Analysis and Design of Lens Antenna Systems for Applications at Millimeter and Sub-millimeter Wavelengths

In recent decades, dielectric lens antennas have been more and more adopted and developed for sensing and imaging applications at sub-millimeter (sub-mm) wavelengths because they can achieve high gain while keeping their physical size and weight acceptable at these wavelengths. More recently, as low-loss and low-cost lens materials have become...

Classification of Human Activities with Distributed Radar Systems

This thesis introduces the relevance of radar systems in the realm of human activity recognition (HAR) in Chapter 1. The study touches upon the complex understanding of continuous human activities and the existing challenges and gaps in current methodologies, hinting at the innovative technical approaches that are to be detailed in the following...

Towards the Engineering of Pulsed Photoconductive Antennas

In recent years, Terahertz technology has attracted the interest of researchers for its potential applications in a variety of domains. In particular, THz sensing has found application in security screening, medical imaging, spectroscopy, and non-destructive testing. The emergence of all these applications has been driven by the availability of...

Compressive Sampling for Wireless Communications

Wireless communications is undergoing massive development in all forms of its manifestations. In the field of short-range communications, technologies like ultra- wideband (UWB) systems are promising very high data rates, fine timing resolution and coexistence with other physical layer standards. Along with these benefits, the promise of low...

Algorithms for Indoor Positioning Systems Using Ultra-Wideband Signals

Positioning systems and techniques have attracted more and more attention in recent years, in particular with satellite navigation technology as a tremendous enabler, and developments in indoor navigation. The work presented in this thesis has been conducted within the research project: \HERE: indoor positioning based on UWB radio signals",...

Trapped-Victim Detection in Post-Disaster Scenarios using Ultra-Wideband Radar

Rescue dogs are commonly used during the urban search-and-rescue (USAR) operations for the initial indication on the presence of trapped victims after the collapse of man-made structures. However, dogs are not able to inform the rescue crews whether the trapped victims are alive or not and where exactly they are located. Other complementary...

Error Control Coding Schemes for Ultra-wideband Impulse Radio Systems

Ultra-wideband (UWB) is a promising technology that offers a potential solution for the data rate, cost, power consumption and physical size requirements of the next generation wireless devices. UWB may also play an important role in the realization of future heterogeneous networking. This technology has recently gained significant interest from...

Planar elliptically shaped dipole antenna for UWB Impulse Radio

The goal of this thesis was to develop design concepts of the UWB antenna with improved characteristics for impulse radio applications. To reach this goal a number of theoretical and experimental investigations were carried out. The major result of the thesis is a number of novel concepts for UWB antennas including: - The shielded elliptically...

Signal processing algorithms for ultra-wideband wireless communications

UWB Near-Range GPR Phase-Based Techniques for Profiling Rough Surfaces and Detecting Small Low-Contrast Shallow Subsurface Objects