Scanning the Issue

The current issue of the IETE Journal of Research (Vol.65, No.4, July-Aug. 2018) contains 14 articles. These articles present the ongoing research and developments taking place in the broad areas of Microwave Engineering, Power Systems, Computer Science, Communication Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Control Engineering.

The paper on “A multiple-feedback UWB LNA with low noise and improved linearity”, presents the design of a low noise CMOS amplifier with good linearity property for ultra-wide band applications in the 3.1-10.6 GHz band. A multiple-feedback network is designed to provide good bandwidth extension and compact chip size. The design also caters for noise and distortion cancellation in the input stage. The overall amplifier performance is presented in terms of gain, power dissipation, chip size and other specifications in simulation experiments.

In “An optimized nonlinear controller design for boiler-turbine system using evolutionary algorithms”, an efficient design of a nonlinear controller for boiler-turbine dynamics is presented. The method of finite-time convergent controller is applied to the dynamics that uses the system nonlinearities instead of cancelling or linearizing them. The tuning parameters of the controller are optimized using evolutionary algorithms. The performance of the controller is presented in simulation studies and compared with a fuzzy logic controller for the boiler-turbine system.

The next paper, “Analysis of current harmonics compensation and the effect of frequency variation for single-phase stand-alone PV inverters using PR controller”, presents the study of current harmonics compensation using proportional-resonant controller for single phase stand-alone photovoltaic inverter applications. This is required for the efficient dispatch of photovoltaic power such that it is compliant with standards related to current harmonics requirements. The control algorithm implementation using DSP is compared with the simulation performance and inferences are drawn about the technique.

The paper on “Automatic load frequency control of six areas' hybrid multi-generation power systems using neuro-fuzzy intelligent controller”, presents the design approach to automatic load frequency control of multi-generation hybrid interconnected power system for six unequal areas. An adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is used as a controller. A hybrid model is presented that uses an ANFIS controller and a proportional and integral (PI) controller. The performance of the controller is studied through simulations with step load changes in each area and other variations. The paper draws inferences from the study of different controllers of the interconnected hybrid power system.

The paper on “Circular quarter-mode SIW antenna for WBAN application”, presents the design of a miniaturized substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) antenna for 5.8 GHz wireless body area network (WBAN) purposes. WBAN is required for applications such as health monitoring, diagnosis, military and telemetry. A key aspect of WBAN study is the performance effects due to the proximity of the antenna to the body, for which SIW antenna offers some advantages. The presented quarter-mode SIW cavity backed antenna design is analyzed in simulation studies and the performance thereof is compared with measurements on tissues.

The paper on “Common aperture dual-band dual-polarized planar microstrip antenna”, presents the design of a high-gain, dual-linear polarized microstrip antenna at 1.25 GHz and 2.50 GHz with common aperture. Such antennas are required at L-band and S-band for airborne and space based synthetic aperture radars. Planar antenna arrays at L-band and S-band have been designed and analyzed in the paper. The measured performance parameters of the developed antenna are presented.

In the paper on “Design of MIMO antenna for ultra-wideband applications”, the authors present the design of a shorted planar elliptical metal antenna (SPEMA) for UWB use. Such antennas are relevant for short range communications. The shorting strip reduces the size. Two symmetrical antennas are placed closely for MIMO use. The properties of the MIMO antenna in terms of reflection coefficient, mutual coupling and correlation coefficient are obtained for UWB use. The simulated and measured parameters are compared and inferences are drawn.

The next paper titled “Energy collection and measurement of power of the movement of the human body”, presents a method for harvesting the energy from a human body's movement. An application of such a method is to use the available energy in this manner for low power devices mounted on the human body. An energy conversion mechanism is designed to convert the weak pulse energy storage output that can provide a stable energy source for low power consumption devices. The paper gives results of experiments in terms of energy conversion efficiency of the harvesting scheme.

In “Evolutionary DNA computing algorithm for job scheduling problem”, the authors use the properties of evolutionary DNA computing methods for the problem of job scheduling. It is shown that the given evolutionary DNA computing algorithm may improve the performance over a standard DNA computing algorithm. Other advantages are also presented in the paper.

The following paper on “Multiarea deregulated automatic generation control scheme of power system using imperialist competitive algorithm based robust controller”, presents the design of a proportional integral derivative (PID) controller for deregulated multi-area automatic gain control (AGC) for electricity market transactions. The control of electrical power system continues to be an important practical problem, and this study is towards that direction. The AGC is fine-tuned using the imperialist competitive algorithm. The performance is compared with genetic algorithm tuned PID controller, and inferences are drawn from this study.

In “Novel adaptive filter design for filter bank multicarrier system under doubly dispersive channel conditions”, the authors present an adaptive filter design to address the distortion problems in doubly dispersive channels for filter bank multicarrier systems. Filter bank multicarrier systems have advantages over classical OFDM due to which they are being considered for high data rate applications. The adaptive filter varies its characteristics according to the maximum time domain and frequency domain dispersions of the channel, so as to maximize the signal-to-interference ratio. The performance of the filter is studied and compared with conventional filters under different channel scattering cases.

The next paper on “Quad band waveguide bandpass filter using slot ring and complementary split ring resonators”, presents a combination of slot ring and complementary split ring resonators for the purpose of achieving quad band bandpass filter response in a waveguide. Waveguide filters are required for radar and satellite communication systems and efforts to make them compact and light-weight have been continuing. This work is towards this requirement. The resonators have been fabricated and the measured performance is compared with simulation studies.

In “Swarm intelligence-based optimal design to minimize the sidelobe level of concentric circular antenna array with element failures”, the problem of improving sidelobe performance of the radiation pattern in the event of element failures in an antenna array is addressed. The design introduces a central element. The radiation pattern distortion due to element failures is corrected using optimization techniques. The performance of the optimization technique is compared with previous techniques for three ring concentric circular antenna array with a central element.

Finally the paper on “Uniform model and analysis of PWM DC-DC converter for discontinuous conduction mode”, presents a small signal state space model for pulse width modulated dc-dc converter operating in discontinuous conduction mode. Such converters are used for controlling the dynamic behavior in distributed power systems. The model performance is presented through simulation studies and compared with experiments. The model is compared with conventional small signal model and inferences are drawn.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shiban K. Koul

Shiban K Koul is Dr. R.P.Shenoy Astra Microwave Chair Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He served as Deputy Director (Strategy and Planning) at IIT Delhi from 2012-2016. Currently, he is the Mentor Deputy Director (Strategy & Planning, International affairs and R&D) at IIT Jammu. He is also the Chairman of Astra Microwave Products Limited, Hyderabad. His research interests include: RF MEMS, High Frequency Wireless Communication, Microwave Engineering, Microwave Passive and Active Circuits, Device modeling, Millimeter wave IC design and Reconfigurable microwave circuits including antennas. Completed 34 major sponsored projects, 52 consultancy projects and 56 Technology Development Projects. Authored 366 Papers, 8 state-of-the-art books and 3 Book Chapters. He holds 10 patents and 6 copyrights. He is a Fellow of IEEE, INAE and IETE. He is the Chief Editor of IETE Journal of Research, Associate Editor of the International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies, Cambridge University Press. He served as a Distinguished Microwave Lecturer of IEEE MTT-S for the period 2012-2014.

Recipient of numerous awards including IEEE MTT Society Distinguished Educator Award (2014); Teaching Excellence Award (2012) from IIT Delhi; Award for contributions made to the growth of smart material technology (2012) by the ISSS, Bangalore; Vasvik Award (2012) for the contributions made to the area of Information, Communication Technology (ICT) and M N Saha Memorial Award (2013) from IETE.