RF-Connect Lab within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), NDSU, is primarily focused on the field of Antenna, RFID, and wireless sensor research for Internet of Things (IoT) based applications. This lab is located in room No 205 of the Electrical Engineering building which has a space of approximately 2500 sq. ft. This space is used for simulating, manufacturing, and testing antennas, antenna arrays, RFID tags and sensors, electromagnetic devices and RF circuits. This lab has 6 Desktop and 3 laptop computers. The facilities in the RF Connect Lab include commercial Electromagnetic solver software tools such as ANSYS HFSS, CST Studio Suite, Agilent ADS that are instrumental to accomplish the research project illustrated in this proposal. The research lab, led by Dr. Dey, also has access to high performance analytical and simulation tools such as COMSOL Multiphysics, MATLAB and Origin pro.
 

The RF-Connect research lab also has access to ECE department workspace and is equipped with standard power supplies, soldering stations, microcontroller development boards, and FPGA tool kits. Among the test equipment, the lab houses various oscilloscopes and function generators. There are two 3D printing machines that can be used for proposed research activities. All these resources and facilities are available for researchers for the development and experimental validation of the project activities. The following set of equipment are available to support the current research projects:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• Anechoic chamber with an antenna positioner
  
  NETWORK ANALYZERS:

• Keysight E8361C 10 MHz- 67 GHz PNA Programmable Vector Network Analyzer

• Keysight E5071C 300 kHz - 20 GHz ENA Series Network Analyzer.

• Agilent 300 KHz – 20 GHz N5230A PNA-L Vector Network Analyzer

• Agilent E5071C 100 kHz - 8.5 GHz ENA Series Network Analyzer

• Agilent E5071C 100 kHz - 4.5 GHz ENA Series Network Analyzer

• HP 8753E 30 kHz - 6.0 GHz Network Analyzer

• SeeSii 4-inch Nano VNA 50 kHz-6.3 GHz Portable Vector Network Analyzer

• SeeSii LibreVNA 100 kHz-6 GHz Portable Vector Network Analyzer
  
  IMPEDANCE ANALYZERS:

• Agilent 4395A 10 Hz - 500 MHz/10 Hz - 500 MHz/ 100 kHz - 500 MHz Network/Spectrum/ Impedance Analyzer.

• Agilent 1 MHz – 3 GHz E4991A RF Impedance Analyzer
  
  SPECTRUM ANALYZERS:

• Agilent E4402B 9 kHz - 3.0 GHz Spectrum Analyzer

• HP 8590A 10 kHz - 1.5 GHz Spectrum Analyzer

• 9 KHz – 26.5 GHz Agilent 54853 Spectrum Analyzer
  
  OSCILLOSCOPES:

• Tektronix DPO5104 1GHz 4-channel Oscilloscope

• Agilent 54853A DSO 2.5GHz 4-channel Oscilloscope
  
  ANTENNAS:

• 25 MHz - 4 GHz Log Periodic Biconical Antenna

• 10 kHz - 30 MHz ETS-Lindgren Active Loop Antenna

• 30 MHz - 300 MHz Biconical Antenna

• A.H. Systems 25 MHz - 1.0 GHz Tuned Dipole Kit

• Fischer Custom Communications 10 kHz - 250 MHz Matched Current Probes

• 4 - TDK 1 GHz - 18 GHz Horn Antennas 

• A. H. Systems 25 MHz - 4 GHz Biological Antenna

• TDK 1 GHz – 18 GHz horn antennas (x 4)

• Two 860-960 MHz Alien ALR-8698 RFID Antenna (x 2)
  
  ANTENNA POSITIONERS:

• Model 6000 DC - 18 GHz Desktop Antenna Measurement System by Diamond Engineering.
  
  READERS:

• Impinj Speedway Revolution R 420 UHF RFID Reader (4 Port)

• Walabot Developer 3.3 GHz -10.3 GHz Programmable 3D Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) RF Reader for Chipless RFID Applications
  
  TEST CABLES:

• Micro-Coax 26.5 GHz cables with assembly part number UFA210A-0-0240-30070U

• Micro-Coax 26.5 GHz cables with assembly part number UFA210A-0-1800-300300 

• Micro-Coax 40 GHz cables with assembly part number UFB142C-0-0240-300300 
  
  GENERATORS/SOURCES/AMPLIFIERS:

• Agilent 81160A 330/500 MHz Pulse Function Arbitrary Generator

• Agilent N5181A 100 KHz - 3.0 GHz Analog Signal Generator

• 2 - Mini-Circuits 700 MHz - 2.5 GHz (PN: ZHL-30W-252-S+) Power Amplifiers
  
  RAPID PROTOTYPING:

• MakerBot 3D printing machine

• S63 LPKF milling machine

• Laser milling machine

• Screen printing processes

• Photolithography processes

• Microcutter for conformal materials