Electromagnetics Laboratories and Demonstrations

There are a set of mini-labs and demonstrations that help illustrate many of the concepts in the class. Experiments include transmission/reflection measurements with transmission lines, magnetic fields and simple electrical machines, measurement of impedance using standing-wave techniques, and the application of network analyzers for measurement of scattering parameters. In addition, you will also learn to run three-dimensional electromagnetic simulations using Ansoft's HFSS to simulate the electromagnetic properties of complex structures.

Sign up for a slot using the sign-up sheet on the door. The labs will commence during week 3. Each lab should take 30-60 minutes based on your experience. Students should form teams of 3/per team and perform the labs/demonstrations together.

Lab demonstrations originally created by Professor M. A. Lieberman.

Wireless Research Instructional Laboratory

A new hands-on laboratory component for EECS 117/142 is under development.  This effort was funded partially by the Vodafone Foundation.  A new laboratory space for undergraduate education related to wireless education has been setup (see above).  The lab is equipped with network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, SWR meters, TRL analyzer, antennas, and 900 MHz transceiver building block boards.  The transceiver building blocks have been designed, constructed, and tested by an undergraduate team under the supervision of Prof. Niknejad.  A typical prototype single transistor 900 MHz LNA and mixer are shown in below.  The LNA measured noise figure performance exceeds the specifications given by the manufacturer reference design.  Design of 900 MHz circuits using discrete components (BJT transistors, inductors, capacitors, resistors) using a single layer PCB requires skill typically attributed to "black magic'' RF designers.  Students with no previous training in RF design have realized working circuits in the course of one semester.  Other blocks, including 900 MHz VCOs, VGAs, and a 100 mW PA have also been constructed and tested.

These blocks will be collected to form the simple transceiver shown below.  The VCO is custom designed by students, but the PLL is a commercial part. These blocks were tested by students enrolled in the communication IC course using network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, and LabVIEW and the National Instruments NI5600/5610 software radio.  The laboratory projects culminated in wireless transmission of data (a bitamp image file) across the room.  Students are exposed to multi-path propagation, equalization, the effect of interference and linearity of the receiver, and other advanced radio and propagation effects.  

This laboratory course was opened to a select group of students in Fall 2005 and will open to the entire class in Fall 2007 onward.  This laboratory is already an integral part of the undergraduate electromagnetics course (EECS 217) taught at UC Berkeley.  Three new experiments have augmented the EM course, including an RFID experiment, a PCB TRL experiment, and a HFSS 3D computer simulation.