Module 3: ANTENNA BASICS

Structure

3.0 Introduction
3.1 Objectives
3.2 Basic Antenna parameters
3.3 Antenna temperature and antenna filed zones
3.4 Patterns
3.5 Beam Area
3.6 Radiation Intensity
3.7 Beam efficiency
3.8 Directivity and Gain
3.9 Effective aperture
3.10 Effective Height
3.11 Radiation efficiency
3.12 Radio Communication link
3.13 Antenna Field Zones
3.14 Questions
3.15 Outcomes
3.16 Further Readings
3.0 INTRODUCTION
An antenna is used to radiate electromagnetic energy efficiently and in desired directions. Antennas

VTUPulse.com
act as matching systems between sources of electromagnetic energy and space. Antenna is a source
or radiator of Electromagnetic waves or a sensor of Electromagnetic waves. It is a transition device
or transducer between a guided wave and a free space wave or vice versa. It is also an electrical
conductor or system of conductors that radiates EM energy into or collects EM energy from free
space. Antennas function by transmitting or receiving electromagnetic (EM) waves. Examples of
these electromagnetic
waves include the light from the sun and the waves received by your cell phone or radio. Your eyes
are basically "receiving antennas" that pick up electromagnetic waves that are of a particular
frequency. The colors that you see (red, green, blue) are each waves of different frequencies that
your eyes can detect. All electromagnetic waves propagate at the same speed in air or in space. This
speed (the speed of light) is roughly 671 million miles per hour (1 billion kilometers per hour). This
is roughly a million times faster than the speed of sound (which is about 761 miles per hour at sea
level). The speed of light will be denoted as c in the equations that follow. We like to use "SI" units
in science (length measured in
meters, time in seconds, mass in kilograms):

A rough outline of some major antennas and their discovery /fabrication dates are listed:

 Yagi-Uda Antenna,1920s
 Horn Antennas,1939
 Antenna Arrays 1940s
  Parabolic Reflectors late 1940s, early 1950s.
 Patch Antennas,1970s
 PIFAs 1980s.

3.1 OBJECTIVES:
1. Introduction about the antenna parameters in terms of antenna language

2. Antenna field zones utilization.

3. Link budget calculation for any communication link.

3.2 BASIC ANTENNA PARAMETERS

A radio antenna may be defined as the structure associated with the region of transition between a
guided wave and a free space wave or vice versa.
Principle: Under time varying conditions, Maxwell’s equations predict the radiation of EM energy
from current source (or accelerated charge). This happens at all frequencies, but is insignificant as
long as the size of the source region is not comparable to the wavelength. While transmission lines
are designed minimize this radiation loss, radiation into free space becomes main purpose in case
of Antennas. The basic principle of radiation is produced by accelerated charge. The basic equation

VTUPulse.com
of radiation is
IL=QV (Ams-1)
where, I = Time changing current in Amps/sec
L = Length of the current element in meters
Q = Charge in Coulombs
(1)

V = Time changing velocity

Thus time changing current radiates and accelerated charge radiates. For steady state harmonic
variation, usually we focus on time changing current. For transients or pulses, we focus on
accelerated charge. The radiation is perpendicular to the acceleration and the radiated power is
proportional to the square of IL or QV. Transmission line opened out in a Tapered fashion as
Antenna:
a). As Transmitting Antenna: Here the Transmission Line is connected to source or generator at
one end. Along the uniform part of the line energy is guided as Plane TEM wave with little loss.
Spacing between line is a small fraction of λ. As the line is opened out and the separation between
the two lines becomes comparable to λ, it acts like an antenna and launches a free space wave since
currents on the transmission line flow out on the antenna but fields associated with them keep on
going. From the circuit point of view, the antennas appear to the transmission lines as a resistance
Rr, called Radiation resistance.
b) As Receiving Antenna: Active radiation by other Antenna or Passive radiation from distant
objects raises the apparent temperature of Rr. This has nothing to do with the physical temperature
of the antenna itself but is related to the temperature of distant objects that the antenna is looking
at. Rr may be thought of as virtual resistance that does not exist physically but is a quantity coupling
the antenna to distant regions of space via a virtual transmission line.

Fig.1 Transmission and Reception mode

Thus, an antenna is a transition device, or transducer, between a guided wave and a free space wave
or vice versa. The antenna is a device which interfaces a circuit and space.

VTUPulse.com
Reciprocity: An antenna exhibits identical impedance during Transmission or Reception, same
directional patterns during Transmission or Reception, same effective height while transmitting or
receiving. Transmission and reception antennas can be used interchangeably. Medium must be
linear, passive and isotropic (physical properties are the same in different directions). Antennas are
usually optimized for reception or transmission, not both.

3.3 PATTERNS
The radiation pattern or antenna pattern is the graphical representation of the radiation properties of
the antenna as a function of space. That is, the antenna's pattern describes how the antenna radiates
energy out into space (or how it receives energy). It is important to state that an antenna can radiate
energy in all directions, so the antenna pattern is actually three-dimensional. It is common, however,
to describe this 3D pattern with two planar patterns, called the principal plane patterns. These
principal plane patterns can be obtained by making two slices through the 3D pattern, through the
maximum value of the
pattern. It is these principal plane patterns that are commonly referred to as the antenna patterns.

Radiation pattern or Antenna pattern is defined as the spatial distribution of a ‘quantity’ that
characterizes the EM field generated by an antenna. The ‘quantity’ may be Power, Radiation
Intensity, Field amplitude, Relative Phase etc
 Fig.2. Radiation Pattern
Always the radiation has Main lobe through which radiation is maximum in the z direction and
Minor lobe (side and back lobes) in the x and y direction. Any field pattern is presented by 3D
spherical coordinates or by plane cuts through main lobe axis. Two plane cuts as right angles are
called as principal plane pattern. To specify the radiation pattern with respect to field intensity and
polarization requires three patterns:
i. The θ component of the electric field as a function of the angles θ and Φ or Eθ(θ,Φ) in Vm-
1.
ii. The Φ component of the electric field as a function of the angles θ and Φ or EΦ(θ,Φ) in Vm-
1.

VTUPulse.com
iii. The phases of these fields as a function of the angles θ and Φ or δθ(θ,Φ) and δΦ(θ,Φ) in
radian or degree.

Normalized field pattern: It is obtained by dividing a field component by its maximum

value. The normalized field pattern is a dimensionless number with maximum value of unity

EΦ(θ,Φ) n= EΦ(θ,Φ) / EΦ(θ,Φ) max (2)

Half power level occurs at those angles (θ,Φ)for which Eθ(θ,Φ)n =0.707. At distance d>>λ and d>>
size of the antenna, the shape of the field pattern is independent of the distance

Normalized power pattern: Pattern expressed in terms of power per unit area is called power
pattern. Normalizing the power with respect to maximum value yields normalized power patterns
as a function of angle which is dimensionless and maximum value is unity.

Pn(θ,Φ)n = S(θ,Φ)/ S(θ,Φ)max (3)

Where, S(θ,Φ) is the Poynting vector = [ Eθ2(θ,Φ) + EΦ2(θ,Φ) ] / Z0 Wm-2

S(θ,Φ)max is the maximum value of S(θ,Φ), Wm-2
 Z0 is the intrinsic impedance of free space = 376.7Ω.
Decibel level is given by dB = 10 log10 Pn(θ,Φ)
Half power levels occurs at those angles (θ,Φ) for which P(θ,Φ)n =0.5.

Pattern Lobes and Beamwidths:

The radiation pattern characteristics involve three dimensional vector fields for full representation,
but the scalar quantities can be used. They are:
1. Half power beam-width HPBW
2. Beam Area, ΩA
3. Bema Efficiency, εM
4. Directivity D, Gain G
5. Effective Aperture, Ae
6. Radiation Intensity

VTUPulse.com
Fig.3 Pattern in spherical co-ordinate system
Beamwidth is associated with the lobes in the antenna pattern. It is defined as the angular separation
between two identical points on the opposite sides of the main lobe. The most common type of
beamwidth is the half-power (3 dB) beamwidth (HPBW). To find HPBW, in the equation, defining
the radiation pattern, we set power equal to 0.5 and solve it for angles. Another frequently used
measure of beamwidth is the first-null beamwidth (FNBW), which is the angular separation between
the first nulls on either sides of the main lobe.

Fig.4 Pattern in Cartesian co-ordinate system

Beamwidth:
Antenna Beam-width is the measure of directivity of an antenna. The antenna beamwidth is the
angular width expressed in degrees which is measured on the major lobe of the radiation pattern of
an antenna.
HPBW:
The angular width on the major lobe of radiation pattern between two points where the power is
half of the maximum radiated power is called Half Power Beam-width. Here the power decreases
to half of its maximum value.
FNBW:
When the angular width is measured between the first nulls or first side lobes it is called First Null
Beam Width.
The factors affecting beam width are:
1. Shape of the radiation pattern.
2. Dimensions of antenna.
3. Wavelength.
Beam width defines the resolution capability of the antenna, i.e., the ability of the system to separate
two adjacent targets.
The beam solid angle of an antenna is given by the integral of the normalized power pattern over a
sphere (4π steradians).

VTUPulse.com (4)

Beam area ΩA is the solid angle through which all of the power radiated by antenna would stream
if P(θ, Φ) maintained its maximum value over ΩA and was zero.

Total power radiated = P(θ, Φ) ΩA watts

Beam area is the solid angle ΩA is often approximated in terms of the angles subtended by the Half
Power points of the main lobe in the two principal planes(Minor lobes are neglected)

ΩA= θHP ΦHP

Radian and Steredian: Radian is plane angle with its vertex a the center of a circle of radius r and
is subtended by an arc whose length is equal to r. Circumference of the circle is
2πr Therefore total angle of the circle is 2π radians.
Steredian is solid angle with its vertex at the center of a sphere of radius r, which is subtended by
a spherical surface area equal to the area of a square with side length r, Area of the sphere is 4πr2.
Therefore, the total solid angle of the sphere is 4π steredians
 Fig.5 Beam Area
2
1steradian = (1radian)
= (180 / π)2
= 3282.8064 square degrees
4π steradians = 3282.8064 x 4π
= 41,253 square degree

The infinitesimal area ds on a surface of a sphere of radius r in spherical co-ordinates (with θ

as vertical angle and Φ as azimuth angle) is

ds = r2 sinθ dθ dΦ

By definition of solid angle: ds = r2 dΩ

VTUPulse.com
Hence,

3.4 Radiation Intensity

dΩ = sinθ dθ dΦ

Definition: The power radiated from an Antenna per unit solid angle is called the Radiation
Intensity. “U” Units: Watts/steradians or Watts/ square degree

Poynting vector or power density is dependent on distance from the antenna while Radiation
intensity is independent of the distance from the antenna. The normalized power pattern can also
be expressed as the ratio of radiation intensity as a function of angle to its maximum value.

1.7 Beam Efficiency Pn(θ,Φ)n = S(θ,Φ)/ S(θ,Φ)max

3.5 Beam Efficiency

The total beam area ΩA consists of the main beam area ΩM plus the minor lobe area Ωm .

ΩA = ΩM + Ωm

The ratio of main beam area to the total beam area is called the beam efficiency εM
 εM = ΩM / ΩA

The ratio of minor lobe area to the total beam area is called stray factor εm

εm = Ωm / ΩA

3.8 Directivity D and Gain G

From the field point of view, the most important quantitative information on the antenna is the
directivity, which is a measure of the concentration of radiated power in a particular direction. It is
defined as the ratio of the radiation intensity in a given direction from the antenna to the radiation
intensity averaged over all directions. The average radiation intensity is equal to the total radiated
power divided by 4π. If the direction is not specified, the direction of maximum radiation is implied.
Mathematically, the directivity (dimensionless) can be written as

D=U (θ ,φ)max/ U (θ ,φ)avg

The directivity is a dimensionless quantity. The maximum directivity is always ≥ 1.

Directivity and Beam area

VTUPulse.com

Directivity is the ratio of total solid angle of the sphere to beam solid angle. For antennas with
rotationally symmetric lobes, the directivity D can be approximated as:

D = 4π / θ Φ

Directivity of isotropic antenna is equal to unity, for an isotropic antenna Beam area ΩA=4π

Directivity indicates how well an antenna radiates in a particular direction in comparison with an
isotropic antenna radiating same amount of power Smaller the beam area, larger is the directivity
Gain: Any physical Antenna has losses associated with it. Depending on structure both ohmic and
dielectric losses can be present. Input power Pin is the sum of the Radiated power Prad and losses
Ploss

Pin=Prad + Ploss

The Gain G of an Antenna is an actual or realized quantity which is less than Directivity D due to
ohmic losses in the antenna. Mismatch in feeding the antenna also reduces gain. The ratio of Gain
to Directivity is the Antenna efficiency factor k (dimensionless)

𝐺 = 𝐾𝐷, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 0 ≤ 𝐾 ≤ 1

In practice, the total input power to an antenna can be obtained easily, but the total radiated power
by an antenna is actually hard to get. The gain of an antenna is introduced to solve this problem.
This is defined as the ratio of the radiation intensity in a given direction from the antenna to the
total input power accepted by the antenna divided by 4π. If the direction is not specified, the
direction of maximum radiation is implied. Mathematically, the gain (dimensionless) can be written
as

G=4πU/Pin

VTUPulse.com
Directivity and Gain: Directivity and Gain of an antenna represent the ability to focus it’s beam in
a particular direction. Directivity is a parameter dependent only on the shape of radiation pattern
while gain takes ohmic and other losses into account.

3.9 Effective Aperture

Aperture Concept: Aperture of an Antenna is the area through which the power is radiatedor
received. Concept of Apertures is most simply introduced by considering a Receiving Antenna. Let
receiving antenna be a rectangular Horn immersed in the field of uniform plane wave as shown

Fig.6 Aperture

Let the Poynting vector or power density of the plane wave be S watts/sq –m and let the area or
physical aperture be Ap sq-m.

But the Field response of Horn is not uniform across Ap because E at sidewalls must
equal zero. Thus effective Aperture Ae of the Horn is less than Ap.

Aperture Efficiency is as follows:

εap=Ae/Ap

The effective antenna aperture is the ratio of the available power at the terminals of the antenna to
the power flux density of a plane wave incident upon the antenna, which is matched to the antenna
in terms of polarization. If no direction is specified, the direction of maximum radiation is implied.
Effective Aperture (Ae) describes the effectiveness of an Antenna in receiving mode, It is the ratio
of power delivered to receiver to incident power density.

It is the area that captures energy from a passing EM wave an Antenna with large aperture (Ae) has
more gain than one with smaller aperture(Ae) since it captures more energy from a passing radio
wave and can radiate more in that direction while transmitting

Effective Aperture and Beam area: Consider an Antenna with an effective Aperture Ae which
radiates all of it’s power in a conical pattern of beam area ΩA, assuming uniform field Ea over the
aperture, power radiated is

VTUPulse.com
Fig.7 Effective Aperture

Assuming a uniform field Er in far field at a distance r. Power radiated is also given by

P=Er2/Z0 r2 ΩA

Equating the two and noting that Er = Ea Ae/r λ we get Aperture Beam Area relation

Λ2 = Ae ΩA

At a Given wavelength if effective aperture is known, Beam Area can be determined or vice versa

1. 10 Effective height

The effective height is another parameter related to the apertures. Multiplying the effective height,
he(meters), times the magnitude of the incident electric field E (V/m) yields the voltage V induced.
Thus V=he E or he= V/ E (m). Effective height provides an indication as to how much of the antenna
is involved in radiating (or receiving. To demonstrate this, consider the current distributions a dipole
antenna for two different lengths.

If the current distribution of the dipole were uniform, it’s effective height would be l Here the
current distribution is nearly sinusoidal with average value 2/π=0.64(of the maximum) so that it’s
effective height is 0.64l .It is assumed that antenna is oriented for maximum response.

If the same dipole is used at longer wavelength so that it is only 0.1λ long, the current tapers almost
linearly from the central feed point to zero at the ends in a triangular distribution. The average
current is now 0.5 & effective height is 0.5l

Fig.8 Effective Height

For an antenna of radiation resistance Rr matched to it’d load , power delivered to load is

VTUPulse.com 𝑃 = 𝑉 2 /4𝑟 and

voltage is given by V=heE
Therefore, P=(heE)2/(4Rr)

In terms of Effective aperture the same power is given by

2
P=SAe= (E /z0 )Ae
Equating the two,

Bandwidth or frequency bandwidth:

This is the range of frequencies, within which the antenna characteristics (input impedance, pattern)
conform to certain specifications, Antenna characteristics, which should conform to certain
requirements, might be: input impedance, radiation pattern, beamwidth, polarization, side-lobe
level, gain, beam direction and width, radiation efficiency. Separate bandwidths may be introduced:
impedance bandwidth, pattern bandwidth, etc.
The FBW of broadband antennas is expressed as the ratio of the upper to the lower frequencies,
where the antenna performance is acceptable. Based on Bandwidth antennas can be classified as

1. Broad band antennas-BW expressed as ratio of upper to lower frequencies of acceptable operation
eg: 10:1 BW means fH is 10 times greater than fL

2. Narrow band antennas-BW is expressed as percentage of frequency difference over center

frequency eg:5% means (fH –fL ) /fo is .05. Bandwidth can be considered to be the range of
frequencies on either sides of a center frequency (usually resonant freq. for a dipole)

The FBW of broadband antennas is expressed as the ratio of the upper to the lower frequencies,
where the antenna performance is acceptable

𝑓𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝐹𝐵𝑊 =
𝑓𝑚𝑖𝑛

Broadband antennas with FBW as large as 40:1 have been designed. Such antennas are referred to
as frequency independent antennas. For narrowband antennas, the FBW is expressed as a percentage
of the frequency difference over the center frequency

VTUPulse.com
The characteristics such as Zi, G, Polarization etc of antenna does not necessarily vary in the same
manner. Sometimes they are critically affected by frequency Usually there is a distinction made
between pattern and input impedance variations. Accordingly, pattern bandwidth or impedance
bandwidth are used. Pattern bandwidth is associated with characteristics such as Gain, Side lobe
level, Polarization, Beam area. (large antennas) Impedance bandwidth is associated with
characteristics such as input impedance, radiation efficiency (Short dipole) Intermediate length
antennas BW may be limited either by pattern or impedance variations depending on application If
BW is Very large (like 40:1 or greater), Antenna can be considered frequency independent.

3.11 Radiation Efficiency

Total antenna resistance is the sum of 5 components

Rr+Rg+Ri+Rc+Rw
Where, Rr is Radiation resistance
Rg is ground resistance
Ri is equivalent insulation loss
Rc is resistance of tuning inductance
Rw is resistance equivalent of conductor loss
Radiation efficiency=Rr/( Rr+Rg+Ri+Rc+Rw). It is the ratio of power radiated from th
eantenna to the total power supplied to the antenna
Antenna temperature
The antenna noise can be divided into two types according to its physical source:
- noise due to the loss resistance of the antenna itself; and
- noise, which the antenna picks up from the surrounding environment The noise power
per
unit bandwidth is proportional to the object’s temperature and is given by Nyquist’s relation

where
TP is the physical temperature of the object in K (Kelvin degrees); and k is
Boltzmann’s constant (1.38x10-23 J/K
A resistor is a thermal noise source. The noise voltage (rms value) generated by a resistor
R, kept at a temperature T, is given by

Where,
k is Boltzmann’s constant (1.38x10 -23 J/K). And
B is the bandwidth in Hz
Often, we assume that heat energy is evenly distributed in the frequency band ∆f .

VTUPulse.com
Then, the associated heat power in ∆f is

The receiver also has a temperature TR associated with it and the total system noise
temperature (i.e., Antenna + Receiver) has combined temperature given b

And total noise power in the system is

3.12 THE RADIO COMMUNICATION LINK

The usefulness of the aperture concept is well illustrated by using it to derive the important Friis
transmission formula published in 1946 by Harald T. Friis (1) of the Bell Telephone Laboratory.

Fig: Radio communication link

Referring to Fig.9, the formula gives the power received over a radio communi- cation link.
Assuming lossless, matched antennas, let the transmitter feed a power Pt to a transmitting antenna
of effective aperture Aet . At a distance r a receiving antenna of effective aperture Aer intercepts
some of the power radiated by the transmitting antenna and delivers it to the receiver R. Assuming

VTUPulse.com
for the moment that the transmitting antenna is isotropic, the power per unit area available at the
receiving antenna is

𝑃𝑡
𝑆𝑟 =
4𝜋𝑟 2

If the antenna has gain Gt , the power per unit area available at the receiving antenna will be
increased in proportion as given by

𝑃𝑡 𝐺𝑡
𝑆𝑟 =
4𝜋𝑟 2

Now the power collected by the lossless, matched receiving antenna of effective aperture

Aer is

𝑃𝑡 𝐺𝑡 𝐴𝑒𝑟
𝑃𝑡 = 𝑆𝑟 𝐴𝑒𝑟 = .
4𝜋𝑟 2

The gain of the transmitting antenna can be expressed as

4𝜋
𝐺= 𝐴
𝜆2 𝑒

Substituting this in the previous equation yields the Friis transmission formula
 𝐴𝑒𝑡 𝐴𝑒𝑟 𝑃𝑡
𝑃𝑟 =
𝑟 2 𝜆2

Example: Radio Communication Link

A radio link has a 15-W transmitter connected to an antenna of 2.5 m2 effective aperture at 5 GHz.
The receiving antenna has an effective aperture of 0.5 m2 and is located at a 15-km line-of-sight
distance from the transmitting antenna. Assuming lossless, matched antennas, find the power
delivered to the receiver. Answer Pr=23uWatts

VTUPulse.com
3.13 ANTENNA FIELD ZONES

The fields around an antenna may be divided into two principal regions, one near the antenna
called the near field or Fresnel zone and one at a large distance called the far field or Fraunhofer
zone. Referring to Fig. 2–17, the boundary between the two may be arbitrarily taken to be at a
radius

R=2L2/λ

L = maximum dimension of the antenna, m

λ = wavelength, m

In the far or Fraunhofer region, the measurable field components are transverse to the ra- dial
direction from the antenna and all power flow is directed radially outward. In the far field the
shape of the field pattern is independent of the distance. In the near or Fresnel region, the
longitudinal component of the electric field may be significant and power flow is not entirely
radial. In the near field, the shape of the field pattern depends, in general, on the distance.

VTUPulse.com
Fig 9. Antenna field zones

Enclosing the antenna in an imaginary boundary sphere as in Fig. 9 it is as though the region near
the poles of the sphere acts as a reflector. On the other hand, the waves expanding perpendicular
to the dipole in the equatorial region of the sphere result in power leakage through the sphere as if
partially transparent in this region.

This results in reciprocating (oscillating) energy flow near the antenna accompanied by outward
flow in the equatorial region. The outflow accounts for the power radiated from the antenna, while
the reciprocating energy represents reactive power that is trapped near the antenna like in a
resonator

Note that although the term power flow is sometimes used, it is actually energy which flows, power
being the time rate of energy flow. A similar loose usage occurs when we say we pay a power bill,
when, in fact, we are actually paying for electric energy.

Near Field (Fresnel’s Region)

 Power flow is not entirely radiated.

 Shape of field pattern is dependent of radial distance.
 There is an energy reciprocating b/n antenna and space.
 Reactive energy.

Far field (Fraunhofer’s region)

 Real power flow is directed radially outwork.

 Shape of the field pattern is independent of distance.
 The outward power flow represents radiated energy.

Measurable field components are transverse to the direction of propagation.

3.14 Recommended questions

VTUPulse.com
1. With the help of Maxwell’s equation, explain how radiation and reception of EM takes place?

2. Explain the following terms as related to antenna system:

(1) Directivity (2) HPBW (3) Effective length (4) Beam efficiency (5) Gain (6) Isotropic radiator
(7) Beam area/Beam solid angle (8) Radiation resistance

3. Show that the directivity for unidirectional operation is 2(n+1) for an intensity variation of u=um
cosnθ.

4. Prove that maximum effective aperture for a λ/2 antenna is 0.13 λ2.

5. The effective aperture of transmitting and receiving antennas in a communication system are 8
λ2 and 12 λ2 respectively with a separation of 1.5 km between them. The E.M wave is travelling
with a frequency of 6MHz and the total input power is 25KW. Find the power received by the
receiving antenna.

6. Define the following with respect to antenna:

(1) Radiation pattern (power and field pattern) (2) field zones (3) Aperture
3.15 OUTCOMES

 Student will able to define the parameters and importance of all in communication systems
 Student able to solve link budget problems required for the applications
 Student able to describe the importance of Fraunhofer zone.

3.16 Further Readings

1. Antenna Theory Analysis and Design - C A Balanis, 3rd Edn, John Wiley India Pvt. Ltd, 2008

VTUPulse.com