O.O. Oni

Leveraging MMWAVE Technology for Mobile Broadband/Internet of Things

Today, almost every individual possesses at least one internet-connected device. According to Cisco, there were over 12.5 billion devices in 2010 alone. It has been predicted that 25 billion devices will be connected by 2015, and 50 billion devices by 2020; all contributing towards the Internet of Things (IoT). This rapid increase exposes the obvious need for enhancements in various underlying technologies. IPv6 for example, has been developed to provide 340 undecillion IP addresses, and 3GPP LTE and its further enhancements provides impressive high bitrates cost-efficiently. That been said, there is still a limit on the amount of data that can go through a frequency channel. Therefore, the surge in demand for data by the billions of devices emphasizes the need to re-visit spectrum planning. Beginning with a review on the success of unlicensed spectrum operations, this work looks into the potentials of complementing the licensed frequency bands with unlicensed by tapping into the advantages of millimeter wave access technology.

Microstrip Patch Antenna

The demand for smaller, conformable antennas with desired properties has made antenna Engineers to device better ways of making antennas. The patch antenna comes to the rescue, as it provides the features needed in antennas used in the telecoms, meteorological and military industries, where light weight low profile antennas are required. The Microstrip patch antennas comes in different shapes and configuration, the most common being circular and rectangular. The Microstrip patch antenna gives a relatively satisfactory antenna radiation pattern vis-a-vis the size and has different feeding methods used to ensure low return loss. The Patch antenna is conformal in shape as it ‘blends in’ with the aesthetics of devices it is used in. This chapter takes a close look at the performance characteristics of the rectangular and circular Microstrip antennas, comparing different antenna parameters like directivity, E and H planes Half Power Beam Width (HPBW) vis-a-vis the dimensions and size (area of patch). Five frequencies (0.9, 1.8, 1.9, 2.3 and 2.4 Ghz) are used in computing the configurations-these frequencies correspond to that of GSM, LTE and Bluetooth; results from this paper can be used in building practical antennas for phones and laptops or any Bluetooth enabled device.