Speaker: Dr. Hans Schantz, CTO Q-Track Corporation

Title: Near-Field Wireless Technology

Abstract:
Near-field wireless technologies exploit the physics of low-frequency, long-wavelength signals to achieve robust, short-range wireless links. Specific applications include low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), Near-Field Communications (NFC), Near-Field Electromagnetic Ranging (NFER), and wireless power transfer. This talk discusses the history and origins of near-field wireless, explains idiosyncrasies of near-field electromagnetics, surveys applications, presents near-field links laws, and reviews the properties and performance of electrically-small antennas.

Speaker Bio:
Hans Schantz is CTO of The Q-Track Corporation, and a co-inventor of NFER® technology. Q-Track’s NFER Real-Time Location System (RTLS) products deliver sub-meter location accuracy in complicated industrial settings using low-frequency (~1MHz) long-wavelength (~300m) signals. His prior work experience includes stints with IBM, the Lawrence Livermore National Lab, The Electro Science Lab of Ohio State University, and Time Domain Corporation. Author of The Art and Science of Ultra-wideband Antennas (Artech House, 2005), his 40 U.S. patents include antennas, RF systems, RF-based location systems, and related inventions. He is a senior member of IEEE, a member of the Institute of Navigation, and an amateur radio operator [KC5VLD]. Schantz earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Texas at Austin. He also holds degrees in Industrial Engineering and Physics from Purdue University. Dr. Schantz blogs at ÆtherCzar and is @ÆtherCzar on Twitter. He and his wife, Barbara (inventor of The Baby Dipper® Bowl), have two sets of twins: girls aged ten, and boys six years old.