The development of contemporary complex technological systems prerequisites interdisciplinary design and simulation methodologies. Such an approach is demonstrated in the present work. Toward manufacturing a hand-held device aiming at internal body temperature measurements using passive microwave radiometer technology, five design and simulation perspectives are elaborated. The proposed system consists of an ultra-wide-band microwave compact antenna, a multi-frequency microwave radiometer, and a digital processing unit, all enclosed in a portable arrangement. A modeling and visualization software, processes acquired measurements according to a predefined model of human breast. The system's concept of operation is based on the fact that a malignant tumor turns out to local temperature increase inside the tissue. By measuring this temperature in successive depths, using different frequency bands in the region of 1-4 GHz, as well as in nearby spatially arranged spots on the human tissue surface, 2-D and 3-D imaging of the temperature distribution are realized. This paper focuses on design and simulation approaches of all system's aspects.

The new generation of wireless communication technologies is already in development. Sixth Generation (6G) mobile communications are designed to push the limits for more bandwidth, more connected devices with minimal power requirements, and better signal quality. Previous technologies used in Fifth Generation (5G) are inadequate to handle the new requirements alone. One of the proposed solutions is the use of Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs). These surfaces, when combined with Artificial Intelligence (AI), may be a very powerful means of achieving this. In this paper, we review studies that focus on the use of RISs controlled by AI in determining the concept of Smart Radio Environment (SRE) for use in 6G wireless networks. We examine applications that span from Supervised to Federated Learning (FL) as enabled by the rise in Edge Computing. As the new generation of mobile devices is expected to have enhanced capabilities to perform computing and AI locally, thus reducing the need to transfer the data to a central hub, more opportunities are created for the extensive use of FL. In this context, we focus on research in FL as used in RIS-aided SRE.

Textile patch antennas of simple rectangular, triangular, and circular shape, for operation in the 2.4–2.5 GHz free industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band, are designed in this paper. Thirty-six patch antenna prototypes have been fabricated by engaging different patch geometries, patch materials, and substrate materials. Each patch antenna is designed after optimization by a genetic algorithm, which evolves the initial dimensions and feeding position of the prototype’s microstrip counterpart to the final optimal geometrical characteristics of the wearable prototype (with the originally selected shape and materials). The impact of the design and fabrication details on antenna performance were thoroughly investigated. Graphene sheet patches were tested against conductive fabric and copper sheet ones, while denim and felt textile substrates were competing. The comparative study between a large number of different graphene, all, and copper textile prototypes, which revealed the excellent suitability of graphene for wearable applications, is the main contribution of this paper. Additional novelty elements are the compact, flexible, and easy-to-fabricate structure of the proposed antennas, as well as the use of state-of-the-art conductive materials and commercially available fabrics and the extensive investigation of many prototypes in various bending conditions. Simulations and measurements of the proposed antennas are in very good agreement. All fabricated prototypes are characterized by flexibility, light weight, mechanical stability, resistance to shock, bending and vibrations, unhindered integration to clothes, low-cost implementation, simple, time-saving, and industry-compatible fabrication process, and low specific absorption rate (SAR) values (computed using rectangular and voxel models); the graphene prototypes are additionally resistant to corrosion, and the circular ones have very good performance under bending conditions. Many antenna prototypes demonstrate interesting characteristics, such as relatively wide bandwidth, adequate gain, firm radiation patterns, coverage of the ISM band even under bending, and very low SAR values. For example, the circular graphene patch (with 55.3 mm diameter attached upon a 165.9 × 165.9 mm) felt substrate CGsF1 prototype accomplishes 109 MHz measured bandwidth, 5.45 dBi gain, 56% efficiency, full coverage of the ISM band under bending, and SAR less than 0.003 W/Kg.

Satellites and spacecraft subsystems in general are vulnerable in terms of electromagnetic interference. Shielded cables, connecting these subsystems as well as the subsystems themselves, are major sources of electromagnetic (EM) emission. The minimization of these emissions is critical in order to achieve EM cleanliness. An accurate model predicting these emissions could offer great insight and enable interference minimization. In this study, a shielded cable model for predicting EM emission via decomposition of contributing phenomena is presented including the ground dielectric properties. The model is built based on a standardized measurement setup and validated for different cases of ground material and cable's position.

In this study, the growing scientific field of alternative biofuels was examined, with respect to hydrochars produced from renewable biomasses. Hydrochars are the solid products of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and their properties depend on the initial biomass and the temperature and duration of treatment. The basic (Scopus) and advanced (Citespace) analysis of literature showed that this is a dynamic research area, with several sub-fields of intense activity. The focus of researchers on sewage sludge and food waste as hydrochar precursors was highlighted and reviewed. It was established that hydrochars have improved behavior as fuels compared to these feedstocks. Food waste can be particularly useful in co-hydrothermal carbonization with ash-rich materials. In the case of sewage sludge, simultaneous P recovery from the HTC wastewater may add more value to the process. For both feedstocks, results from large-scale HTC are practically non-existent. Following the review, related data from the years 2014–2020 were retrieved and fitted into four different artificial neural networks (ANNs). Based on the elemental content, HTC temperature and time (as inputs), the higher heating values (HHVs) and yields (as outputs) could be successfully predicted, regardless of original biomass used for hydrochar production. ANN₃ (based on C, O, H content, and HTC temperature) showed the optimum HHV predicting performance (R² 0.917, root mean square error 1.124), however, hydrochars’ HHVs could also be satisfactorily predicted by the C content alone (ANN₁, R² 0.897, root mean square error 1.289).

Biochar and biochar-based composites are multi-functional materials with a wide range of environmental and other applications. A new and emerging application is in the field of modern communication systems as materials with significant electromagnetic shielding effectiveness. In this study, biochar was prepared from olive tree prunings which was subsequently used at various dosages to prepare composite samples with carbon black and polytetrafluoroethylene as binder. The electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of the samples were measured in the frequency range of 1-3 GHz, using a simple, user-friendly and reliable experimental set-up. The results showed that raw, unmodified biochar had a low shielding effectiveness in the range of 1.5-4 dB however, it slightly increased as the thickness of the sample increased from 0.1 to 0.5 mm. Modifying biochar with the 20 %w/w acetylene black largely increased its shielding effectiveness, reaching the value of 39 dB in the same frequency range. Our approach demonstrated that raw biochar can be used as a substrate to develop composite materials with significant shielding effectiveness and assess their performance with a quick and simple laboratory method.