Dispersion Relation Magnetoinductive Waveguide: A design tool [Open Source]

Abstract

Magnetoinductive waveguides (MIWs) consist of a series of electrically small resonant loops used to guide magnetic fields and show high promise for applications in communications, body-area networks, power transfer, and sensing. Design of MIWs typically relies on a multi-step process that involves computationally heavy simulations just to reach an initial, non-optimized geometry. This complexity represents a barrier-to-entry for the expanded use of MIWs. In this work, we introduce a MATLAB-based tool for the synthesis of MIW designs. The tool allows the user to input various geometric or circuit parameters for several types of MIWs (e.g., planar, axial, dual-layer). From these values, electrical characteristics, such as mutual coupling and self-inductance, are estimated and used to calculate the theoretical MIW transmission behavior over frequency. The behavior can then be optimized on-the-fly by adjusting the geometric or circuit parameters. Once the desired performance is achieved, the design parameters can be exported for further use, such as validation in a full-wave simulator. This process offers a significant reduction in design iteration cost in terms of both time and computation, offers increased insight that is not present in single simulation suites, and greatly reduces the obstacles for the expansion of MIW applications.