Radio over Fiber systems with embedded antenna for monitoring and process control

• Grant number: 08/06380-1
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: December 01, 2009
• End date: May 31, 2010
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Electrical Engineering - Telecommunications
• Principal Investigator: Arismar Cerqueira Sodré Junior
• Grantee: Arismar Cerqueira Sodré Junior
• Company: R4F Tecnologia em Telecomunicações Ltda
• City: Campinas
• Associated researchers: Marcelo Luís Francisco Abbade ; Omar Carvalho Branquinho

Abstract

Several emerging technologies may use sensor networks to monitor and control processes. Some examples of these applications include measurements of: a) soil nutrients in agriculture, b) voltage/ current to identify faults in electrical energy distribution networks, c) gas emission to detect leakage from gas/ oil pipes, and others. The IEEE 802.15.4 standard is widely deployed to provide communication between sensors and an access point in the 2.45 GHz band. The data captured by these sensors need to be forwarded to a head-end station that will process the received information and, possibly, make some control decisions. Nevertheless, these head-end stations may be very far from the sensor coverage areas, in such a way that the communication between these entities cannot be performed reliably by means of cables or other wireless technologies. In this case, it is possible to use a radio-over-fiber (RoF) system, where the 2.45 GHz RF signals modulate a laser, are transmitted through an optical fiber- taking advantage of the low loss and high immunity to electromagnetic interference offered by this medium- and, finally are photo-detected at the head-end station site. The goal of this project is to develop and to implement RoF equipment with embedded antennas for this kind of sensor applications. In PIPE Phase 1, we intend to develop an antenna that will be embedded to commercial RoF equipment and to perform an experimental evaluation of this system. The development of the whole system would be performed during Phase 2. To the best of our knowledge, this is an original proposal that should not only improve the system performance but also provide a low-cost solution for the considered scenario. (AU)