Human skin is a remarkable organ. It consists of an integrated, stretchable network of sensors that relay information about tactile and thermal stimuli to the brain, allowing us to maneuver within our environment safely and effectively. Interest in large-area networks of electronic devices inspired by human skin is motivated by the promise of creating autonomous intelligent robots and biomimetic prosthetics, among other applications. The development of electronic networks comprised of flexible, stretchable, and robust devices that are compatible with large-area implementation and integrated with multiple functionalities is a testament to the progress in developing an electronic skin (e-skin) akin to human skin. E-skins are already capable of providing augmented performance over their organic counterpart, both in superior spatial resolution and thermal sensitivity. They could be further improved through the incorporation of additional functionalities (e.g., chemical and biological sensing) and desired properties (e.g., biodegradability and self-powering). Continued rapid progress in this area is promising for the development of a fully integrated e-skin in the near future.

25th Anniversary Article: The Evolution of Electronic Skin (E-Skin): A Brief History, Design Considerations, and Recent Progress

Before the emergence of ultra-wideband (UWB) radios, widely used wireless communications were based on sinusoidal carriers, and impulse technologies were employed only in specific applications (e.g. radar). In 2002, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) allowed unlicensed operation between 3.1–10.6 GHz for UWB communication, using a wideband signal format with a low EIRP level (−41.3dBm/MHz). UWB communication systems then emerged as an alternative to narrowband systems and significant effort in this area has been invested at the regulatory, commercial, and research levels.

IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques and Antennas and Propagation Announce a Joint Special Issue on Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Technology

With the development of the Internet of Things (IoT), the demand for thin and wearable electronic devices is growing quickly The essential part of the IoT is communication between devices, which requires radio-frequency (RF) antennas Metals are widely used for antennas; however, their bulkiness limits the fabrication of thin, lightweight, and flexible antennas Recently, nanomaterials such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, and conductive polymers came into play However, poor conductivity limits their use We show RF devices for wireless communication based on metallic two-dimensional (2D) titanium carbide (MXene) prepared by a single-step spray coating We fabricated a ~100-nm-thick translucent MXene antenna with a reflection coefficient of less than −10 dB By increasing the antenna thickness to 8 μm, we achieved a reflection coefficient of −65 dB We also fabricated a 1-μm-thick MXene RF identification device tag reaching a reading distance of 8 m at 860 MHz Our finding shows that 2D titanium carbide MXene operates below the skin depth of copper or other metals as well as offers an opportunity to produce transparent antennas Being the most conductive, as well as water-dispersible, among solution-processed 2D materials, MXenes open new avenues for manufacturing various classes of RF and other portable, flexible, and wearable electronic devices

https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/advances/4/9/eaau0920.full.pdf

2D titanium carbide (MXene) for wireless communication

This paper presents a novel kind of patch antenna with high-selectivity filtering responses and high-gain radiation performance. The proposed antenna is mainly composed of a driven patch and a stacked patch, with its entire height being ${0.09\lambda }$ . Three shorting pins and a U-slot are embedded in the driven patch to enhance out-of-band suppression levels and skirt selectivity near the lower band-edge, whereas the stacked patch provides a sharp roll-off rate at the upper band-edge and also an enhanced gain. Without using extra filtering circuits, the proposed antenna exhibits a quasi-elliptic boresight gain response with three radiation nulls. For demonstration, an antenna is implemented covering the LTE band (2.3–2.7 GHz). The antenna achieves an average gain of 9.7 dBi within passband, and out-of-band suppression levels of more than 21 dB.

High-Gain Filtering Patch Antenna Without Extra Circuit

Ever since the deployment of the first-generation of mobile telecommunications, wireless communication technology has evolved at a dramatically fast pace over the past four decades. The upcoming fifth-generation (5G) holds a great promise in providing an ultra-fast data rate, a very low latency, and a significantly improved spectral efficiency by exploiting the millimeter-wave spectrum for the first time in mobile communication infrastructures. In the years beyond 2030, newly emerged data-hungry applications and the greatly expanded wireless network will call for the sixth-generation (6G) communication that represents a significant upgrade from the 5G network – covering almost the entire surface of the earth and the near outer space. In both the 5G and future 6G networks, millimeter-wave technologies will play an important role in accomplishing the envisioned network performance and communication tasks. In this paper, the relevant millimeter-wave enabling technologies are reviewed: they include the recent developments on the system architectures of active beamforming arrays, beamforming integrated circuits, antennas for base stations and user terminals, system measurement and calibration, and channel characterization. The requirements of each part for future 6G communications are also briefly discussed.

/pdf/the-role-of-millimeter-wave-technologies-in-5g-6g-wireless-4m59yx34jb.pdf

The Role of Millimeter-Wave Technologies in 5G/6G Wireless Communications

A low-profile, high-gain, and wideband metasurface (MS)-based filtering antenna with high selectivity is investigated in this communication. The planar MS consists of nonuniform metallic patch cells, and it is fed by two separated microstrip-coupled slots from the bottom. The separation between the two slots together with a shorting via is used to provide good filtering performance in the lower stopband, whereas the MS is elaborately designed to provide a sharp roll-off rate at upper band edge for the filtering function. The MS also simultaneously works as a high-efficient radiator, enhancing the impedance bandwidth and antenna gain of the feeding slots. To verify the design, a prototype operating at 5 GHz has been fabricated and measured. The reflection coefficient, radiation pattern, antenna gain, and efficiency are studied, and reasonable agreement between the measured and simulated results is observed. The prototype with dimensions of 1.3 $\lambda_{0}\times1.3\ \lambda_{0}\times0.06\ \lambda_{0}$ has a 10-dB impedance bandwidth of 28.4%, an average gain of 8.2 dBi within passband, and an out-of-band suppression level of more than 20 dB within a very wide stop-band.

A Low-Profile High-Gain and Wideband Filtering Antenna With Metasurface

This paper presents a novel dual-band base station antenna array using filtering antenna elements for size miniaturization. It consists of two $1 \times 6$ subarrays arranged side by side, which are designed for Digital Cellular System (DCS: 1710–1880 MHz) and Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA: 1920–2170 MHz) applications. The two subarrays are composed of filtering antenna elements with high in-band radiation efficiency and out-of-band radiation rejection levels. The radiation of the DCS subarray is suppressed in the WCDMA band and vice versa. Mutual coupling between the two subarrays, therefore, can be suppressed and high isolation can be obtained with reduced subarray spacing. For demonstration, a dual-band filtering antenna array is designed and fabricated. The overall width of the array is only 206 mm, which is much narrower than that of typical industrial products ( $\sim 290$ mm). An isolation of 35 dB is obtained between the two subarrays without any decoupling network. The measured antenna gains are about 14.2 and 14.5 dBi for DCS and WCDMA bands, respectively, and the 3-dB beamwidths of the horizontal radiation patterns are 65° ± 5°. In addition, null filling below the main beam in the vertical radiation patterns is realized by elaborately designing a feed network to manipulate the output magnitude and phase of each array element. The proposed array is suitable for potential base station applications.

Dual-Band Base Station Array Using Filtering Antenna Elements for Mutual Coupling Suppression

This paper presents a dual-polarized patch antenna with quasi-elliptic bandpass responses. The proposed antenna is mainly composed of a feeding network, a driven patch, and a stacked patch, with its entire height being $0.09\lambda $ . The feeding network consists of two orthogonal H-shaped lines that coupled to the driven patch, each for one polarization. The elaborately-designed feeding lines not only ensure a sharp roll-off rate at the lower band edge, but also help to achieve low cross polarization and high isolation between two feeding ports. On the other hand, the upper stacked patch provides improved suppression levels at the upper stopband and also an enhanced gain within passband. Consequently, a compact dual-polarized antenna with satisfying filtering performance is obtained, without using extra filtering circuits. For demonstration, an antenna is designed to fit the specification of LTE band (2.49–2.69 GHz). The implemented antenna achieves an average a gain of 9 dBi, a cross-polarization ratio of 29 dB, an isolation of 35 dB within LTE band. The out-of-band suppression level is more than 40 dB within the 2G and 3G frequency bands from 1.71–2.17 GHz. It can be used as the antenna elements in multiband base station antenna arrays to reduce the mutual coupling.

Dual-Polarized Filtering Antenna With High Selectivity and Low Cross Polarization

A wideband circularly polarized (CP) trapezoidal dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) is investigated in this letter. The DRA is simply excited by a single 45° inclined slot fed by a microstrip feed line. It is found that the 3-dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of the proposed antenna can be as wide as 21.5%. The antenna gain varies between 5.28 and 8.40 dBi across the antenna passband (3.11-3.86 GHz). This letter also presents a modified trapezoidal DRA that has a notch at its top. The modified version improves the impedance match, as the AR and gain remain almost unchanged. The reflection coefficient, AR, radiation pattern, and antenna gain of each proposed configuration are studied, and reasonable agreement between the measured and simulated results is observed.

Yong Mei Pan

Papers

High-Gain Filtering Patch Antenna Without Extra Circuit

A Low-Profile High-Gain and Wideband Filtering Antenna With Metasurface

Dual-Band Base Station Array Using Filtering Antenna Elements for Mutual Coupling Suppression

Dual-Polarized Filtering Antenna With High Selectivity and Low Cross Polarization

Wideband Circularly Polarized Trapezoidal Dielectric Resonator Antenna