RF HARDWARE/CIRCUIT CONSIDERATIONS

Introduction
Radio Frequency oscillation rate from 3 kHz to 300GHz. Parts of Typical Radio System: 1. Trasmitter radio station which provides RF signal a. Modulator audio is encoded and is converted into a radio frequency signal. b. Upconverter unpconverts a band of frequencies into a higher frequency band c. Amplifier RF signal is amplified which is then sent to the transmitter antenna for transmission over a broader area. 2. Receiver receives RF waves and converts the information with it into a usable form. a. Tuner locates the desired RF signal and converts it to IF signal. b. Demodulator reverse of the modulation proces in number one. c. Amplifier signal is amplified.

HARDWARE CONSIDERATIONS
Parasitics
At high frequencies, elements no longer behave the same way which changes circuit bahavior.

Impedance Matching
If you want to transfer the maximum possible power into the load (antenna) the source impedance must be matched to the load impedance. One such method is the use of L-network.

Linearity
Linearity refers to the ability of the amplifier to produce signals that are accurate copies of the input, generally at increased power levels. Eventually, every transistor reaches a frequency at which signal gain drops below. Nonlinearity causes unwanted frequency components and distortion. High amplifier linearity is possible, but at the expense of efficiency. Class A Amplifier - is the most linear of the classes, but is the most inefficient of all power amplifier designs, averaging only around 20%. Class B Amplifier - can be 60 to 65% efficient. Class C Amplifier - can be about 75% efficient, but they are very nonlinear.

Noise
Thermal Noise is the electronic noise generated by the thermal agitation of the charge carriers

Gate-induced Noise (in transistors) is the thermal agitation caused by capacitive coupling of the gate electrode to the channel

From these formulas, we can infer that as frequencies increases, so does the noise in components.

Sensitivity
-

minimum signal level that a system can detect with acceptable signal-to-noise ratio at the output

As B (bandwidth/data rates) increases, the higher the minimum signal level required

RF TECHNOLOGY DEVICES
RFID - use of radio-frequency electromagnetic fields to transfer data for identifying and tracking tags.
Current trends: 1. Medical field RFID enabled pharmacy system 2. Sports and Fitness Athlete Tracking System 3. Fashion and Clothing Merchandise Apparel RFID purchasing and Inverntory System Hardware Limitations: 1. Smart tag technology not yet perfected-20% of manufactured tags are defective. 2. RFID antenna signal obstacles-metal surface and water may corrupt data transmission by either absorbing or ambient reflection of the signals. 3. Cost of purchasing components for implementation of RFID is still high.

Wifi

- a technology which allows a device to exchange data or connect to the internet wirelessly.

Current trends: 1. Education White space spectrum for wireless internet connection 2. Connectivity for All Balloon powered internet for everyone-Google with its new Project Loon

Hardware Limitations: 1. 2.4 Ghz band is prone to interference and so antenna degrades in performance especially in places crowded with microwave ovens, bluetooth, video sender devices. 2. Limit of range of antenna because wifi is no exception to the physics of radio wave propagation with frequency band. 3. Wifi is still relatively slower than its wired counterpart. (compare 1-54 Mbps to 100Mbps-several Gbps)

Bluetooth -

a short-range wireless communications technology using short wavelength radio transmissions

from 24002480 MHz) creating personal area networks (PANs) with high levels of security. Current Development: 1. 2. Medical Field Pill tracking system Wearable technology Integrated speakers, smart watches, and augmented reality devices.

Hardware Limitations: 1. As data transfer rate is increased, so does power consumption. More power is also needed to transmit to farther distances. Trade-offs between the three is unavoidable. 2. Interference - The Bluetooth signal was designed to change its frequency many times per second to reduce this interference, but if enough devices are trying to use the same small stretch of bandwidth, interference is inevitable.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

- is a space-based satellite navigation system that provides

location and time information in all weather conditions, anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. Current Development: 1. Additional Satellites/Signals - By 2014, the USA will launch additional GPS satellites called GPS III. These new satellites will add three new civilian signals to that L2C, L1C, and L5 making GPS systems stronger, more accurate (with accuracies up to 1m), and interoperable with other positioning systems worldwide. Hardware Limitations: 1. Clock Accuracy GPS satellite clocks are typically as accurate to within 10 nanoseconds and GPS receivers up to within 100 nanoseconds. Although these can be considered very small, it still introduces minute errors in location data.