ConcreteCom

Abstract

Piezo-electric transducers (PZTs) as multi-functional devices can be effectively used both for sensing and actuation as well as for energy harvesting. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of utilizing PZTs as transceivers to communicate structural or control information via concrete conduits for building structural health monitoring. Extensive measurement study provides a detailed characterization of concrete channel properties. Using software defined radio technologies, we develop basic communication modules and successfully demonstrate the practicability of ConcreteCom, a new communication paradigm in support of data rate up to 10Kbps in our concrete beam testbed.

Stress wave communication in concrete: I. Characterization of a smart aggregate based concrete channel

“…In this work, we shall assess the channel capacity of single-input single-output (SISO) and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) concrete channels in order to quantify the feasible limit of concrete stress wave communications. Our research also provides a model of the concrete channel response which confirms much of the same characteristics observed by Kailaswar et al [7]; a lower gain at higher frequency. With the intent of crossvalidation, we use three methods different from that of Kailaswar et al [7] to measure the frequency response measurement for our SISO channel.…”

“…Our research also provides a model of the concrete channel response which confirms much of the same characteristics observed by Kailaswar et al [7]; a lower gain at higher frequency. With the intent of crossvalidation, we use three methods different from that of Kailaswar et al [7] to measure the frequency response measurement for our SISO channel. In addition, we quantify the consumed power of an SA to assess the practicality of our stress wave communication system.…”

“…SAs play a critical role in impedance based and wavebased approaches to SHM. Serendipitously, SAs are essential for implementing a stress wave communication system as SAs facilitate transmission of modulated signals [7] through concrete blocks. Even though SAs are widely utilized in research and practice, not many studies focus on the properties of the SAs themselves.…”

“…Recent years have seen a growing interest in the use of SAs for stress wave communications [7], which provides a solution for link communications at locations with poor radio frequency penetration, with such locations including underground or underwater. This innovative use of SAs supports the undeniable necessity of an accurate channel response for data-bearing signal transmission.…”

“…Recent work by Kailaswar et al [7] determined that a concrete channel introduces little multipath distortion to signal reception while providing an estimation of the concrete channel response. However, the questions towards concrete channel capacity remains unanswered.…”