Optimized UHF Antenna Design, Simulation, and Implementation Applied to Residential HVAC ...

119 Pages·2013·5.35 MB·English

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OPTIMIZED UHF ANTENNA DESIGN, SIMULATION, AND IMPLEMENTATION
APPLIED TO RESIDENTIAL HVAC MOTORS
A Thesis
Submitted to the Faculty
of
Purdue University
by
Arik L. Straub
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
of
Master of Science in Engineering
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August 2013
Purdue University
Fort Wayne, Indiana
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For my uncle, Mike Straub, who steered me towards Electrical Engineering, and my
father, Jim Straub, who has instilled his work ethic and a strong desire for higher learning
in me.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Firstly, I’d like to thank Dr. Eroglu and Dr. Pomalaza-Raez for their help and
work in advising me. It was with their guidance, expertise in radio frequency and
communication protocols, and focus throughout the research that made this project
possible. Next, I’d like to thank Dr. Walter and Dr. Cochran for their help and teachings
in Systems Engineering, which brought an interesting new aspect and viewpoint to my
project. I’d also like to express gratitude to the National Science Foundation for the
monetary support during my research, and funding of conference attendances. Most
importantly, I’d like to thank my fiancée, Katrina Heckman, and my family for their
unwavering support, love, and help throughout my life, my studies, and my future.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. vi

LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... xii

ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... xiii

PUBLICATIONS .............................................................................................................. xv

1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Objective of Study ....................................................................................................1
1.2 Standard HVAC System ...........................................................................................1
1.3 Wireless Communication..........................................................................................3
1.4 Overview of Thesis ..................................................................................................4

2. SYSTEM ENGINEERING CASE STUDY .................................................................. 6

2.1 Problem Definition ...................................................................................................6 i
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2.2 Functional Design Decomposition ...........................................................................8
2.3 Design Constraints ..................................................................................................11
2.3.1 Size constraint ..................................................................................................11
2.3.2 Minimize cost of product .................................................................................13
2.4 Design Decisions.....................................................................................................13

3. ANTENNA SIMULATION AND VERIFICATION USING HFSS .......................... 14

3.1 Simulation Simplifications and Excitations............................................................15
3.2 Test Board VNA Measurements and HFSS Simulation Results Comparison .......17

4. ANTENNA PROTOTYPES AND TESTING ............................................................. 20

4.1 Simulation Simplifications .....................................................................................21
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4.2 Comparison of Prototype VNA Measurements and HFSS Simulation Results .....22
4.3 LQI and Range Measurements ...............................................................................26

5. ANTENNA DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATIONS ......................................................... 29

5.1 F-Antenna Theory ...................................................................................................29
5.2 Ground Plane Size Variations .................................................................................31
5.3 Stacked Antenna Variations ...................................................................................34
5.4 Antenna Array Variations .......................................................................................36
5.5 Ideal Antenna Design Recommendations ..............................................................42

6. HVAC ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS ..................................................................... 44

6.1 Encapsulation Material ...........................................................................................44
6.1.1 Encapsulation material simulations .................................................................45
6.1.2 Encapsulation material with water simulations ...............................................47
6.2 Control Board Enclosure .........................................................................................49
6.2.1 Control board enclosure simulations ................................................................50
6.2.2 Control board enclosure with connector simulations .......................................57
6.3 Simulations Including All Environmental Factors..................................................60
6.4 Recommendations ...................................................................................................62

7. CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................................................... 64

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 66

A. FUNCTIONAL DESIGN DECOMPOSITION OF WIRELESS HVAC MOTOR.... 68

B. LQI AND RANGE MEASUREMENT TABLES ...................................................... 75 v

C. ANTENNA OPTIMIZATION SIMULATION RESULTS ........................................ 79

C.1 Ground Plane Variation Simulations ......................................................................80
C.2 Stacked Antenna Simulations .................................................................................83
C.3 Array Simulations...................................................................................................86

D. ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS HFSS SIMULATION RESULTS .......................... 90

D.1 Encapsulation Material with Water Layer Simulations .........................................91
D.2 Control Board Enclosure with Polymer Connector Simulation .............................94
D.3 All Environmental Factor Simulations...................................................................99
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LIST OF TABLES
Table .............................................................................................................................. Page

2.1 Overview of Basic Requirements for Each Phase ....................................................... 7

2.2 Table of Various Frequency and Wavelengths .......................................................... 12

3.1 Comparison of Baseline Board HFSS Simulations vs. VNA Measurements ............ 18

4.1 Comparison of Prototype Board HFSS Simulations vs. VNA Measurements .......... 23

4.2 Range Test Results for Prototype F-Antenna ............................................................ 27

4.3 LQI Measurements for the FA Prototype Board at a Distance of 3 Meters .............. 28

5.1 Antenna Parameters Affected by Ground Plane Size ................................................ 34

5.2 Bandwidth Information for Various Stacked Prototype FAs ..................................... 36

Appendix Table

B.1 LQI Measurements for the FA Prototype Board at a Distance of 3.048 Meters ....... 75

B.2 LQI Measurements for the FA Prototype Board at a Distance of 6.096 Meters ....... 76

B.3 LQI Measurements for the MFA Prototype Board at a Distance of 3.048 Meters ... 77

B.4 LQI Measurements for the MFA Prototype Board at a Distance of 6.096 Meters ... 78
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure ............................................................................................................................. Page

1.1 Standard HVAC System without Control Electronics ................................................. 3

2.1 Top Level Functional Design Decomposition ........................................................... 10

2.2 Standard HVAC Control Board Enclosure ................................................................ 12

3.1 Inverted F-Antenna Baseline Test Board ................................................................... 16

3.2 Inverted F-Antenna HFSS Simulation View from Top ............................................. 16

3.3 (Left) Network Analyzer Used in Measurements (Right) S11 Test Setup ................ 17

3.4 Baseline Plot of Meandering F-Antenna S11 Parameter Comparison....................... 19

3.5 Baseline Plot of Inverted F-Antenna S11 Parameter Comparison ............................ 19

4.1 Prototype Boards ........................................................................................................ 20

4.2 Prototype F-Antenna HFSS 3D Model ...................................................................... 21
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4.3 Prototype Plot of F-Antenna S11 Parameter Comparison ......................................... 24

4.4 Prototype Plot of Meandering F-Antenna S11 Parameter Comparison ..................... 24

4.5 Prototype Plot of Inverted F-Antenna S11 Parameter Comparison ........................... 25

4.6 3D Radiation Pattern for a Prototype FA ................................................................... 25

5.1 F-Antenna Equivalent Circuit Model......................................................................... 30

5.2 Prototype FA with a 0.2*λ Ground Plane Size .......................................................... 32

5.3 Prototype FA with a 0.7*λ Ground Plane Size .......................................................... 32

5.4 Prototype FA with a 1.2*λ Ground Plane Size .......................................................... 33
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Figure ............................................................................................................................. Page

5.5 S11 Plots of Various Stacked Prototype FAs with 1.0*λ Ground Plane Size ........... 35

5.6 Copied FA Array with 0.6*λ Between Antennas ...................................................... 37

5.7 3D Radiation Pattern of 2x1 Copied FA Array with 0.2*λ Between Antennas ........ 38

5.8 3D Radiation Pattern of 2x1 Copied FA Array with 0.6*λ Between Antennas ........ 38

5.9 3D Radiation Pattern of 2x1 Copied FA Array with 1.0*λ Between Antennas ........ 39

5.10 Reflected FA Array with 0.6*λ Between Antennas ................................................. 40

5.11 3D Radiation Pattern of 2x1 Reflected FA Array with 0.2*λ Between Antennas .. 40

5.12 3D Radiation Pattern of 2x1 Reflected FA Array with 0.6*λ Between Antennas .. 41

5.13 3D Radiation Pattern of 2x1 Reflected FA Array with 1.0*λ Between Antennas .. 41

6.1 S11 Parameter for the Prototype FA with Encapsulation Material ............................ 46

6.2 3D Radiation Pattern for a Prototype FA with Encapsulation Material .................... 47

6.3 S11 Parameter of a Prototype FA with Encapsulation Material and Water Layer .... 48

6.4 3D Radiation Pattern of a Prototype FA with Encapsulation Material and Water .... 49

6.5 Prototype FA in XZ Orientation Centered on the Connector Cavity......................... 51

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6.6 S11 Parameter of FA in XZ Orientation with Motor Enclosure ................................ 51 ii
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6.7 3D Radiation Pattern of Prototype FA in XZ Orientation with Motor Enclosure ..... 52

6.8 Prototype FA in XY Orientation at Control Board Height ........................................ 53

6.9 S11 Parameter of Prototype FA in XY Orientation at Control Board Height ........... 54

6.10 3D Radiation Pattern of Prototype FA in XY Orientation at Control Board
Height...................................................................................................................... 54

6.11 Reflected FA Array with Control Board Enclosure ................................................. 56

6.12 S11 Parameter of Reflected FA Array with Control Board Enclosure .................... 56

6.13 3D Radiation Pattern of Reflected FA Array with Control Board Enclosure.......... 57
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Figure ............................................................................................................................. Page

6.14 Prototype FA in XY Orientation at Control Board Height ...................................... 58

6.15 S11 Parameter of a Prototype FA at Control Board Height with Control Board
Enclosure and Connector ......................................................................................... 59

6.16 3D Radiation Pattern of a Prototype FA at Control Board Height with the
Control Board Enclosure and Connector ................................................................. 59

6.17 Prototype FA Simulation in Ideal Orientation with All Environmental Effects ...... 61

6.18 S11 Parameter of FA in Ideal Orientation with All Environmental Factors ............ 61

6.19 3D Radiation Pattern for Prototype FA in Ideal Orientation with All
Environmental Factors ............................................................................................. 62

Appendix Figure

A.1 Top Level Functional Design Decomposition .......................................................... 70

A.2 Design Decomposition of FR11 ................................................................................ 71

A.3 Design Decomposition of FR12 ................................................................................ 72

A.4 Design Decomposition of FR13 ................................................................................ 73

A.5 Design Decomposition of FR14 ................................................................................ 74

A.6 Design Decomposition of FR15 ................................................................................ 74
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C.1 Prototype FA with a 0.2*λ Ground Plane Size ......................................................... 80

C.2 Prototype FA with a 0.3*λ Ground Plane Size ......................................................... 80

C.3 Prototype FA with a 0.4*λ Ground Plane Size ......................................................... 81

C.4 Prototype FA with a 0.6*λ Ground Plane Size ......................................................... 81

C.5 Prototype FA with a 0.8*λ Ground Plane Size ......................................................... 82

C.6 Prototype FA with a 1.0*λ Ground Plane Size ......................................................... 82

C.7 Prototype FA with a 1.0*λ Ground Plane Size ......................................................... 83

C.8 S11 Plots of Various Stacked Prototype FAs with 0.2*λ Ground Plane Size ........... 83
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Appendix Figure ............................................................................................................ Page

C.9 S11 Plots of Various Stacked Prototype FAs with 0.8*λ Ground Plane Size ........... 84

C.10 S11 Plots of Various Stacked Prototype FAs with 1.0*λ Ground Plane Size ......... 84

C.11 3D Radiation Pattern of Single Layer Prototype FA with 0.2*λ Ground Plane ..... 85

C.12 3D Radiation Pattern of Single Layer Prototype FA with 1.0*λ Ground Plane ..... 85

C.13 Copied Prototype FA Array Orientation ................................................................. 86

C.14 2x1 Copied Prototype FA Array with 0.2*λ Between Antennas ............................ 86

C.15 2x1 Copied Prototype FA Array with 0.6*λ Between Antennas ............................ 87

C.16 2x1 Copied Prototype FA Array with 1.0*λ Between Antennas ............................ 87

C.17 2x1 Reflected Prototype FA Array Orientation ...................................................... 88

C.18 2x1 Reflected Prototype FA Array with 0.2*λ Between Antennas ........................ 88

C.19 2x1 Reflected Prototype FA Array with 0.6*λ Between Antennas ........................ 89

C.20 2x1 Reflected Prototype FA Array with 1.0*λ Between Antennas ........................ 89

D.1 S11 Parameter for Prototype FA with Encapsulation and Water Layers .................. 91

D.2 3D Radiation Pattern of Prototype FA with Encapsulation and Water Layers ......... 91

D.3 S11 Parameter for 2x1 Copied FA Array with Encapsulation and Water Layers .... 92 x

D.4 3D Radiation Pattern for 2x1 Copied FA Array with Encapsulation and Water
Layers....................................................................................................................... 92

D.5 S11 Parameter for 2x1 Reflected FA Array with Encapsulation and Water
Layers....................................................................................................................... 93

D.6 3D Radiation Pattern for 2x1 Reflected FA Array with Encapsulation and Water
Layers....................................................................................................................... 93

D.7 Prototype FA in XZ Orientation with Control Board Enclosure and Polymer
Connector ................................................................................................................. 94

D.8 S11 Parameter for Prototype FA in XZ Orientation with Control Board
Enclosure and Polymer Connector .......................................................................... 94