Electronic and Electrical Engineering

The Centre for Mobile Communications Research was established in 1998 in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering and specialises in antennas and associated devices for mobile telephony in GSM, GPS, UMTS, UWB, BluetoothTM and WLAN applications.
A key priority for the centre is to encourage cross fertilization between physical, firm and soft aspects of communications technology. Particular strengths are expertise in the design of small antennas for mobile communications systems including numerical EM modelling and chamber measurement; the issues of convergence and mobility, new protocols for multiple access in current systems as well as Ultra Wide Band Radio.
The CMCR's infrastructure includes a range of modelling tools and measurements facilities such as network and spectrum analysers (up to 75GHz), two anechoic chambers suitable for full characterisation of antennas and handset measurements, and a Dosimetric Assessment System (DASY-4) for standardised Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) measurements.

The Centre has built a research record on both academic subjects and industrial oriented research programmes. Responding to the growth in the telecommunications sector, the CMCR was established in 1998 to exploit a strong research calibre in the design of antennas and associated components for mobility applications. The work has focused on the miniaturisation of antennas, with emphasis on preserving their in-use efficiency through isolation from the application, low user-proximity influences on the products and a significant reduction to the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) in the user.

Current activities include research into antennas and assessing their interaction within their environment. This includes conventional mobile phone antennas, PDA's, Metamaterial enhanced structures and how the device user effects its performance.

In 2004, the CMCR expanded its personnel to enhance our expertise in the fields of UWB, Wireless AdHoc Networks and additional low-SAR research.

PhD Research Projects
"UWB Radio",
by Zubair Ansari.  Supervisor Dr Robert Edwards

"Antenna Radiation Pattern Analysis in Different Medias Using Method of Moments",
by Shahid Bashir.  Supervisors Dr Robert Edwards, Prof. Yiannis Vardaxoglou

"Silicon Fabry-Perot(etalon) Microcavity Sensor for E-Field Measurement",
by Arba'iah Inn.  Supervisor Rob Seager

"Flexible UWB Antenna",
by Lei Ma.  Supervisor Dr Robert Edwards

"Measurement Techniques for Wearable Antennas",
by Muhammad Irfan Khattak.  Supervisor Dr Robert Edwards

"Design and Characterisation of Small UWB Antennas for Terminal and Consumer Communications Equipment",
by Ioannis Makris.  Supervisors Prof. Yiannis Vardaxoglou, Dr. Dirk Manteuffel

"Flat Plate Metamaterials Based Antenna",
by Nerijus Riauka.  Supervisor Prof. Yiannis Vardaxoglou

"On-body MIMO antennas ",
by Oluwaseun Ojerinde. Supervisors Dr Chinthana Panagamuwa and Dr Robert Edwards

"Comparison Between Random Access and Fixed Access Schemes in UWB for Accommodating Multiple Mobile Users",
by Sharifuddin Sharifuddin.  Supervisor Dr Robert Edwards

"Formalising Routing Protocols for MANET using Finite Automata"
by Qing Wang.  Supervisor Dr Robert Edwards

Past PhD Research Projects
"Low SAR Ferrite Handset Antenna",
by Maria Kitra.  Supervisors Prof. Yiannis Vardaxoglou,  Prof. Jim James

"Convolutional Code Analysis and Designing for Spectral Line Suppression on Impulse Radio Based Ultra Wideband Systems",
by Salvador Villarreal-Reyes.  Supervisor Dr Robert Edwards

Loughborough University's Wireless Communications Research Group
Queen's University of Belfast's Institute of Electronics Communications & Information Technology
Queen Mary, University of London's Antenna & Electromagnetics Laboratory
European Union's "Metamorphose - Network of Excellence"
The Ohio State University's Electroscience Laboratory
IMST GmbH
Antenova
Antrum Ltd 
OFCOM's Spectrum Efficiency Scheme with

• Vector Fields Limited,
• European Antennas Limited,
• Plextek Limited,
• Quotient Associates Limited

Loughborough University's School of Art and Design
Loughborough University's Sleep Research Centre
Motorola
Orange
Sarantel

Examples of recent publications.

Whittow, W.G., Panagamuwa, C.J., Edwards, R.M. and Vardaxoglou, J.C., The Energy Absorbed in the Human Head Due to Ring-Type Jewelry and Face-Illuminating Mobile Phones Using a Dipole and a Realistic Source, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 56(12), December 2008, pp 3812-3817, ISSN 0018-926X.

Panagamuwa, C.J., Chauraya, A. and Vardaxoglou, J.C., Frequency and Beam Reconfigurable Antenna Using Photoconducting Switches, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 54(2), February 2006, pp 449-454, ISSN 0018 926X.

Wang, S., Feresidis, A., Goussetis, G. and Vardaxoglou, J.C., High-Gain Subwavelength Resonant Cavity Antennas Based on Metamaterial Ground Planes, IEE Proceedings, Microwaves, Antennas and Propagation, 153(1), February 2006, pp. 1-6, ISBN 1350 2417