Prof.N.Gunasekaran . CEG.

Anna University
Antenna Fundamentals
Antenna
Antennas are our electronic
eye and ears on the world.

They are our links in space
Hermann Ludwig
Ferdinand von
Helmholtz
Charles-Augustin
de Coulomb
Karl Friedrich
Gauss
MICHAEL
FARADAY
HANS
CHRISTIAN
OERSTED
AMPHERE
JEAN-BAPTISTE
BIOT
FELIX SAVART
MAXWELL

HEINRICH
HERTZ

GUGLIELMO
MARCONI
Indira Point
Chennai
NIOT
Indira Point
Chennai
NIOT
Hertz
Hertz is the father of radio.
Hertz first demonstrates radiation from the
antennas. It was called wireless.
His invention remained a laboratory
curiosity.
1920 : Broadcasting begins. Radio implies
only AM - FM
Wireless back into use
Indira Point
Chennai
NIOT

HEINRICH
HERTZ

Hertz is
the father
of radio.
Marconi
In the mid December 1901 he startled the
world by receiving signals through his
antenna.
Marconis wireless begins at the beginning of
20
th
century.
Marconi was regarded with universal awe and
admiration. Marconi became the wizard of
wireless.
GUGLIELMO
MARCONI
Radiation
Conducting wires motion of electric
charge and hence current flow.
In general, q
V
= Volume charge density
A = wire cross section
V = volume
Q = total charge moving
J
Z
= Current density
J
Z
= q
V
v
Z

If the wire is very thin (ideally zero radius),
I
Z
= q
L
v
Z
q
L


Radiation
To create radiation:
1.There must be time varying current
Electrons are to be accelerated / retarded
2. Radiation occurs when the wire is curved,
bent, discontinuous, terminated or truncated
abruptly etc.
3. If charge is oscillating in a time-motion, it
radiates even if the wire is straight.
Sine wave/broad spectrum
radiation
When charges are accelerated at the source
end, decelerated at the load end due to
reflection, radiation results.
If the driving source is a pulse of short
duration, broad spectrum of radiation
occurs. For continuous time-harmonic
oscillating source, single frequency
radiation results.
Acceleration/Deceleration
Source accelerates the charges. The associated
field radiated.
The deceleration of charge at the end of the wire
is accomplished by the internal forces associated
with induced field due to the built up of charge
concentration at the ends of the wire. The internal
forces receive energy from the charge build up as
its velocity is reduced to zero at the ends due to
impedance discontinuities.
Antenna
Antenna converts electrons into photons
and vice verse.
Photon is a quantum unit of electromagnetic
energy, equal to (hf ) where h is planks
constant, f is the operating frequency.
TEM
If a two wire Transmission line is connected
to a RF transmitter, along the uniform part
of the transmission line energy is guided as
a plane transverse electromagnetic (TEM)
wave with no loss ( d< ). As the line is
opened out in the tapered transition ( d >)
radiation occurs and waves are launched
into free space.
Radiation
1.Radiation is perpendicular to
acceleration of charges.
2.Radiated power is proportional
to the square of ( LdI/dt) or
(Qdv/dt)
Q = Charge I = current
C = f
300 = f
MHz
x
m



2. What should be the antenna length normally
Antenna Length
Example:
Given f = 3 KHz Given f = 30 GHz

m
= 300 / f
MHz

m
= 300 / f
MHz

= 300 / (3/1000) = 300 / 30000
= 100 Km = 1 / 100 m

= 1 cm
Length of the antenna should be

m
/ 2 = 0.5 cm

1. What is an Antenna
Antenna is
1. a Conductor
2. a Passive reciprocal network
3. a Radiator and receiver
4. a resonance circuit
5. a transducer
6. an Electromagnet
7. a transmission line
8. a matching circuit between transmitter
/ receiver and free space
9.a Match load
Patch Antenna

FiG 1.1/2 Ramesh
Micro strip Antenna
On one side of the dielectric substrate
: Radiating patch = copper , Gold : Any shape.
On the other side of the substrate
: Ground plane.
c
r
< 10 Range of Dielectric constant of substrate
c
r
< 2.5 Fields loosely confined inside dielectric
To enhance the fringing fields that radiate







Radiation from MSA occurs from the fringing
fields between the periphery of the patch
and the ground plane.
The length L of the rectangular patch for the
fundamental TM
10
mode excitation is
slightly < /2
MIC - MSA
MIC MSA
h s 0.159 cm > 0.159
cm
c
r
> 9.8

s 9.8
W small Large
Radiation Minimized
Maximized

Advantages of MSA
1.Light weight, low volume, thin profile
configuration, which can be made
conformal.;
2.Low fabrication cost, readily amenable to
mass production;
3.Lineat and circular polarization are possible
with simple feed;
4.Dual frequency, dual polarization antenna
can be made;

Advantages of MSA
5.No cavity backing is required;
6.Can be easily integrated with microwave
integrated circuits;
7.Feed lines and matching networks can be
fabricated simultaneously with the antenna
structure;


Limitations of MSA

1. Narrow bandwidth and associated
tolerence problems;
2. Low gain ( ~ 6 dB);
3.Large ohmic loss in the feed structure of
arrays;
4.Most MSA radiates into half space;
5.Complex feed structure required for high
performance arrays;


Limitations of MSA

6.Polarization purity is difficult to arrive;
7.Poor end fire radiator, except tapered slot
antennas;
8.Extreneous radiation from feed and junctions;
9.Low power handling capability (~ 100 W);
10.Reduced gain and efficiency as well as
unacceptable high level of cross-polarization
and mutual, coupling within an array
environment at high frequencies;
Limitations of MSA
11.Excitations of surface waves;
12.Microstrip antennas fabricated on a
substrate with a high dielectric constant are
strongly preferred for easy integration with
MMIC RF front-end circuitry. However,
use of high dielectric constant substrate
leads to poor efficiency and narrow
bandwidth.
Requirement for radiation of
MSA
a) For radiation:
Thick substrate
Low dielectric constant
Field distribution between patch metallization
and ground plane will decide radiation.
Surface current distribution on the patch
metallization decides the radiation
MSA-Reduced radiation
a) Thin substrate
b) High dielectric constant

Thank You
Antenna Fundamentals
Basic features
Working Principle
When a wire carries an alternating current, the electrons in the wire are
moving with a varying velocity and , hence some radiation of energy can
be expected to take place as the velocity changes. If the frequency of the
current in the wire is increased, the changes in electron velocity become
greater and more energy should be radiated.

.





.
Electro Magnetic Waves
Electromagnetic waves are generated
when ever a moving electric charge is
accelerated which means a change in
either speed or direction.







3. What are the fundamental features of an antenna
Fundamental Features of an Antenna
1. Radiation pattern

2. Directivity (Beam width)

3. Gain (Power gain)

4. Radiation resistance

5. Bandwidth and Q

6. Polarisation

7. Impedance

8. VSWR (Reflection coefficient)

9. Front to Back ratio

4. What is radiation pattern of an antenna
Radiation lobes and beam widths

Radiation pattern provides spatial distribution of radiated
energy of the source at a constant distance from the radiating source

The radiation pattern contains
i. Major lobes
ii. Minor lobes

The minor lobes contains
a. Side lobes ( first pair of minor lobes)
b. Other minor lobes
c. Back lobes
In general the amplitudes of the lobes are normalized with
respect to the maximum value of the main lobe.Such pattern is
called normalized radiation pattern.Hence the maximum value
of the radiated pattern is unity.It is conventional to express the
pattern in dB units.Thus the maximum value in the radiation
pattern corresponds to 0 dB.
5.What is Directivity of an antenna
Directivity is a measure of Focusing capability of the
antenna
D = P(u , |)
max
/ P(u , |)
av
P(u , |)
av
= W / 4 tr
2
Where W = total power radiated
6.What is Power Gain of an antenna
G = q D Where G = power gain
q= R
r
/ ( R
r
+ R
L
) D = Directive gain
q = Efficiency of an antenna
R
r
= Radiation Resistance
R
L
=Lossy Resistance
q = 1 , when R
L
=0.

Power gain involves radiation loss of an antenna.The power
gain and directivity gain are as follows.

7. What is Radiation Resistance (R
r
) of the antenna
Radiation resistance (R
r
) is an
equivalent resistance of an
antenna appearing across the
terminal of a transmitter,
absorbing a power which is
otherwise radiated into free
space by the actual antenna.
Radiation resistance depends
on the height of the antenna
above the ground as shown
8.Bandwidth and Q
BW = f
r
/ Q
f
r
= Resonance Frequency.
Q= Quality factor = X
L
/R
.
VSWR < 2 is to be maintained over the operating
bandwidth.
From transmission line theory, an antenna of length L = / 2 is a
resonant circuit with high Q.Since L is fixed corresponding to
the antenna is efficient only at one frequency.
The Q and thus the bandwidth are determined primarily by the ratio
of length to diameter of the conductor.
9.Polarization.
Polarization = Direction of electric field
= Orientation of the Antenna
Horizontal polarization Vertical polarization
A wave from horizontal antenna is horizontally polarized.
A wave from Vertical antenna is Vertically polarized.


Polarization is an identity of a wave, just as frequency,
remaining unchanged independent of distance and time.
10.Impedance
One of the most critical aspects of any antenna system is ensuring maximum
power transfer form the transmitter to the antenna.
The Characteristic impedance of the Tr. Line should match the output
impedance of the transmitter on one side and the input impedance of the
antenna on the other side.
The input impedance of the antenna is the ratio of voltage to current at the
input terminal.This measurement is to be made at the site where the antenna is
installed. In the case of receiving antenna the current at the input depends on
the signals arriving through multipath transmission from the transmitter.The
addition of signals through multipath is a phasor addition.
11.Voltage standing ratio (V S W R )
VSWR S = V
MAX
/ V
MIN
; S = Z
L
/ Z
0
or = Z
0
/ Z
L

= V
ref
/ V
inc
= ( + 1) / ( - 1)
= Reflection coefficient.
= ( Z
L
- Z
0
) / ( Z
L
+ Z
0
)
Return loss R= 20 log (1/ )
Higher the return loss better is the matching condition
VSWR is a measure of mismatch in the transmission line.Mismatch is
due to Z
L
= Z
0.
Mismatch leads to

reflection energy delivered to the
load back to the source and hence loss of energy.
1 s S s

S = 1 = matched condition
S = = Absolute mismatch
0 s s 1
= 0 = matched condition
= 1 = Absolute mismatch
F / B = 10 log ( P
f
/ P
b
)
P
f
= Forward power
P
b
= Backward power
F / B = 10 log ( 3000/ 500

)
= 10 log 6 = 7.78dB
F / B ratio should be as high as
possible
13.What are basic types of antennas

All antenna are derived from either of the
following:
Hertzian antenna
Marconi antenna
Solid angle
In polar two-dimensional coordinates an incremental
area dA on the surface of a sphere is the product of the
length (r du) in the u-direction and (r sinu d|) in
|-direction.
dA= (r du) (r sinu d|) = r
2
dO

Where
dO = solid angle in steradian or square degree
dO = solid angle subtended by area dA

O
A
= } } P
n
dO dO = sin u du d|
Oscillating Dipole
Oscillating dipole is a small radiating element with length dl <<
It is not an practical antenna but useful reference antenna
All practical antennas are viewed as made up of number of such
oscillating dipoles.
Current
distribution
Chain of Hertzian dipoles
Current and charge distribution on a line
antenna
Oscillating dipole
14. What are near and far fields of an antenna
Field Regions of an Antenna
15. What is retarded potential
Retardation indicates delay or Finite Propagation time for the
force to travel from the source to the observation point.
At a given time t, a magnetic vector potential A and scalar
potential V at a point some distance r from the source of
disturbance will be determined, not by the current and charge in the
antenna at that particular time, but by the current uncharged that
existed at a slightly earlier time t = [t (r / v)].
Where r is the distance from the source to the point of observation
and v is the velocity.
V = 1 / 4tc}[ [t (r/v)] / r] du

The alternating current in the short length of wire is given
by i = I sin et.
The retarded potential due to this current element at a
distance r is given by
16. Derive expressions for the radiated fields of an oscillating
dipole. Hence deduce expressions for the fields.

Oscillating Dipole

i. Current distribution:
Consider uniform constant current distribution I over the length of
the oscillating dipole. Our assumption is valid, since L << . The
radiating efficiency of the antenna is maximum when the current
distribution on the antenna is uniform and constant.
L <<
ii. Retarded potential
Consider the current element L at origin and oriented in the Z
direction.Hence the magnetic vector potential A will have a
component A
z..
The magnetic vector of potential A
z
for the one-
dimensional current source becomes
A
z
= IL e
jkr
(4tr)
The equation represents outward traveling spherical wave since
the source assumed to be very small ( point source)
X
u
u
A
z
A
u
A
r
A
r
= A
z
cosu
A
u
= - A
z
sinu
A
|
= 0
Y
Z
r
IL
Components of magnetic vector potential
iii. Magnetic field
H = V x A
Expanding (V x A) in spherical coordinates the components
of H are given as follows.
H
r
= 0
H
u
= 0

iv. Electric field
Vx H = j e c E


Expanding (V x H) in spherical coordinates the
components of E are given as follows.

E
|
= 0
Thus the radiated fields of an oscillating dipole are as
follows:

Very close to the current element, the E reduces to that of a
static charge dipole, the H reduces to that of a constant element,
and the field is said to be quasi static.

The far fields r >> , the radiated
fields are given as follows.
The far fields are significant since only in the
far field E
u
and H
|
are
i. In time phase
ii. In space quadrature

iii. Their ratio is constant = q

Radiated power = W = I
2
R
r
=
Rr

= 80 t
2

For oscillating dipole (L / ) will be a fraction and hence the radiation
resistance R
r
will be very small
Thus the oscillating dipole is not an practical antenna
Any antenna of finite size or of length comparable to can be viewed
as made up of number of oscillating dipoles.
The results derived for oscillating dipole can be extended to all other
practical antennas.
Average power radiated
HALF WAVE DIPOLE
The most commonly used antenna is half wave dipole.
For operating frequencies in the bands MF, LF, VLF, Half
wave dipole may not be physically realizable.
In such situations mono pole antenna (L = / 4) can
replace of a dipole using image principle.
In the frequency bands HF, VHF, UHF, SHF, half wave
dipole antenna is practically realizable and is simple to
fabricate
i. Retarded potential
17. Derive expressions for radiated fields of half wave dipole
ii. Current distribution
iii. Electric field
E
u
= je sin u A
z
iv Magnetic field
H
|
= E
u
/ q

E
u
= jq[ I
m
/2tr]e
-jkr
cos [(t / 2) cos u] / sin u
18. Derive expression for the Radiation resistance of half
wave dipole and hence find the value for R
r

Radiated power density
Radiated power
R
r
= W / I
2
m = q/2t } [cos (t / 2) cos u]
2
du

Sin u
= (q / 2t) ( 1.22) = 120 t / 2 t = 60 ( 1.22)
= 73 O