Date of Award

Summer 2008

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Program/Concentration

Electrical Engineering

Committee Director

Linda Vahala

Committee Member

Roland Mielke

Committee Member

Vijayan Asari

Committee Member

Jay Ely

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.E55 W66 2008

Abstract

The need to detect unauthorized usage of intentionally transmitting portable electronic devices (PEDs) onboard commercial aircraft is growing while still allowing passengers to use selected unintentionally transmitting devices, such as laptop computers and CD players, during non-critical stages of flight. This thesis presents the development and testing of an installed system for detecting PEDs over multiple frequency bands. Additionally, the advantages of a fixed versus mobile system are discussed.

Data is presented to cover the frequency range of 20 MHz to 6.5 GHz with special attention given to the cellular and PCS telephone bands, Bluetooth, and the family radio service (FRS) bands. These four bands were chosen due to their wide spread usage by the general flying public.

To determine the most effective installation, two physically different cable designs and three different leaky-coaxial cables from two different manufacturers were investigated using both a semi-anechoic and reverberation chamber at NASA Langley Research Center. The data obtained from reverberation and semi-anechoic chambers is then analyzed and correlated with data collected onboard a commercial aircraft to determine the dominant mode of coupling inside the passenger cabin of the aircraft. As a final check of the system feasibility, several PEDs' transmission signatures were recorded and compared with the expected levels to ensure system feasibility.

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DOI

10.25777/jde4-kc63

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