An efficient iterative algorithm for computation of scattering from dielectric objects.

We have developed an efficient iterative algorithm for electromagnetic scattering of arbitrary but relatively smooth dielectric objects. The algorithm iteratively adapts the equivalent surface currents until the electromagnetic fields inside and outside the dielectric objects match the boundary conditions. Theoretical convergence is analyzed for two examples that solve scattering of plane waves incident upon air/dielectric slabs of semi-infinite and finite thicknesses. We applied the iterative algorithm for simulation of sinusoidally-perturbed dielectric slab on one side and the method converged for such unsmooth surfaces. We next simulated the shift in radiation pattern of a 6-inch dielectric lens for different offsets of the feed antenna on the focal plane. The result is compared to that of the Geometrical Optics (GO).

A real-time heart rate analysis for a remote millimeter wave I-Q sensor.

This paper analyzes heart rate (HR) information from physiological tracings collected with a remote millimeter wave (mmW) I-Q sensor for biometric monitoring applications. A parameter optimization method based on the nonlinear Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm is used. The mmW sensor works at 94 GHz and can detect the vital signs of a human subject from a few to tens of meters away. The reflected mmW signal is typically affected by respiration, body movement, background noise, and electronic system noise. Processing of the mmW radar signal is, thus, necessary to obtain the true HR. The down-converted received signal in this case consists of both the real part (I-branch) and the imaginary part (Q-branch), which can be considered as the cosine and sine of the received phase of the HR signal. Instead of fitting the converted phase angle signal, the method directly fits the real and imaginary parts of the HR signal, which circumvents the need for phase unwrapping. This is particularly useful when the SNR is low. Also, the method identifies both beat-to-beat HR and individual heartbeat magnitude, which is valuable for some medical diagnosis applications. The mean HR here is compared to that obtained using the discrete Fourier transform.