Yasir – Page 5

January 27, 2018September 6, 2019Antennas, Fundamentals, LTE, WiFi

Basics of Beamforming in Wireless Communications

In the previous post we had discussed the fundamentals of a Uniform Linear Array (ULA). We had seen that as the number of array elements increases the Gain or Directivity of the array increases. We also discussed the Half Power Beam Width (HPBW) that can be approximated as 0.89×2/N radians. This is quite an accurate estimate provided that the number of array elements ‘N’ is sufficiently large. But the max Gain is always in a direction perpendicular to the array. What if we want the array to have a high Gain in another direction such as 45 degrees. How can […]

January 21, 2018June 26, 2022Antennas, Fundamentals

Fundamentals of a Uniform Linear Array (ULA)

A Uniform Linear Array (ULA) is a collection of sensor elements equally spaced along a straight line. The most common type of sensor is a dipole antenna that can transmit and receive Electromagnetic Waves over the air. Other types of sensors include acoustic sensors that may be used in air or under water. The requirements of a ULA are different for different applications but the most common requirement is to improve the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) and to improve its response (Gain) in a particular direction.

January 14, 2018October 13, 2019Fundamentals, History of Science

Ibn al-Haytham to Maxwell: A Long Road

The journey that started with Ibn al-Haytham experimenting with his Camera Obscura in the eleventh century was completed eight hundred years later by James Clerk Maxwell and Heinrich Hertz. While Maxwell laid down the mathematical framework that described the behavior of Electromagnetic waves, Hertz conclusively proved the existing of these invisible waves through his experiments.

January 6, 2018October 13, 2019Fundamentals, History of Science, Random Thoughts

Omar Khayyam’s Solution to Cubic Equations

Omar Khayyam was a Muslim mathematician and poet of the 11th and 12th centuries (1048-1131). His poetic works known as Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam were translated from Persian to English and made popular by Edward Fitzgerald in the late nineteenth century.

December 31, 2017October 13, 2019Fundamentals, History of Science, Random Thoughts

On the Origins of Snell’s Law (Ibn Sahl’s Law)

Most of Physics courses present Snell’s law of refraction in one form or another. But a little known mathematician with the name Ibn Sahl (c. 940–1000) found this law about 650 years before Snell (Willebrord Snellius c. 1580–1626). This mathematical expression was lost for centuries until some scholars recently were able to dig it up from historical records.

December 26, 2017October 13, 2019Fundamentals, History of Science, Random Thoughts, Solar Energy

Ibn al-Haytham – The Father of Optics

Ibn al-Haytham in his book referred to as the Book of Optics (Kitāb al-Manāẓir) postulated that light travels in form of rays in straight lines and these rays are reflected by objects which makes these objects visible when the rays enter the human eye.

December 16, 2017October 13, 2019Fundamentals, History of Science, Random Thoughts

Al Khwarizmi’s Method of Solving Equations in One Variable

Al Khwarizmi was a Muslim scholar who worked under the patronage of emperor Al Mamun in the 9th century in Baghdad. It was here that Greek philosophical and scientific works were translated into Arabic and it was also here that Al Khwarizmi wrote Hisab al-jabr w’al-muqabala (or algebra).

December 10, 2017October 13, 2019Fundamentals, History of Science, Random Thoughts

Al Beruni’s Method for Calculation of Radius of Earth

Al Beruni is most well known for his experiment to calculate the radius of the earth at a location close to Katas Raj in Kallar Kahar region of Pakistan

December 2, 2017December 3, 2017Solar Energy

Calculation of Solar Panel Spacing for India (New Dehli)

I have been asked many times that what is the area required for a solar array with a particular rating (such as 20 KW) and I have given a simple calculation method in one of my earlier post. But real life is never so simple. There are a bunch of inputs that we need to get an exact answer. In particular we want to know what is the required spacing between solar panels so that they are not in shade for a particular part of the day (typically 5 or 6 hours) and for this we need a number of […]