Wireless Multiplexing Agile Antenna-Based Control System

Multiplexing and Multiple access technologies are becoming vital components for high-performance wireless communication system. Whereas multiplexing techniques employing either multiple antennas or multiband/wideband antennas for multiplexing are commonly used, these techniques have inherent drawbacks. A feasible solution to this is to employ frequency reconfigurable or frequency agile antennas. This approach has advantages from both multiple antenna and multiband/wideband antenna designs. In this paper, a hardware implementation of a proposed biasing and control circuit/system for wireless multiplexing that utilizes a frequency reconfigurable or frequency agile antenna is reported. The device comprises a microcontroller, DAC, CMOS oscillator, power module and a USB interface for communication with a custom-built software installed on a PC. The device has functions for control, digital signal processing and de-multiplexing. The device is fed with an input multiplexed signal, and the de-multiplexed output signals are extracted and displayed on the graphical user interface of the software. Due to the re-configurability and programmability of the device, it presents a flexible, cost effective solution for a variety of real-world applications.