Chapter 1

Antenna Basics

By :- Afework T. (MTech.)
 Topics to be covered in this chapter

• Introduction & historical view of Antenna

• Reciprocity
• Antenna parameter
• Radiation pattern
• Field regions
• Relation b/n maximum directivity and effective area
• Antenna gain & efficiency
• Polarization
• Antenna I/P impedance
 Introduction & Historical view of Antenna

 Work on antennas started many years ago. The first well-known satisfactory
antenna experiment was conducted by the German physicist Heinrich Rudolf
Hertz (1857–1894).
 In 1887 he built a system, as shown in Figure below, to produce and detect
radio waves. The original intention of his experiment was to demonstrate the
existence of electromagnetic radiation.

Figure 1

1887 experimental set-up of Hertz’s apparatus

 Cont…

• Hertz, who conducted his experiments at frequencies around

50MHz, was able to create electromagnetic waves and to transmit
and receive these waves by using antennas. This immediately raises
two questions:
1. How is electromagnetic radiation created?
2.What is an antenna?
 Cont…

 Antennas are our electronic eyes and ears on the world. They are our
links with space. They are an essential, integral part of our civilization.
 An antenna is a device for transmitting or receiving electromagnetic
waves. An antenna converts electrical currents into electromagnetic
waves (transmitting antenna) and vice versa (receiving antenna).
 Antennas are mainly found in communication applications, with most
uses in telecommunications, which means distant communications and
has roots in the Greek word “tele” meaning “at a distance.”
Cont…
 Cont…

 In fact, of the 4.5 billion years of the Earth’s existence, modern

humans have been present for only 200,000 years, whereas
electronic communication is less than 200 years old.
 Antennas are most widely used in the field of communications, but
electronic communication, including wireless communication, is a
recent development in human history.
 Functions Of Antennas

1. It is used as a transducer. That is, it converts electrical energy into EM energy at

the transmitting end and it converts EM energy back into electrical energy at the
receiving end.
2. It is used as an impedance matching device. That is, it matches/couples the
transmitter and free space on the transmitting side and it matches/couples free
space and the receiver on the receiving side.
3. It is used to direct radiated energy in desired directions and to suppress it in
unwanted directions.
4. It is used to sense the presence of electromagnetic waves.
5. It is used as a temperature sensor.
 Fundamental Parameters of Antennas

 To describe the performance of an antenna, IEEE Standard

definitions of various parameters are necessary. Some of the
parameters are interrelated and not all of them need be specified
for complete description of the antenna performance.
i. Radiation pattern
Once the electromagnetic (EM) energy leaves the antenna, the
radiation pattern tells us how the energy propagates away from the
antenna.
 Cont…

Definition:-An antenna radiation pattern or antenna pattern is

defined as “a mathematical function or a graphical representation of
the radiation properties of the antenna as a function of space
coordinates.
In most cases, the radiation pattern is determined in the far-field
region and is represented as a function of the directional
coordinates. Radiation properties include power flux density,
radiation intensity, field strength, directivity, phase or polarization.
 Cont…

Based on radiated field from antenna,

there are two types of radiation types:-

a) near field and

b) far field
 Cont…

 Reactive near-field region is defined as “that portion of the near-field region

immediately surrounding the antenna wherein the reactive field predominates.”
For most antennas, the outer boundary of this region is commonly taken to exist
at a distance R0.62 from the antenna surface, where 𝜆 is the wavelength and D
is the largest dimension of the antenna.
 Radiating near-field (Fresnel) region is defined as “that region of the field of an
antenna between the reactive near-field region and the far-field region
 Cont…

 Far-field (Fraunhofer) region is defined as “that region of the field

of an antenna where the angular field distribution is essentially
independent of the distance from the antenna. If the antenna has
a maximum overall dimension D, the far-field region is commonly
taken to exist at distances greater than from the antenna, λ being
the wavelength.
 Radiation mechanisms

1. Radiation from a single-wire antennas

 It is a fundamental single wire antenna. From the principle of radiation there must be
some time varying current. For a single wire antenna,
i. If a charge is not moving, current is not created and there is no radiation.
ii. If charge is moving with a uniform velocity:
a. There is no radiation if the wire is straight, and infinite in range.
b. There is radiation if the wire is curved, bent, discontinuous, terminated, or

truncated, as shown in figure below.

iii. If charge is oscillating in a time-motion, it radiates even if the wire is straight.
Cont…
 Cont…

2. Radiation from a two-wire antennas

 Let us consider a voltage source connected to a two-conductor
transmission line which is connected to an antenna. Applying a voltage
across the two conductor transmission line creates an electric field
between the conductors.
 The electric field has associated with it electric lines of force which are
tangent to the electric field at each point and their strength is
proportional to the electric field intensity.
 ii. Reciprocity

 An antenna ability to transfer energy from the atmosphere to

its receiver with the same efficiency with which it transfers
energy from the transmitter into atmosphere.
 Antenna characteristics are essentially the same regardless of
whether an antenna is sending or receiving electromagnetic
energy.
 iii Beamwidth
 Beamwidth is the angular separation between two identical points

on opposite site of the pattern maximum

 Half-power beamwidth (HPBW): in a plane containing the direction
of the maximum of a beam, the angle between the two directions
in which the radiation intensity is one-half value of the beam
 First-Null beamwidth (FNBW): angular separation between the
first nulls of the patter
Cont…
 Cont…
 A side lobe is “a radiation lobe in any direction other than the
intended lobe.” (Usually a side lobe is adjacent to the main lobe and
occupies the hemisphere in the direction of the main beam)
 A back lobe is “a radiation lobe whose axis makes an angle of
approximately 180◦ with respect to the beam of an antenna.”
Usually it refers to a minor lobe that occupies the hemisphere in a
direction opposite to that of the major (main) lobe.
 IV. Radiation power density
 Electromagnetic waves are used to transport information through a
wireless medium or a guiding structure, from one point to the other. It
is then natural to assume that power and energy are associated with
electromagnetic fields.
 The quantity used to describe the power associated with an
electromagnetic wave is the instantaneous Poynting vector defined as:-
𝓦=instantaneous pointing vector (W/m2)

𝓦 =𝓔×𝓗 where 𝓔= instantaneous electric-field intensity

(V/m)
𝓗=instantaneous magnetic-field intensity (A/m)
 V. Radiation intensity

 Radiation intensity in a given direction is defined as “the power

radiated from an antenna per unit solid angle.” The radiation
intensity is a far-field parameter, and it can be obtained by simply
multiplying the radiation density by the square of the distance. In
mathematical form it is expressed as

where U = radiation intensity (W/unit solid

angle)
Wrad = radiation density (W/m2)
 VI. Directivity
 Directivity of an antenna 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 power radiated
by the antenna divided by 4𝜋.
 If the direction is not specified, the direction of maximum
radiation intensity is implied.
 VII. Antenna efficiency
 The total antenna efficiency is used to take into account losses at the input
terminals and within the structure of the antenna. Such losses may be due to:-
1. reflections because of the mismatch between the transmission line and the
antenna

2. R losses (conduction and dielectric)

In general, the overall efficiency can be written as:-

Where, = total efficiency (dimensionless) , = reflection (mismatch) efficiency =
(1−|Γ|^2) (dimensionless), =conduction efficiency (dimensionless), ed = dielectric
efficiency (dimensionless) and Γ=voltage reflection coefficient at the input
terminals of the antenna
 Radian and Steradia
 The measure of a plane angle is a radian. One radian is defined as the
plane angle with its vertex at the center of a circle of radius r that is
subtended by an arc whose length is r. Since the circumference of a
circle of radius r is C = 2𝜋r, there are 2𝜋 rad (2𝜋r∕r) in a full circle.
 The measure of a solid angle is a steradian. One steradian is defined
as the solid angle with its vertex at the center of a sphere of radius
r that is subtended by a spherical surface area equal to that of a
square with each side of length r. Since the area of a sphere of
radius r is A = 4𝜋r2, there are 4𝜋 sr (4𝜋r2∕r2) in a closed sphere.
Cont…
 R/n of Maximum directivity and effective area
• To derive the relationship between directivity and maximum effective area,
the geometrical arrangement of Figure below is chosen. Antenna 1 is used as a
transmitter and 2 as a receiver. The effective areas and directivities of each
are designated as At, Ar and Dt, Dr.
 Cont…
If antenna 1 were isotropic, its radiated power density at a distance R would be:-

• where Pt is the total radiated power. Because of the directive properties of

the antenna, its actual density is
The power collected (received) by the antenna and transferred to the load would
be or
 Cont…
 If antenna 2 is used as a transmitter, 1 as a receiver ,and the intervening
medium is linear, passive, and isotropic, we can write that:-
 By equating like:-

 Increasing the directivity of an antenna increases its effective area in direct

proportion. Thus, can be written as:-

 where Atm and Arm (D0t and D0r) are the maximum effective areas
(directivities) of antennas 1 and 2, respectively. If antenna 1 is isotropic, then
D0t = 1 and its maximum effective area can be expressed as
 Cont…
• then the maximum effective area (Atm) of an isotropic source is
equal to the ratio of the maximum effective area to the maximum
directivity of any other source. For example, let the other antenna
be a very short (l ≪ λ) dipole whose effective area (0.119λ²) and
maximum directivity (1.5) are known. So the maximum effective
area of the isotropic source is then equal to:-
 Cont…
• In general then, the maximum effective aperture (Aem) of any
antenna is related to its maximum directivity (D0) by:-

• Thus, if we multiply by the power density of the incident wave it

leads to the maximum power that can be delivered to the load. This
assumes that there are no conduction-dielectric losses (radiation
efficiency ecd is unity) ,the antenna is matched to the load
(reflection efficiency er is unity).
 Cont…

• If there are losses associated with an antenna, its maximum

effective aperture must be modified to account for conduction-
dielectric losses (radiation efficiency).
Thus:-

The maximum assumed that the antenna is matched to the load and the incoming
wave is polarization-matched to the antenna
 Antenna Efficiency

 Associated with an antenna there are a number of efficiencies (ec,

ed and er).The total antenna efficiency e0 is used to take into
account losses at the input terminals and within the structure of
the antenna. Such losses may be due:-
1. reflections because of the mismatch between the transmission

line and the antenna

2. I²R losses (conduction and dielectric)

 Cont…
 In general, the overall efficiency can be written as:

ec = conduction efficiency (dimensionless)

ed = dielectric efficiency (dimensionless)
Γ= voltage reflection coefficient at the input terminals of the antenna

Where Zin = antenna input impedance,

Z0 = characteristic impedance of the transmission line
 GAIN
• Another useful figure-of-merit describing the performance of an antenna is
the gain. Although the gain of the antenna is closely related to the directivity,
it is a measure that takes into account the efficiency of the antenna as well as
its directional capabilities. Remember that directivity is a measure that
describes only the directional properties of the antenna, and it is therefore
controlled only by the pattern.
• Gain of an antenna described as “how well the antenna converts radio wave
arriving from specified direction into electrical power”.
 polarization
 An antenna is a transducer that converts radio frequency electric
current into electromagnetic waves that are then radiated into
space. The electric field or "E" plane determines the polarization
or orientation of the radio wave. In general, most antennas radiate
either linear or circular polarization.
 Linear polarization
• A wave is said to be linearly polarized if the electric field as a
function of time remains along a straight line at some point in the
medium.
 Cont…

Linear polarization
 Circular polarization

Circular polarization
 Antenna input impedance
• It is defined as the ratio of voltage (electric field) to the current (magnetic field)
at the antenna input terminal.
• It can be written as:

Where
= antenna resistance = + (loss resistance of antenna b/c of energy
loss as heat in antenna structure and
radiation resistance)
= 80
)
is an antenna reactance and this is due to the stored energy in the form of electric
and magnetic energy. If the two energies becomes equal, then the term vanishes
(antenna resonance)