This work is intended to develop a leading-edge smart radio transceiver technology generic for wireless communications with applications ranging from cellular phones to remote e-health monitoring. With the technology, transmitted radio energy will be processed and sent in the directions of received signals. As a result, not only is the efficiency of a communication system such as battery life is much improved, potential radio pollution including electromagnetic health hazards are significantly reduced. Specifically, a 2.4GHz and a 5 GHz transceiver antenna system will be developed and commercialized with Seimac Ltd for its wireless telemetry applications and a spin-off company for manufacturing the resulting wireless products may be created. In the long run, through this project, a well-equipped center for both industrial-oriented research/development/consultation and training in the area of wireless technology using RF and microwave technology will be established in the Atlantic Canada.

In summary, the short-term objective of the proposed work is to develop a smart retrodirective transceiving antenna system that is smart not only in receiving (as most of current products does) but also in transmitting for wireless applications. Consequently, it will lead to increased economic activities. The long-term objective is to establish a well- equipped basis for both industrial-oriented research and training in the area of radio and microwave technology for wireless communication industry in the Atlantic Canada.

The partner of this work is Seimac Ltd., located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. They will provide sponsorship, support and monitoring for this work including the commercialization of the final products. Senior technical staffs of the company will be participating in the work and ensuring the progress as scheduled. The fact that Seimac is the world's largest manufacturer of transmitter terminals for the ARGOS environmental monitoring satellite radio transmitters for the high data rate GOES satellite system has rendered them well-qualified expertise in making the work successful.

The proponent of this work is the Microwave and Wireless Research (MWR) Group of Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Dalhousie University, led by Dr. Zhizhang (David) Chen. The group has been working in the area of RF/microwave technology for wireless communications for more than 8 years and published over one hundred journal/conference papers and industrial reports in the areas of RF/microwave circuit and system design and computational electromagnetics. The leader of the group, Dr. Chen, is known internationally and nationally in the area of electromagnetic field modeling and simulations for RF/microwave circuit and components. He was a sole/principal investigator of more than 10 grants from both government and industry, including a recent Canadian NSERC Strategic Grant on RF circuits. For more information, visit www.dal.ca/~emgroup.

Design and Simulation of Active Integrated Antennas
  Yan Chen; Zhizhang (David) Chen (Supervisor)
  M. A. Sc. thesis, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
  Dalhousie University, 2003

A Dual-gate FET Subharmonic Injection-Locked Self-Oscillating Active
Integrated Antenna for RF Transmission
  Yan Chen and Zhizhang Chen
  IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters, June, 2003,
  Vol. 13, No. 6, pp. 199-201

An Overview of Adaptive Antenna Technologies for Wireless
Communications
  Chris Loadman, Zhizang (David) Chen, Dylan Jorgensen
  Proceeding of CNSR 2003 Conference, Moncton, New Brunswick,
  May 15-16, 2003 > full paper (PDF 194 KB)

Retrodirective Antenna Systems for Wireless Communications
  Dylan Jorgensen, Chris Loadman, Zhizhang (David) Chen
  Proceeding of CNSR 2003 Conference, Moncton, New Brunswick,
  May 15-16, 2003 > full paper (PDF 240 KB)

A Study of Retrodirective Array Performance in the Presence of Multipath
  Chris Loadman and Zhizhang Chen
  Proceeding of CNSR 2004 Conference, Fredericton, New Brunswick,
  May 19-21, 2003

Frequency Multiplication and QPSK Modulation With Subharmonic
Injection-locked Active Antenna
  Xinping Zeng, and Zhizhang Chen
  Proceeding of CNSR 2004 Conference, Fredericton, New Brunswick,
  May 19-21, 2003

The research team (MWR laboratory): www.dal.ca/~emgroup

Dr. Zhizhang (David) Chen: www.dal.ca/~zdchen

Dalhousie Electrical and Computer Engineering Department: www.ece.dal.ca

Dalhousie University: www.dal.ca

[Last Revised: 2004 May 31]