Multiparameter Active Antenna Sensor

With the expansion of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) in various sectors, the number of connected devices is expected to reach 75 billion by 2025. One of the main use-cases of such devices is to sense one or more physical parameters for monitoring and/or actuation purposes. The rapid expansion and massive deployment of these devices increase the need for new design considerations to support their future sustainability in terms of hardware usage and power consumption. In response, this project explores the revolutionary secondary use of the sensor node antenna for multi-parameter sensing, using sensitive sensing materials deployed on the antenna surface. This eliminates the conventional use of sensor integrated circuits (ICs) and microcontrollers and their associated power consumption. The goal is to move the complexity from the sensor node to the computation of the sensor data receiving station, where signal processing and machine learning techniques are employed to remotely sense the considered physical parameters. The sensing is done by detecting changes on the antenna radiation characteristics caused by the applied sensing materials. The idea of using the antenna as an active sensor for sensing multiple parameters is an absolute novelty. This can reduce the hardware use of a standard sensor node by at least 50% (i.e. no sensor ICs, sampler and processor, and memory will be needed along with their associated power consumption), resulting in more than doubling their battery lifetime. In this project we demonstrated a dual-function sensing and communication antenna, including the theoretical basis and design of the antenna, and the associated signal processing and machine learning techniques for detection and concentration estimation of the sensed analytes. In the short term, this will pave the way for new frontiers in sensing techniques and stimulate further research and innovation efforts. We expect that this will enable mass distributed monitoring using antenna infrastructure in different environments (outdoor and indoor). In the long term, the results will influence the future design of antenna systems towards dual functionality with additional sensing capabilities. Strategically, the project strengthened research-based professional educations and practices within electronics to meet the current and future needs of experts with the new knowledge and the innovation that the project brings. The ambition is to create a new generation of IoT devices that use the antenna not only for radiating electromagnetic waves, but also has a secondary functionality of actively sensing multiple physical parameters.

The project generated the following new knowledge advances and provided the theoretical basis for the development of antenna sensors for sensing gas and liquid solutions: i) the development of methodologies for antenna impedance-based sensing. ii) the development of novel sensing materials for surface functionalisation of the antenna surface. iii) new classes of signal processing and machine learning techniques for estimating analyte concentration levels from antenna impedance data. In the short term, the generated knowledge (results) can pave the way for new frontiers in sensing techniques and stimulate further research and innovation efforts. We expect that this can enable mass distributed monitoring using antenna infrastructure in different environments (outdoor and indoor). In the long term, the results can influence the future design of antenna systems towards dual functionality with additional sensing capabilities. We estimate that such sensing solutions can reduce the hardware complexity of standard sensor nodes by at least 50% and more than double their battery life. If further optimisations are made to increase the sensing accuracy of antenna sensors, this could be a game changer for the IoT industry, creating new value creation opportunities.

With the expansion of the internet-of-things (IoT) in various sectors, the number of connected devices is expected to reach 75 billion by 2025. One of the main use-cases of such devices is to sense one or more physical parameters for monitoring and/or actuation purposes. The rapid expansion and massive deployment of these devices rise the need for new design consideration to support its future sustainability in terms of hardware use and power consumption. Triggered by this, the MAAS project explores the revolutionary secondary use of the sensor node antenna for multiparameter active sensing purposes using sensitive sensing materials deployed on the antenna surface. This eliminates the conventional use of the sensor integrated circuits (ICs) and microcontrollers, and their associated power consumption. The idea is to move the complexity from the sensor node to the computation of the gateway station, where signal processing and machine learning techniques are employed to remotely sense the physical parameters. This is done by detecting changes on the radiation characteristics of the antenna sensor caused by the applied sensing materials. The idea of using the antenna as a multiparameter active sensor is an absolute novelty. If successful, it will reduce the hardware use of a standard sensor node by at least 50% (i.e. no sensor ICs, sampler and processor, and memory will be needed along with their associated power consumption), resulting in more than doubling their battery lifetime. Strategically, the project will strengthen the research-based professional educations and practices within electronics to meet the current and future needs of experts with the new knowledge and the innovation that the project brings. The ambition is to create a new generation of IoT devices that use the antenna not only for radiating electromagnetic waves, but also has a secondary functionality of actively sensing multiple physical parameters (without using sensor ICs and a microprocessor).