Underground Antenna Structure for Wireless Soil Communication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Establishing reliable wireless communication in underground settings is challenging due to high soil permittivity, soil-air interface characteristics, and real-time soil conditions, leading to signal attenuation, multipath effects, and black-out periods, especially in wireless underground sensor networks (WUSNs).
Innovation Solution
Designing an underground antenna structure with a dielectric substrate and electrical conductors oriented parallel to the soil-air interface, which accommodates changes in soil moisture and permittivity, and includes a wide band antenna with a beamwidth state to maintain a return loss of less than -10 decibels, enhancing communication distances by up to 587% compared to antennas designed based solely on wavelength changes in soil.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If an antenna is designed based solely on wavelength change in soil, then the antenna structure is simpler, but communication distance is limited and unreliable under varying soil conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by designing the antenna to accommodate variations in soil permittivity and moisture content. The antenna structure is optimized to maintain consistent performance across different soil conditions by adjusting design parameters such as conductor geometry, substrate properties, and operating frequency to compensate for environmental variations, thereby improving communication reliability without significantly complicating manufacturing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamics by creating an antenna system that adapts to changing soil conditions. The antenna design incorporates features that allow it to maintain effective communication as soil moisture and permittivity change over time, making the system dynamic rather than static in its response to environmental variations
2Length of stationary object
If an antenna is designed to accommodate changes in soil moisture and permittivity, then communication distance increases by up to 587%, but the antenna structure and design complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes parameter changes by optimizing the antenna's physical and electrical characteristics to perform effectively across a range of soil conditions. By carefully selecting and adjusting parameters such as conductor dimensions, substrate permittivity, and operating frequency, the antenna achieves extended communication distance while managing design complexity through systematic parameter optimization rather than complex structural additions
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies universality by designing an antenna that serves multiple functions: it maintains reliable communication across varying soil moisture levels, adapts to different permittivity conditions, and provides consistent performance across a broad frequency range. This multi-functional design achieves extended communication distance without requiring multiple separate antenna systems for different conditions
3Adaptability or versatility
If the antenna operates in high permittivity soil medium, then wireless underground communication is enabled, but signal attenuation and multipath effects increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by optimizing the antenna's electrical characteristics to compensate for the high permittivity of soil. The design adjusts resonant frequency, impedance matching, and radiation pattern parameters to minimize signal attenuation in the dissipative soil medium, enabling effective underground communication while reducing energy loss through careful parameter selection and optimization
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution significantly increases communication distances and maintains reliable wireless communication in varying soil conditions by adapting to soil moisture changes and permittivity, ensuring effective data collection and transmission in WUSNs.
Implementation Method 1
The one or more electrical conductors are adapted to radiate signals at a frequency in a half-space adjacent to the dissipative medium
Implementation Method 2
reflection from the soil-air interface characteristics
Implementation Method 3
radiating through a dissipative medium
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are disclosed for an underground antenna structure for radiating through a dissipative medium, the antenna structure. The antenna structure includes a dielectric substrate, a feeding structure disposed on the substrate, and one or more electrical conductors. The one or more electrical conductors are disposed on the substrate, oriented, and buried within the dissipative medium. The electrical conductors are also adapted to radiate signals at a frequency in a half-space adjacent to the dissipative medium. The adaptation include a beamwidth state for one or more of the electrical conductors based at least in part on the relative permittivity of the dissipative medium.