Design and Validation of a Ten-Port Waveguide Reflectometer Sensor: Application to Efficiency Measurement and Optimization of Microwave-Heating Ovens

Sensors

Juan L. Pedreño-Molina¹  Juan Monzó-Cabrera¹  Antonio Lozano-Guerrero¹ 

[1] Departamento de Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicaciones, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena / Campus Muralla del Mar s/n, 30202 Cartagena, Murcia, Spain; E-Mails:

关键词: Reflectometer;    microwave sensor;    scattering parameter;    neural calibration;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s8127833

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

This work presents the design, manufacturing process, calibration and validation of a new microwave ten-port waveguide reflectometer based on the use of neural networks. This low-cost novel device solves some of the shortcomings of previous reflectometers such as non-linear behavior of power sensors, noise presence and the complexity of the calibration procedure, which is often based on complex mathematical equations. These problems, which imply the reduction of the reflection coefficient measurement accuracy, have been overcome by using a higher number of probes than usual six-port configurations and by means of the use of Radial Basis Function (RBF) neural networks in order to reduce the influence of noise and non-linear processes over the measurements. Additionally, this sensor can be reconfigured whenever some of the eight coaxial power detectors fail, still providing accurate values in real time. The ten-port performance has been compared against a high-cost measurement instrument such as a vector network analyzer and applied to the measurement and optimization of energy efficiency of microwave ovens, with good results.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2008 by the authors; licensee Molecular Diversity Preservation International, Basel, Switzerland.