Short Courses
Short Course 1
Overview of RedCap Devices "NR Light"
Testing Helps to Ensure Best Possible Performance
Abstract
Recently, the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) in Release 17 has introduced a new type of device that enables Reduced Capability (RedCap) "New Radio (NR) Light" [1]. Redcap devices aim at lower cost/complexity, smaller physical size, and longer battery life compared to regular 5G NR. Some of the RedCap use cases can already today be adequately served by low-end LTE UE categories (e.g., Cat-1) for which there are no corresponding NR device types [2]. Examples of these use cases include wearables, remote monitoring of patients with chronic conditions that require frequent data transmission, industrial wireless sensors, and video surveillance, precise location data, wildlife tracking, weather monitoring, reliable and uninterrupted data transmission.
The main motivation for introducing those devices is to expand the ecosystem and to cater to a mid-range Internet of the Things (IoT) market segment which may not yet be best served by the existing NR standard [3].
This short-course is designed to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of these cutting-edge technologies. We will provide an overview of RedCap which can facilitate understanding of the design rationale to readers interested in carrying out research in this area. First, we describe the RedCap use cases and their specific requirements. Then we describe network, coexistence, coverage, and capacity impacts.
The second part of the short-course is dedicated to hands-on training using test and measurement equipment from Rohde & Schwarz, you will gain practical experience in analyzing and optimizing these technologies. Our experienced instructors will guide you through the key features and benefits of Redcap “NR light”, as well as their applications in various industries. You can learn how to effectively implement these technologies in your own work, and gain valuable insights and tips from our experts.
Are you looking to learn about the latest advancements in wireless communication technologies from the 3GPP REL17? Then our short course about RedCap is perfect for you!
Speaker:
Andreia Alves, PhD
Application engineer at Rohde & Schwarz, working in the segments of Wireless communications, Aerospace & Defense and Research. Received her Ph.D. degree on Electrical Engineering from UNIFEI in 2020 in partnership with the WOCA lab-INATEL and Scuola Superiore Sant´Anna – Italy. She is master in Technology and Innovation and Graduated in Telecommunications from UNICAMP. She has experience in antennas, filters, power and low noise amplifiers for RADARS.
Short Course 2
The Surface Plasmon Resonance Effect, Applications and Project Simulations
Abstract
After its identification in the 1980s as a suitable optical transduction mechanism for gas sensing and biosensing, the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect found widespread commercial use for the latter sensing application in the early 1990s, when real-time, label-free, monitoring systems of biomolecular reactions started to reach the market. However, biosensing is not the only application of the SPR effect, as it can be applied for measuring a number of physical parameters, including, refractive index of both absorbing and non-absorbing materials, temperature, pressure, surface roughness and profile, as well as for gas detection and for development of optical devices and components.
In this 4-hour short course, the general properties of surface plasmons at a metal interface are described. Techniques for coupling photons with surface plasmons are then discussed and the different approaches for observing the SPR effect are analyzed, including planar, grating and fiber optic coupling schemes. An analysis is presented on the key parameters that define the sensitivity of the effect for optical sensing. From this analysis, design parameters yielding maximum sensitivity are presented. Proposals for SPR, for planar and grating type, devices are discussed with either optical fibers or discrete optical elements. As part of the short course, the students will have the opportunity to employ online simulators (SWSO, SPRinG), developed by the author, to project SPR devices tailored for operation on either wavelength or wavevector interrogation mode.
Speaker:
Eduardo Fontana, PhD
Dep. de Eletrônica e Sistemas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE - Brasil
Eduardo Fontana was born in Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil in 1957. He earned a bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering in 1980 and an MSc degree in Physics in 1983, both from Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE - Federal University of Pernambuco), Recife, PE, Brazil. In 1989 he earned a PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. During his early graduate years with the Physics Department at UFPE he carried out research with low-temperature magnetic semiconductors under the guidance of Prof. Sergio Rezende. In his PhD work he carried out research with free electron lasers and investigated potential applications of surface plasmon spectroscopy, under the guidance of Prof. Richard Pantell from Stanford and Dr. Joe Feinstein, vice-president of Varian during that time. He also had the privilege and the pleasure of being both a student and a teaching assistant for Prof. Anthony Siegman at Stanford, assisting him in the Lasers courses taught at Stanford during the 80s, which gave rise to the bestseller “Lasers” by Tony Siegman. Prof. Fontana is currently a Full Professor with Departamento de Eletrônica e Sistemas (DES - Department of Electronics and Systems) at UFPE, where he is a permanent faculty member since 1980. In 1991 and 1992, he was a Senior Scientist at Adelphi Technology, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, USA, where he led research and development projects in the field of surface plasmon spectroscopy. He has also been a one-month Visiting Researcher with CTTC, Castelldefels - Spain, in the years of 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2018, and a four-month Visiting Researcher with CTTC in 2022. His past scientific experience also includes research on Microwave Ferrite Devices, Properties of Low Temperature Magnetic Semiconductors, Optics and Free Electron Lasers. He is currently a co-leader of the Photonics Group at UFPE's DES, and is currently involved in teaching and research activities in Electromagnetic Theory and Applications, Photonics and Plasmonics. He is also a Senior Member of IEEE and member of the following societies: OPTICA, Brazilian Society of Microwaves and Optoelectronics (SBMO), and the Brazilian Photonics Society (SBFoton). He served as Advisor to the Scientific Board of FACEPE, the state foundation for science and technology, from 2004 to 2006 and has been serving as a member of the Engineering IV Evaluation Committee of CAPES, Brazil, since 2004. He was Deputy Head of the Graduate Program in Electrical Engineering at UFPE from 1996 to 1999 and Head of the same program from 1999 to 2003 and from 2007 to 2009. From 2016 to 2020 he returned to serve as Deputy Head of this program. Prof. Fontana is currently a research fellow with CNPq-Brazil.
Researcher ID: http://www.researcherid.com/rid/C-6189-2011
ORCID: 0000-0002-2229-2804
Short Course 3
Reflective Metasurfaces for a Connected World
Abstract
The development of millimeter wave (mmWave) 5G triggered a race to develop technologies aiming to mitigate the downsides of working at such high frequencies, i.e., path-loss and line-of-sight (LoS) requirements. The scientific community started looking for more efficient cell, or cell-free massive MIMO architectures, beamforming and reflective surfaces that can statically or dynamically redirect signals towards shadow zones not in the LoS of a base station (BS), the former known as smart skins and the latter as Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS). These designs consist of sub-wavelength unit-cells, known as meta-atoms, which constitute in a metasurface.
However, metasurface design dates from decades ago, and are especially used for the development of reflectarray and transmitarray antennas, as well as electromagnetic absorbers, electromagnetic band-gaps, etc.
In this course, we aim to cover the basics of unit-cell design, including for reconfigurability, and important project considerations needed when those are used on reflective metasurfaces. It will give you the base to be able to design electromagnetic skins, reflectarray antennas, RIS, and therefore a bit of phased antenna theory will be provided. This will give the students practical examples on how to use it to implement practical static and reconfigurable metasurfaces.
As part of the course, the students will perform exercises using Ansys HFSS and Matlab (or Python) to design practical reflective metasurface projects, where they will put your knew skills up to the test on industry leading electromagnetic simulation software.
Obs.: For those who wish to attend this short course, we strongly encourage to install Ansys HFSS student version prior to the course. That version should be sufficient for your activities.
Speaker:
Gabriel Gonçalves Machado, PhD
Lecturer in Electronic Engineering | AFHEA | School of Engineering, Ulster University - UK
Gabriel Gonçalves Machado obtained his BSc degree in Electronic Engineering from the Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil. He has a PhD in Electronic Engineering with focus in the area of antennas and propagation, obtained from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), UK. His PhD was related to thin FSS based microwave absorbers for applications in ‘busy’ antenna environments and the reduction of the radar cross-sections of metal backed antennas.
In 2021, he joined as a research fellow at the Centre for Wireless Innovation (CWI), part of Queen’s University Belfast, and his research has involved: virus and microwave interaction, GNSS antenna development, microwave absorbers, and his most recent focus is on the development of millimetre wave Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) for 5G and 6G communications.
He joined Ulster University in August 2023, where he teaches Embedded Systems and Sensors to MSc in IoT students. Beyond his interest in RIS development, he has a particular interest in the development of devices and practices in antennas and propagation focused towards sustainability, e-waste reduction, and energy efficiency.
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