8/31/2016

Antenna(radio)Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Antenna(radio)
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Anantenna(pluralantennaeorantennas),oraerial,isanelectricaldevicewhichconvertselectricpowerintoradiowaves,andviceversa.[1]Itis
usuallyusedwitharadiotransmitterorradioreceiver.Intransmission,aradiotransmittersuppliesanelectriccurrentoscillatingatradiofrequency(i.e.a
highfrequencyalternatingcurrent(AC))totheantenna'sterminals,andtheantennaradiatestheenergyfromthecurrentaselectromagneticwaves(radio
waves).Inreception,anantennainterceptssomeofthepowerofanelectromagneticwaveinordertoproduceatinyvoltageatitsterminals,thatisapplied
toareceivertobeamplified.
Antennasareessentialcomponentsofallequipmentthatusesradio.Theyareusedinsystemssuchasradiobroadcasting,broadcasttelevision,twoway
radio,communicationsreceivers,radar,cellphones,andsatellitecommunications,aswellasotherdevicessuchasgaragedooropeners,wireless
microphones,Bluetoothenableddevices,wirelesscomputernetworks,babymonitors,andRFIDtagsonmerchandise.
Typicallyanantennaconsistsofanarrangementofmetallicconductors(elements),electricallyconnected(oftenthroughatransmissionline)tothe
receiverortransmitter.Anoscillatingcurrentofelectronsforcedthroughtheantennabyatransmitterwillcreateanoscillatingmagneticfieldaroundthe
antennaelements,whilethechargeoftheelectronsalsocreatesanoscillatingelectricfieldalongtheelements.Thesetimevaryingfieldsradiateaway
fromtheantennaintospaceasamovingtransverseelectromagneticfieldwave.Conversely,duringreception,theoscillatingelectricandmagneticfields
ofanincomingradiowaveexertforceontheelectronsintheantennaelements,causingthemtomovebackandforth,creatingoscillatingcurrentsinthe
antenna.
Antennascanbedesignedtotransmitandreceiveradiowavesinallhorizontaldirectionsequally(omnidirectionalantennas),orpreferentiallyina
particulardirection(directionalorhighgainantennas).Inthelattercase,anantennamayalsoincludeadditionalelementsorsurfaceswithnoelectrical
connectiontothetransmitterorreceiver,suchasparasiticelements,parabolicreflectorsorhorns,whichservetodirecttheradiowavesintoabeamor
otherdesiredradiationpattern.
Thefirstantennaswerebuiltin1888byGermanphysicistHeinrichHertzinhispioneeringexperimentstoprovetheexistenceofelectromagneticwaves
predictedbythetheoryofJamesClerkMaxwell.Hertzplaceddipoleantennasatthefocalpointofparabolicreflectorsforbothtransmittingand
receiving.HepublishedhisworkinAnnalenderPhysikundChemie(vol.36,1889).

Contents
1
2
3
4

Terminology
Overview
Reciprocity
Characteristics
4.1 Resonantantennas
4.1.1 Currentandvoltagedistribution
4.1.2 Modifiedresonantdesigns
4.1.3 Arraysandreflectors
4.2 Bandwidth
4.3 Gain
4.4 Effectiveareaoraperture
4.5 Radiationpattern
4.6 Fieldregions
4.7 Impedance
4.8 Efficiency
4.9 Polarization
4.10 Impedancematching
5 Antennatypes
5.1 Dipole
5.2 Monopole
5.3 Array
5.4 Loop
5.5 Aperture
5.6 Travelingwave
6 Effectofground
7 Mutualimpedanceandinteractionbetweenantennas
8 Gallery
8.1 Antennasandsupportingstructures
8.2 Diagramsaspartofasystem
9 Seealso
10 References
11 Furtherreading
11.1 General
11.2 Practicaldesign
11.3 Theoryandsimulations
11.4 Effectofground
11.5 PatentsandUSPTO
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna_(radio)

Animationofahalfwavedipoleantennatransmitting
radiowaves,showingtheelectricfieldlines.The
antennainthecenteristwoverticalmetalrods,with
analternatingcurrentappliedatitscenterfroma
radiotransmitter(notshown).Thevoltagecharges
thetwosidesoftheantennaalternatelypositive(+)
andnegative().Loopsofelectricfield(blacklines)
leavetheantennaandtravelawayatthespeedof
lightthesearetheradiowaves.

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Antenna(radio)Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

11.6 Basestation

Terminology
Thewordsantenna(plural:antennas[2]inUSEnglish,althoughboth"antennas"and"antennae"
areusedinInternationalEnglish[3])andaerialareusedinterchangeably.Occasionallytheterm
"aerial"isusedtomeanawireantenna.However,notetheimportantinternationaltechnical
journal,theIEEETransactionsonAntennasandPropagation.[4]IntheUnitedKingdomand
otherareaswhereBritishEnglishisused,thetermaerialissometimesusedalthough'antenna'has
beenuniversalinprofessionaluseformanyyears.
TheoriginofthewordantennarelativetowirelessapparatusisattributedtoItalianradiopioneer
GuglielmoMarconi.Inthesummerof1895,Marconibegantestinghiswirelesssystemoutdoors
onhisfather'sestatenearBolognaandsoonbegantoexperimentwithlongwire"aerials".
Marconidiscoveredthatbyraisingthe"aerial"wireabovethegroundandconnectingtheother
sideofhistransmittertoground,thetransmissionrangewasincreased.[5]Soonhewasableto
transmitsignalsoverahill,adistanceofapproximately2.4kilometres(1.5mi).[6]InItalianatent
poleisknownasl'antennacentrale,andthepolewiththewirewassimplycalledl'antenna.Until
thenwirelessradiatingtransmittingandreceivingelementswereknownsimplyasaerialsor
terminals.

Animateddiagramofahalfwavedipoleantenna
receivingenergyfromaradiowave.Theantennaconsists
oftwometalrodsconnectedtoareceiverR.Theelectric
field(E,greenarrows)oftheincomingwavepushesthe
electronsintherodsbackandforth,chargingtheends
alternatelypositive(+)andnegative().Sincethe
lengthoftheantennaisonehalfthewavelengthofthe
wave,theoscillatingfieldinducesstandingwavesof
voltage(V,representedbyredband)andcurrentinthe
rods.Theoscillatingcurrents(blackarrows)flowdown
thetransmissionlineandthroughthereceiver
(representedbytheresistanceR).

Becauseofhisprominence,Marconi'suseofthewordantenna(Italianforpole)spreadamongwirelessresearchers,andlatertothe
generalpublic.[7][8][9]
Incommonusage,thewordantennamayreferbroadlytoanentireassemblyincludingsupportstructure,enclosure(ifany),etc.in
additiontotheactualfunctionalcomponents.Especiallyatmicrowavefrequencies,areceivingantennamayincludenotonlythe
actualelectricalantennabutanintegratedpreamplifierormixer.
Anantenna,inconvertingradiowavestoelectricalsignalsorviceversa,isaformoftransducer.[10]

Overview
Antennasarerequiredbyanyradioreceiverortransmittertocoupleitselectricalconnectiontotheelectromagneticfield.Radio
wavesareelectromagneticwaveswhichcarrysignalsthroughtheair(orthroughspace)atthespeedoflightwithalmostno
transmissionloss.Radiotransmittersandreceiversareusedtoconveysignals(information)insystemsincludingbroadcast(audio)
radio,television,mobiletelephones,WiFi(WLAN)datanetworks,trunklinesandpointtopointcommunicationslinks(telephone,
datanetworks),satellitelinks,manyremotecontrolleddevicessuchasgaragedooropeners,andwirelessremotesensors,among
manyothers.Radiowavesarealsouseddirectlyformeasurementsintechnologiesincludingradar,GPS,andradio
astronomy.Ineachandeverycase,thetransmittersandreceiversinvolvedrequireantennas,althoughtheseare
sometimeshidden(suchastheantennainsideanAMradioorinsidealaptopcomputerequippedwithWiFi).

Electronic
symbolforan
antenna

Accordingtotheirapplicationsandtechnologyavailable,antennasgenerallyfallin
oneoftwocategories:
1.Omnidirectionaloronlyweaklydirectionalantennaswhichreceiveorradiatemoreor
lessinalldirections.Theseareemployedwhentherelativepositionoftheother
stationisunknownorarbitrary.Theyarealsousedatlowerfrequencieswherea
directionalantennawouldbetoolarge,orsimplytocutcostsinapplicationswherea
directionalantennaisn'trequired.
2.Directionalorbeamantennaswhichareintendedtopreferentiallyradiateorreceivein
aparticulardirectionordirectionalpattern.
Whipantennaoncar,
commonexampleofan
omnidirectionalantenna

AntennasoftheAtacamaLarge
MillimetersubmillimeterArray. [11]

Incommonusage"omnidirectional"usuallyreferstoallhorizontaldirections,typicallywithreducedperformanceinthe
directionoftheskyortheground(atrulyisotropicradiatorisnotevenpossible).A"directional"antennausuallyisintended
tomaximizeitscouplingtotheelectromagneticfieldinthedirectionoftheotherstation,orsometimestocoveraparticular
sectorsuchasa120horizontalfanpatterninthecaseofapanelantennaatacellsite.

Oneexampleofomnidirectionalantennasistheverycommonverticalantennaorwhipantennaconsistingofametalrod
(often,butnotalways,aquarterofawavelengthlong).Adipoleantennaissimilarbutconsistsoftwosuchconductorsextendinginoppositedirections,
withatotallengththatisoften,butnotalways,ahalfofawavelengthlong.Dipolesaretypicallyorientedhorizontallyinwhichcasetheyareweakly
directional:signalsarereasonablywellradiatedtowardorreceivedfromalldirectionswiththeexceptionofthedirectionalongtheconductoritselfthis
regioniscalledtheantennablindconeornull.
Boththeverticalanddipoleantennasaresimpleinconstructionandrelativelyinexpensive.Thedipoleantenna,whichisthebasisformostantenna
designs,isabalancedcomponent,withequalbutoppositevoltagesandcurrentsappliedatitstwoterminalsthroughabalancedtransmissionline(ortoa
coaxialtransmissionlinethroughasocalledbalun).Theverticalantenna,ontheotherhand,isamonopoleantenna.Itistypicallyconnectedtotheinner
conductorofacoaxialtransmissionline(oramatchingnetwork)theshieldofthetransmissionlineisconnectedtoground.Inthisway,theground(or
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna_(radio)

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