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Tunable RF Front-End Circuits for 5G and Beyond: Design, Challenges...
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Tunable RF Front-End Circuits for 5G and Beyond: Design, Challenges and Applications

A special issue of Electronics (ISSN 2079-9292). This special issue belongs to the section "Circuit and Signal Processing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 13452

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Amjad Iqbal

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), Québec, QC G1K 9A9, Canada
Interests: substrate integrated waveguide based components (filters, diplexers etc); stepped impedance resonator (SIR) filters and multipexers; printed antennas; MIMO antennas; dielectric resonator antennas; filter-antenna subsystem; wearable and implantable antennas
Prof. Dr. Issa Tamer Elfergani

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Instituto de Telecomunicações, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: reconfigurable/tuneable antennas; MIMO antenna designs for wireless communication systems; UWB antenna with fixed and tuneable notch; beam steering antenna; harmonics rejection antenna techniques; balanced and unbalanced antenna; mm-wave antenna array for 5G; Dielectric Resonators (DR) antennas; high Q RF MEMS bandpass filter design for mobile handset and wireless communication applications; power amplifier designs
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ismail Ben Mabrouk

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
Interests: biotelemetry and wireless powering of biomedical implants; SAR distributions in human torso and head anatomical models; capsule architecture

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We will soon witness substantial growth in the development of 5G and beyond in the fields of autonomous and intelligent systems, Internet of Things (IoT), healthcare, and many more. Such systems require robust and high-performance front-end circuits for seamless operation, which require large communication bandwidth. However, increasing bands in the limited spectrum is not enough to support the required operating bandwidth. Consequently, in these systems, multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) and carrier aggregation technologies are applied to get more data throughput out of the crowded RF spectrum. With the deployment of such technologies, the overall size, complexity, and cost of the system increases. Moreover, multiple sets of RF front-end components are required for each individual band. However, this makes the whole RF chain more complicated, expensive, and larger.

To reduce the system complexity, cost, and size, tunable RF front-end circuits have drawn much attention. Therefore, the main objective of this Special Issue is to seek high-quality submissions that highlight the design, challenges, and applications of the tunable RF front-end circuits for 5G and beyond. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Microwave/mm-wave diplexers
  • Microwave/mm-wave filters
  • Antennas and propagation
  • Substrate integrated waveguides
  • Dielectric resonator antennas
  • RF transceivers
  • Antennas and propagation
  • Phased array and beamforming
  • Power amplifiers
  • Multiplexers
  • Power dividers 

Dr. Amjad Iqbal
Prof. Dr. Issa Tamer Elfergani
Dr. Ismail Ben Mabrouk
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Electronics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • antennas
  • filters
  • diplexers
  • mixers
  • MIMO antennas
  • mm-wave antennas
  • filters and diplexers
  • 5G and beyond
  • 6G
  • transceiver
  • power amplifiers
  • power dividers

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 6813 KiB  
Article
A Hybrid Solar-RF Energy Harvesting System Based on an EM4325-Embedded RFID Tag
by Samrrithaa G. Veloo, Jun Jiat Tiang, Surajo Muhammad and Sew Kin Wong
Electronics 2023, 12(19), 4045; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics12194045 - 27 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1571
Abstract
This paper presents the deployment of a hybrid energy harvesting system that combines a wireless energy harvesting (EH) system and a 6 V, 170 mA monocrystalline solar energy derived from the Sun’s rays. The hybrid energy harvesting (HEH) system comprises the rectifier, the [...] Read more.
This paper presents the deployment of a hybrid energy harvesting system that combines a wireless energy harvesting (EH) system and a 6 V, 170 mA monocrystalline solar energy derived from the Sun’s rays. The hybrid energy harvesting (HEH) system comprises the rectifier, the solar cell panel, the charging circuit, and the EM4325 embedded RFID tag. This study aims to design an efficient EH system capable of increasing the read range of an active RFID tag. The proposed approach integrates a meandered line radio frequency identification (RFID) tag with an EM4325 IC chip as the receiver antenna. A halfwave doubler RF rectifier circuit is connected to the antenna using a 50 Ω SMA connector to convert the captured RF waves into usable electrical power. A solar energy charging module equipped with a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) system, a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, and a DC-DC converter is configured to manage and store the harvested energy efficiently. The UHF tag antenna operates at 919 MHz, achieving a peak gain of 3.54 dB. The proposed rectenna achieves a maximum measured harvested power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 55.14% for an input power (Pin) of 15 dBm at a distance of 5.10 cm, while the solar cell panel realizes 3.92 W of power. Experimental results demonstrate the hybrid harvester system’s effectiveness, achieving a PCE of 86.49% at an output voltage (VDC) of 5.35 V. The main advantage of this approach is the creation of a compact hybrid RF and solar EH system by combining the solar cell panel with the antenna, thus enabling multi-functionality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tunable RF Front-End Circuits for 5G and Beyond: Design, Challenges and Applications)
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18 pages, 9449 KiB  
Communication
Rethinking Liquid Crystal Tunable Phase Shifter Design with Inverted Microstrip Lines at 1–67 GHz by Dissipative Loss Analysis
by Jinfeng Li
Electronics 2023, 12(2), 421; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics12020421 - 13 Jan 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2990
Abstract
Growing 5G/6G phased-array beam-steering applications, for which liquid crystal (LC) is one of the enabling technology candidates, have sparked interest in the modulation of the phase (and amplitude) of microwave and millimeter-wave signals. In this communication, fresh insights into the systematic design analysis [...] Read more.
Growing 5G/6G phased-array beam-steering applications, for which liquid crystal (LC) is one of the enabling technology candidates, have sparked interest in the modulation of the phase (and amplitude) of microwave and millimeter-wave signals. In this communication, fresh insights into the systematic design analysis of a 1–67 GHz passive inverted microstrip line (IMSL) phase shifter filled with highly anisotropic LC as tunable dielectric media are obtained. Based on waveguide disturbance tests to characterize the dielectric properties of the non-tunable PCB and tunable LC used in the IMSL phase shift device filled with a GT3-24002 LC layer (125 µm thick) partially enclosing a 220 µm wide, 17 µm thick, 1.35 cm long copper core line, a 0–π differential phase shift in the 1–67 GHz range with less than 2 dB insertion loss is reported. Dissipative loss analysis shows that the dielectric absorption of the LC is 21.28% of the input signal power at 60 GHz. Further investigation is performed to quantify the impacts of dielectric substrate thicknesses (PCB and LC) on the wave-occupied volume ratio (and hence the phase tuning range), as well as on dissipative losses (including conductor loss and dielectric loss). Specifically, conductor loss is observed to follow a linear relationship with the reciprocal of the LC thickness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tunable RF Front-End Circuits for 5G and Beyond: Design, Challenges and Applications)
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18 pages, 8240 KiB  
Article
Ultra-Wideband Graphene-Based Micro-Sized Circular Patch-Shaped Yagi-like MIMO Antenna for Terahertz Wireless Communication
by Abdullah G. Alharbi and Vishal Sorathiya
Electronics 2022, 11(9), 1305; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11091305 - 20 Apr 2022
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 2044
Abstract
In this work, an ultra-wideband graphene-based micro-sized circular patch-shaped Yagi-like MIMO antenna was investigated over 1–30 THz of the frequency spectrum. The proposed antenna structure was designed over a polyimide substrate with 620 × 800 µm2. This antenna was radiated over [...] Read more.
In this work, an ultra-wideband graphene-based micro-sized circular patch-shaped Yagi-like MIMO antenna was investigated over 1–30 THz of the frequency spectrum. The proposed antenna structure was designed over a polyimide substrate with 620 × 800 µm2. This antenna was radiated over three bands over 1–30 THz. The maximum bandwidth achieved 10.96 THz, with −26 dB of the return loss isolation. These three bands were also mathematically analyzed using various MIMO antenna parameters to match the MIMO antenna criteria. This antenna provided all the accepted results as per the limits set by these antenna parameters. The effect of the different port excitation on the change of directivity of the overall structure is also reported. The MIMO antenna parameters such as TARC (Total Active Reflection Coefficient), ECC (Envelope Correlation Coefficient), MEG (Mean Effective Gain), CCL (Channel Capacity Loss), and DG (Directivity Gain) were investigated for the proposed structure. These values were also identified to check the compatibility and challenges associated with short-distance communication. The suggested THz MIMO antenna provides the operating bands of 1–10 THz and 15–30 THz, with good isolation values. An average of 7 dB gain was observed in the 2 × 2 antenna structure. The newly developed MIMO antenna in the THz frequency range may be used for high-speed short-distance and terahertz communications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tunable RF Front-End Circuits for 5G and Beyond: Design, Challenges and Applications)
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38 pages, 917 KiB  
Article
Harvesting Systems for RF Energy: Trends, Challenges, Techniques, and Tradeoffs
by Surajo Muhammad, Jun Jiat Tiang, Sew Kin Wong, Ali H. Rambe, Ismahayati Adam, Amor Smida, Mohamed Ibrahim Waly, Amjad Iqbal, Adamu Saidu Abubakar and Mohd Najib Mohd Yasin
Electronics 2022, 11(6), 959; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11060959 - 20 Mar 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5636
Abstract
The RFEH design challenges can be broadly classified into overall radio frequency direct current (RF-to-DC) power conversion efficiency (PCE), form factor, operational bandwidth (BW), and compactness. A detailed overview of the essential components of an RFEH system is presented in this paper. Various [...] Read more.
The RFEH design challenges can be broadly classified into overall radio frequency direct current (RF-to-DC) power conversion efficiency (PCE), form factor, operational bandwidth (BW), and compactness. A detailed overview of the essential components of an RFEH system is presented in this paper. Various design approaches have been proposed for the realization of compact RFEH circuits that contribute immensely to mm-wave rectenna design. Effective mechanisms for configuring the rectenna modules based on the recommended spectrums for the RFEH system were also outlined. This study featured a conceptual viewpoint on design tradeoffs, which were accompanied by profound EH solutions perspectives for wireless power communications. The work covers some challenges attributed to 5G EH in mm-wave rectenna: from a controlled source of communication signals to distributed ambient EH and system level design. Conversely, the primary targets of this work are to: (I) examine a wide range of ambient RF sources and their performance with various antennae and RF-rectifier layouts; (II) propose unique rectenna design techniques suitable for current trends in wireless technology; (III) explore numerous approaches for enhancing the rectenna or RF-rectifier efficiency in a low-power ambient environment; and (IV) present the findings of a comprehensive review of the exemplary research that has been investigated. These are aimed toward addressing the autonomous system’s energy challenges. Therefore, with the careful management of the reported designs, the rectenna systems described in this study would influence the upcoming advancement of the low-power RFEH module. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tunable RF Front-End Circuits for 5G and Beyond: Design, Challenges and Applications)
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