CHAPTER 5

MICROWAVE ANTENNAS
 5.1.1:
INTRODUCTION OF
MICROWAVE ANTENNA
 RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION
INTRODUCTION

EM waves travel in straight lines, unless acted upon by

some outside force. They travel faster through a vacuum
than through any other medium.

As EM waves spread out from the point of origin, they

decrease in strength in what is described as an inverse
square relationship.

For example: a signal 2 km from its starting point will be

only 1/4 as strong as that 1 km from the source. A signal 3
km from the source will be only 1/9 that at the 1 km point.
 RADIO WAVES
x Electric
Field, E

y Direction of
z Propagation
Magnetic
Field, H

 Electromagnetic radiation comprises both an Electric and a Magnetic Field.

 The two fields are at right-angles to each other and the direction of propagation is at right-angles to both
fields.
 The Plane of the Electric Field defines the Polarisation of the wave.
 POLARIZATION
 The polarization of an antenna is the orientation of
the electric field with respect to the Earth's surface
and is determined by the physical structure of the
antenna and by its orientation.

 Radio waves from a vertical antenna will usually

be vertically polarized.

 Radio waves from a horizontal antenna are

usually horizontally polarized.
Di
rec
tio
n of
Pr
op
ag
ati
on

Direction of Propagation
Di
re cti
o no
fP
ro
p ag
a tio
n

ECM 717 - BY DR MOHD

Direction of Propagation
TARMIZI ALI
Vertically polarized Horizontally polarized directional
omnidirectional yagi antenna
ECM 717 - BY DR MOHD
dipole antenna TARMIZI ALI
 What is an ‘antenna’?

 An antenna is a device that is made to efficiently

radiate and receive radiated electromagnetic waves.

 An antenna is an electrical conductor or system of

conductors.
 Transmission - radiates electromagnetic
energy into space
 Reception - collects electromagnetic energy
from space.

 In two-way communication, the same antenna can be

used for transmission and reception.
Transmitter

Receiver
 5.1.2:
TYPES OF
MICROWAVE ANTENNA
 Antenna Types
 Horn Antenna
 Parabolic Antenna
 Slot Antenna
 Dipole Antenna
 Dielectric Antenna
 Printed Antenna
 Phase Array Antenna
Horn Antenna
 Horn antennas are very popular at UHF (300
MHz-3 GHz) and higher frequencies.

 Horn antennas often have a directional radiation

pattern with a high antenna gain, which can range
up to 25 dB in some cases, with 10-20 dB being
typical.

 Horn antennas have a wide impedance

bandwidth, implying that the input impedance is
slowly varying over a wide frequency range.
Horn Antenna
 The gain of horn antennas often increases as the
frequency of operation is increased.

 This is because the size of the horn aperture is always

measured in wavelengths, a higher frequency has a
smaller wavelength.

 Since the horn antenna has a fixed physical size, the

aperture is more wavelengths across at higher
frequencies.

 Horn antennas have very little loss, so the directivity of

a horn is roughly equal to its gain.
Types of horn antenna

Figure 2. H-Plane horn antenna.

Figure 1. E-plane horn antenna.

Figure 3. Pyramidal horn antenna

Parabolic Antennas
 Parabolic Antenna
 The most well-known reflector antenna is the parabolic
reflector antenna, commonly known as a satellite dish
antenna.
 Examples of this dish antenna are shown in the following
Figures.

Figure 1. The "big dish" antenna of Figure 2. A random direcTV dish

Stanford University. antenna on a roof.
 Parabolic Antenna
 Parabolic reflectors typically have a very high gain (30-40 dB
is common) and low cross polarization.

 They also have a reasonable bandwidth, with the fractional

bandwidth being at least 5% on commercially available
models, and can be very wideband in the case of huge dishes.

 The smaller dish antennas typically operate somewhere

between 2 and 28 GHz.

 The large dishes can operate in the VHF region (30-300 MHz),
but typically need to be extremely large at this operating band.
 Slot Antenna
 A slot antenna consists of a metal surface, usually
a flat plate, with a hole or slot cut out.

 When the plate is driven as an antenna by a

driving frequency, the slot
radiates electromagnetic waves in similar way to
a dipole antenna.

 Often the radio waves are provided by

a waveguide, and the antenna consists of slots in
the waveguide.

 Slot antennas are used typically at frequencies

 Slot Antenna
 Slot antennas are often used
at UHF and microwave frequencies instead of line
antennas when greater control of the radiation
pattern is required.

 Widely used in radar antennas, for the sector

antennas
used for cell phone base stations.

 Often found in standard

desktop microwave sources used for research
purposes.
Slot Antenna
Dipole Antenna
 Dipole antenna with a very thin radius is considered.

 For very small dipole antennas, the input impedance is

capacitive, which means the impedance is dominated by a
negative reactance value.

 As the dipole gets larger, the input resistance increases, along

with the reactance.

 At slightly less than 0.5 the antenna has zero imaginary

component to the impedance, and the antenna is said to be
resonant.

 If the dipole antenna's length becomes close to one

wavelength, the input impedance becomes infinite.
 Dipole antenna basics
 Dipole antenna consists of two terminals or "poles" into which
radio frequency current flows.
 This current and the associated voltage causes and
electromagnetic or radio signal to be radiated.
 Dipole is generally taken to be an antenna that consists of a
resonant length of conductor cut to enable it to be connected
to the feeder.

The basic half wave dipole antenna

 The current distribution along a dipole is roughly
sinusoidal.
 falls to zero at the end and is at a maximum in the
middle.
 voltage is low at the middle and rises to a maximum at
the ends.
 It is generally fed at the centre, at the point where the
current is at a maximum and the voltage a minimum.
 This provides a low impedance feed point which is
convenient to handle.
 High voltage feed points are far less convenient and
more difficult to use.
 When multiple half wavelength dipoles are used,
they are similarly normally fed in the centre.
 Here again the voltage is at a minimum and the
current at a maximum.
 Theoretically any of the current maximum nodes
could be used.
 Dipole polar diagram
 The polar diagram of a half wave dipole antenna that the
direction of maximum sensitivity or radiation is at right
angles to the axis of the RF antenna.
 The radiation falls to zero along the axis of the RF
antenna as might be expected.

Polar diagram of a half wave dipole in free space

 If the length of the dipole antenna is changed
then the radiation pattern is altered.

 As the length of the antenna is extended it can

be seen that the familiar figure of eight pattern
changes to give main lobes and a few side
lobes.

 The main lobes move progressively towards

the axis of the antenna as the length
increases.
 The dipole antenna is a particularly important
form of RF antenna which is very widely used
for radio transmitting and receiving
applications.

 The dipole is often used on its own as an RF

antenna, but it also forms the essential
element in many other types of RF antenna.

 As such it is the possibly the most important

form of RF antenna.
 Radiation pattern and gain
 Dipoles have a radiation pattern, shaped like a toroid (doughnut)
symmetrical about the axis of the dipole.
 The radiation is maximum at right angles to the dipole, dropping off
to zero on the antenna's axis.
 The theoretical maximum gain of a Hertzian dipole is 10 log 1.5 or
1.76 dBi.
 The maximum theoretical gain of a λ/2-dipole is 10 log 1.64 or 2.15
dBi.
 Dipole types
 Short dipole
 Half-wave dipole
 Quarter-wave monopole
 Folded dipole
Short dipole Half-wave dipole

 A short dipole is a physically  Typically a dipole antenna is

feasible dipole formed by two
formed by two quarter-
conductors with a total length L
very small compared with the wavelength conductors or
wavelength λ. elements placed back to back
for a total length of L = λ/2.
 The two conducting wires are fed
at the center of the dipole.  The larger the differential
 The current is assumed to be voltage, the greater the current
maximal at the center (where the between the elements.
dipole is fed) and to decrease
linearly to zero at the ends of the
wires.
Quarter-wave monopole
 The quarter-wave monopole
antenna is a single-element
antenna fed at one end, that
behaves as a dipole antenna.
 The quarter-wave conductor
and its image together form a
half-wave dipole that radiates
only in the upper half of space.
Folded dipole
 A folded dipole is a half-wave
dipole with an additional wire
connecting its two ends.
 the antenna are folded back until
they almost meet at the feed point,
such that the antenna comprises
one entire wavelength.
 This arrangement has a greater
bandwidth than a standard half-
wave dipole.
Dielectric Antenna
 Dielectric Antenna
 An antenna in the form of a section of dielectric rod
excited by a radio wave guide or the post of a coaxial
cable.

 A surface wave is generated in the rod of the antenna

and propagates along the axis of the rod.

 Dielectric antennas are essentially traveling-wave

antennas, consisting of elementary electric and magnetic
dipoles.

 The radiation maximum coincides with the axis of the

rod, as does the maximum of any traveling-wave
 The type of radiation of a dielectric antenna depends on the
phase velocity of propagation of the surface wave, which
decreases with an increase in the diameter of the dielectric
rod and in the dielectric constant of its material.

 The lower the phase velocity, the greater the length of the rod.

 As the phase velocity decreases, or as it approaches the

speed of light in the surrounding medium (air), the dielectric
rod begins to lose its wave-guide properties.

 This leads to an abrupt decrease in the field intensity near the

end of the rod, an increase of radiation into the medium
surrounding the antenna (directly from the open end of the
wave guide), and a decrease in the antenna’s efficiency.
 The rods of dielectric antennas are made from
dielectric materials with low attenuation of
electromagnetic waves.

 Dielectric antennas are used mainly in aircraft

radio equipment, which operates on centimeter
or decimeter wavelengths.

 low cost alternative to free space high gain

antenna designs such as Yagi-Uda and horn
antennas, which are often more difficult to
manufacture at these frequencies
 Printed Antenna

 Printed antenna technology used for wireless

system
 Printed antenna application are:
- Arrays for low or medium directivity
- Efficient radiators
- Planar antenna
 Printed Antenna
 Originated from the use of planar microwave technologies.

 The begin antenna printed in the mid 1970.

 The layered structure with 2 parallel conductors separated

by a thin dielectric substrate and the lower conductor acting
as a ground plane.

 Printed belongs to the class or resonant antennas. Printed

antennas have found use in most classical microwave
applications.

 Operates typically from 1- 100 GHz.

Printed Antenna
 Phase Array Antenna
 A phased array is an array of antennas in which the
relative phases of the respective signals feeding the
antennas are varied in such a way that the effective
radiation pattern of the array is reinforced in a desired
direction and suppressed in undesired directions.

 An antenna array is a group of multiple active

antennas coupled to a common source or load to
produce a directive radiation pattern.

 Usually, the spatial relationship of the individual

antennas also contributes to the directivity of the
antenna array.
 Phase Array Antenna
 Use of the term "active antennas" is intended
to describe elements whose energy output is
modified due to the presence of a source of
energy in the element or an element in which
the energy output from a source of energy is
controlled by the signal input.

 One common application of this is with a

standard multiband television antenna, which
has multiple elements coupled together.
PAVE PAWS Radar Clear AFS
Alaska
 5.1.3:
TYPES OF FEEDER FOR PARABOLIC
ANTENNA
 Feeder Types
 Gregorian
 Cassegrain
 Horn feed
 Omnidirectional
 Antenna Feed
 Antenna feed refers to the components of an antenna which
feed the radio waves to the rest of the antenna structure, or in
receiving antennas collect the incoming radio waves, convert
them to electric currents and transmit them to the receiver.

 Antennas typically consist of a feed and additional reflecting or

directive structures whose function is to form the radio waves
from the feed into a beam or other desired radiation pattern.

 Feed consists of a dipole driven element, which converts the

radio waves to an electric current, and a coaxial cable or twin
lead transmission line which conducts the received signal from
the antenna into the house to the television receiver.
 Gregorian Antenna
 It is a type of parabolic antenna used at earth
station
 Its design is similar to Cassegrain antenna
(secondary reflector is convex), only
Gregorian antenna’s secondary reflector is
concave
 Gregorian antenna
 In another word, Gregorian antenna is a
double reflector antenna with the second
reflector located at a distance greater than the
main reflector
 In modern world, Gregorian is less compact
than Cassegrain in term of design but with a
smaller second reflector thus the advantages
of beam blocking result in more efficient
antenna
Antenna diagram
 Cassegrain Antenna.
Th
i
of s is
ca exa
an sseg mp
ten ra le
na in

Cassegrain antennas are a subcategory of reflector antennas. Reflector

antennas have been used from discovery of electromagnetic wave propagation
Onwards.
Cassegrain antenna consists of two reflectors (primary and secondary) and a
feeder. The main characteristics of Cassegrain antennas is their high
directivity.The bigger diameter of antenna reflector is used, the better
gain is achieved.
 Application Cassegrain Antenna.

 RADAR.
 SPACE COMMUNICATION
 RADIO ASTRONOMY
 WIRELESS COMMUNICATION.
Operation cassegrain antenna
 In telecommunications and radar, a Cassegrain antenna is a parabolic antenna in
which the feed radiator is mounted at or behind the surface of the concave main
parabolic reflector dish and is aimed at a smaller convex secondary reflector
suspended in front of the primary reflector. The beam of radio waves from the
feed illuminates the secondary reflector, which reflects it back to the main
reflector dish, which reflects it forward again to form the desired beam.

Illu ass
st eg
c
ra ra
te in
d
of an
op ten
er na
at
io
n
Cassegrain antenna.
 
Closeup of the convex secondary
reflector in a large satellite
communications antenna in
Pleumeur-Bodou, France

Cassegrain satellite
communication antenna in
Sweden. The convex secondary
reflector can be seen suspended
above the dish, and the feed horn
is visible projecting from the
center of the dish.
RADIATION PATTERN

Another important aspect of the antenna is the front-to-back ratio. It

measures the directivity of the antenna. It is a ratio of energy which
antenna is directing in a particular direction, which depends on its
radiation pattern to the energy which is left behind the antenna or
wasted. The higher the gain of the antenna, the higher the front-to-
back ratio is. A good antenna front-to-back ratio is normally 20 dB.
 Advantage of cassegrain antenna
 The feed antennas and associated waveguides and "front end" electronics can be
located on or behind the dish, rather than suspended in front where they block
part of the outgoing beam.
 the feed antenna is directed forward, rather than backward toward the dish as in a
front-fed antenna, the spillover side lobes caused by portions of the beam that
miss the secondary reflector are directed upwards toward the sky rather than
downwards towards the warm earth.
 Dual reflector shaping: The presence of a second reflector in the signal path allows
additional opportunities for tailoring the radiation pattern for maximum
performance.
 increase the focal length of the antenna, to improve the field of view Parabolic
reflectors used in dish antennas have a large curvature and short focal length, to
locate the focal point near the mouth of the dish, to reduce the length of the
supports required to hold the feed structure or secondary reflector.
 Disadvantage of cassegrain
antenna
 A disadvantage of the Cassegrain is that the feed horn(s) must have a
narrower beamwidth (higher gain) to focus its radiation on the smaller
secondary reflector, instead of the wider primary reflector as in front-fed
dishes. The angular width the secondary reflector subtends at the feed
horn is typically 10° - 15°, as opposed to 120° - 180° the main reflector
subtends in a front-fed dish. Therefore the feed horn must be longer for a
given wavelength.
 Horn antenna
 Also known as microwave horn, it is an
antenna which is the waveguide is horn-
shaped
 This is to direct radio waves into a beam
 Usually used for UHF and microwave
frequency, which is above 300MHz
 They used as a feeder (called feed horn) for
larger structure such as parabolic antenna
 Feed horn
 It is a small horn antenna used to convey radio
waves between transmitter and receiver, and
also the reflector
 Generally used in parabolic antenna
 Usually used in SHF
 Operation
 In transmitting antenna, it convert the radio
frequency alternating current from transmitter
to radio waves, which is then feed the radio
waves to the antenna to be focused into beam
 Operation
 In receiving antenna, the received radio waves
is gathered and focused by the antenna’s
reflector to the feed horn, which is then
converted into radio frequency amplified by
the receiver
 Omnidirectional antenna

Th
is
om is e
nid xam
an irec ple
ten tio o
nn nal f
a.

An omnidirectional antenna is an antenna that has a non-directional pattern (circular pattern) in a given
plane with a directional pattern in any orthogonal plane. Examples of omnidirectional antennas are dipoles
and collinear antennas. In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is an antenna which radiates
radio wave power uniformly in all directions in one plane, with the radiated power decreasing with elevation
angle above or below the plane, dropping to zero on the antenna's axis. This radiation pattern is often
described as "doughnut shaped".
 Application of omnidirectional
antenna
 Cell phones
 Fm radio
 Walkie talkie
 Wireless computer network.
 Cordless phone.
 Gps
 Operation of omnidirectional
antenna.
The omnidirectional antenna radiates or receives equally well in all directions. It is
also called the "non-directional" antenna because it does
not favor any particular direction. The pattern for an omnidirectional antenna, with
the four cardinal signals. This type of pattern is commonly associated with verticals,
ground planes and other antenna types in which the radiator element is vertical with
respect
to the Earth's surface. Illustrate
block diag
antenna o ram
mnidirectio
antenna nal
Radiation pattern omnidirectional antenna

Omnidirectional antennas have a similar radiation pattern. These antennas provide

a 360 degree horizontal radiation pattern. These are used when coverage is
required in all directions (horizontally) from the antenna with varying degrees of
vertical coverage. Polarization is the physical orientation of the element on the
antenna that actually emits the RF energy. An omnidirectional antenna, for
example, is usually a vertical polarized antenna.
Advantage of omnidirectional
antenna
advantage

 An omni directional antenne receives or transmits signals from all directions as in

360 degrees.
disadvantage

Signal strength is uniform with omnidirectional antennas.

If you use an omnidirectional antenna all signals are noise sources look into the
same antenna gain. There is neither increase of the desired signal, nor
suppression of undesired signals. On a crowded band, the omnidirectional
antenna confers no SNR
advantage.
 5.2:
CHARACTERISTIC OF
HORN & PARABOLIC
ANTENNA
 Antenna Radiation Patterns
 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.
 Types of Radiation Patterns
Idealized
Point Radiator Vertical Dipole Radar Dish

Isotropic Omnidirectional Directional

Antenna Radiation Pattern
 Main beam / side lobe region

 The peak of the main beam represents the

highest level of field strength and
approximately 70% of the radiated energy is
enclosed.

 The side lobe region represents a potential

source of interference into the communication
link, and for this reason is generally required
to be of low level.
 Antenna Side lobes
 While most of the power radiated by an antenna
is contained in the ”main lobe", a certain amount
of power can be transmitted, (or received), in off-
axis directions.

 Side lobes are an intrinsic property of antenna

radiation and cannot be completely eliminated.

 However, side lobes are also due to antenna

defects that can be minimized with proper
design.
Horn Antenna Radiation Pattern

 This antenna is
simulated using a
commercial solver.

 The radiation pattern at

2 GHz is shown in Figure
1.
Figure 1

 The gain of the horn is

18.1 dB in the +z-
Parabolic Antenna Radiation
Pattern
 This example will be for a parabolic dish reflector with
the diameter of the dish D equal to 11 wavelengths.

 A circular horn antenna will be used as the feed.

 The maximum gain from the physical aperture is the

actual gain is 29.3 dB = 851, so we can conclude that
the overall efficiency is 77%.
 Gain, directivity and efficiency
 Gain and directivity are quantities which define
the ability to concentrate energy in a particular
direction and are directly related to the antenna
radiation pattern.

 It includes all ohmic and dissipative losses arising

from conductivity of metal and dielectric loss.

 Antenna efficiency is a coefficient that accounts

for all the different losses present in an antenna
system.
 Antenna Gain
• The fields across the aperture of the parabolic
reflector is responsible for this antenna's
radiation.

• Directivity or gain is the ratio of the power

radiated by an antenna in its direction of
maximum radiation to the power radiated by a
reference antenna in the same direction.

• Is measured in dBi (dB referenced to an

isotropic antenna) or dBd (dB referenced to a
half wavelength dipole).
 Antenna Gain
 Parabolic Antenna Gain,
G = 6D2/λ2

where D = diameter

 Horn Antenna Gain

G = 10A/λ2
A =flange area
 Antenna Efficiency

Antenna efficiency is affected by:

1.The sub reflector and supporting structure

blockage.
2.The main reflector rms surface deviation.
3.Illumination efficiency, which accounts for the non
uniformity of the illumination, phase distribution
across the antenna surface, and power radiated in
the side lobes.
4.The power that is radiated in the side lobes.
 Radiation Efficiency
 The radiation efficiency is the usual efficiency
that deals with ohmic losses.

 Horn antennas are often used as feeds, and

these have very little loss.

 Parabolic reflector is typically metallic with a

very high conductivity, this efficiency is
typically close to 1 and can be neglected.
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 polarization matched to the
antenna.
Effective Aperture
If there is no specific direction chosen, the direction
of maximum radiation intensity is implied.
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