. From this data, the phase and amplitude of the radiated field for each element at the location of the calibration antenna is obtained and used to adjust the phase shifters and amplifiers. For calibrated systems, the spectral domain representation of radiated fields can be sparse. Taking advantage of this property and a spectrally compressed sensing technique, recalibration can involve fewer measurements to mitigate service interruptions.

Abstract: A multi-view planar near-field scattering tomography system is provided herein. In one aspect the system is developed based on the reformulated signal subspace approach. Utilized for solving the electromagnetic inverse scattering problem, the signal subspace approach is reformulated. The present invention pertains to a computationally efficient approach to an electromagnetic inverse scattering-based permittivity profile estimation technique. In a second aspect, the system is developed at the millimeter-wave and THz frequency range to ensure accuracy by eliminating the multipath effects and without the need for an Anechoic chamber or water as a background medium for clinical, security, and manufacturing applications.

Abstract: A multi-slot patch antenna is provided. The multi-slot patch antenna includes a central patch including cut corners; a plurality of strips of varying widths, the plurality of strips surrounding the central patch; and a plurality of slots of varying widths, the plurality of slots being positioned between each of the plurality of strips, wherein one of the plurality of slots is positioned between a first one of the plurality of strips and the central patch.