Chiral metamaterials (CMMs) are widely used to implement devices that transform the polarization of an incident electromagnetic wave, such as polarization rotators and linear to circular converters, but rarely used as circular polarization converters. This letter presents a CMM that changes the handedness of a circularly polarized incident wave. This structure, which presents subwavelength thickness, provides polarization conversion with independence on both the front and back directions and the handedness of the incident wave. High polarization conversion efficiency is shown by both simulations and experiments.

The unquestionable advantages of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems are having a strong influence on the development of new wireless systems, both in wireless local-area networks (WLANs), and in those designed to offer broadband fixed wireless access (BFWA) services in wireless metropolitan-area networks (WMANs). The MIMO channel characterization in different environments and for different operating frequency bands is a crucial factor in the design of new systems and standards, and for adequate planning of existing systems. This article makes two main contributions. First, the experimental characterization of a 2 times 2 MIMO channel at a frequency of 2.4 GHz in a canonical outdoor-indoor scenario is presented. The channel characterization performed includes the analysis of the spatial correlation between the MIMO system subchannels and its impact on the channel capacity. Second, on the basis of the capacity results obtained, a proposal is made for the use of a 2 times 2 MIMO system in outdoor-indoor scenarios for BFWA applications in metropolitan environments. The proposal is based on the experimentally verified hypothesis that the path loss due to building penetration can be practically compensated for by the diversity gain of 2 times 2 systems

In this paper, a path loss characterization at millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies is performed in a typical indoor office environment. Path loss results were derived from propagation channel measurements collected in the 25–40 GHz frequency band, in both line-of-sight (LOS) and obstructed-LOS (OLOS) propagation conditions. The channel measurements were performed using a frequency-domain channel sounder, which integrates an amplified radio over fiber (RoF) link to avoid the high losses at mmWave. The path loss was analyzed in the 26 GHz, 28 GHz, 33 GHz and 38 GHz frequency bands through the close-in free space reference distance (CI) and the floating-intercept (FI) models. These models take into account the distance dependence of the path loss for a single frequency. Nevertheless, to jointly study the distance and frequency dependence of the path loss, multi-frequency models were considered. The parameters of the ABG (A-alpha, B-beta and G-gamma) and the close-in free space reference distance with frequency path loss exponent (CIF) models were derived from the channel measurements in the whole 25–40 GHz band under the minimum mean square error (MMSE) approach. The results show that, in general, there is some relationship between the model parameters and the frequency. Path loss exponent (PLE) values smaller than the theoretical free space propagation were obtained, showing that there are a waveguide effect and a constructive interference of multipath components (MPCs). Since the measurements were obtained in the same environment and with the same configuration and measurement setup, it is possible to establish realistic comparisons between the model parameters and the propagation behavior at the different frequencies considered. The results provided here allow us to have a better knowledge of the propagation at mmWave frequencies and may be of interest to other researchers in the simulation and performance evaluation of future wireless communication systems in indoor hotspot environments.

In this paper, the multipactor RF breakdown in a parallel-plate waveguide partially filled with a ferrite slab magnetized normal to the metallic plates is studied. An external magnetic field is applied along the vertical direction between the plates in order to magnetize the ferrite. Numerical simulations using an in-house 3-D code are carried out to obtain the multipactor RF voltage threshold in this kind of structures. The presented results show that the multipactor RF voltage threshold at certain frequencies becomes considerably lower than for the corresponding classical metallic parallel-plate waveguide with the same vacuum gap.

This paper presents a measurement-based comparison between distributed and concentrated massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, which are called D-mMIMO and C-mMIMO systems, in an indoor environment considering a 400 MHz bandwidth centered at 3.5 GHz. In both cases, we have considered an array of 64 antennas in the base station and eight simultaneously active users. The work focuses on the characterization of both schemes in the up-link, considering the analysis of the sum capacity, the total spectral efficiency (SE) achievable by using the zero forcing (ZF) combining method, as well as the user fairness. The effect of the power imbalance between the different transmitters or user terminal (UT) locations, and thus, the benefits of performing an adequate power control are also investigated. The differences between the C-mMIMO and D-mMIMO channel performances are explained through the observation of the structure of their respective measured channel matrices through parameters such as the condition number or the power imbalance between the channels established by each UT. The channel measurements have been performed in the frequency domain, emulating a massive MIMO system in the framework of a time-domain duplex orthogonal frequency multiple access network (TDD-OFDM-MIMO). The characterization of the MIMO channel is based on the virtual array technique for both C-mMIMO and D-mMIMO systems. The deployment of the C-mMIMO and D-MIMO systems, as well as the distribution of users in the measurement environment, has been arranged as realistically as possible, avoiding the movement of people or machines.