ANTENNA

Outline
• The Antenna Mechanism
• Types of Antenna
• Directional Pattern of Antennas
• Gain of Antennas
• Horizontally Polarized Waves and Vertically Polarized
Waves
• Antenna materia
• How to Use Antennas
• Mobile Phone Antennas
 Introduction
•  The antenna is a very important element of radio equipment.
• The antenna of the transmitter emits high frequency energy
into space while the antenna of the receiver catches this and
converts it into electricity.
• If the antenna is not precisely the right length for the
frequency used, the radio waves cannot be emitted or
captured efficiently. It should neither be too long, nor too
short.
• A good transmitting antenna can be a good receiving
antenna, and for ordinary uses, one antenna serves both
functions.
 Antenna Definition
• An antenna is a piece of conducting wire or
rod with excitation
• An antenna is a source or radiator of
electromagnetic waves
• An antenna is a sensor of electromagnetic
waves
• An antenna is a transducer
• An antenna is a impedance matching device
 Function of an Antenna
• It is used as a transducer, that is, it converts
electrical energy into EM energy on the
transmitting side and it converts EM energy
into electrical energy on the receiving side.
 Properties of an Antenna
• It has identical impedance when used for
transmitting and receiving purposes
• It has identical directional characteristics when it
is used for transmitting and receiving purposes
• It has the same effective length when it is used
for transmitting and receiving purposes
These Properties can be proved using reciprocity
theorem
The Antenna Mechanism
 Types of Antenna
The types of antenna include whip antennas, dipole antennas,
Yagi-Uda arrays, parabola antennas, loop antennas and so on.
Whip (rod) Antennas used for mobile phones and the like. Non-directional
Antennas antenna with equal sensitivity in any direction.
Dipole Antenna Used for amateur radio and so on.
Yagi-Uda Array Used as television antennas and so on. They have strong directivity,
and must be aligned in the direction of the transmitting station.
Parabola Used for receiving satellite broadcasts. These antennas have very
Antenna strong directivity and require fine directional adjustment, but they
can use the power of the radio waves efficiently.
Loop Antenna Loop antennas capture the changes in the magnetic field of the radio
waves. The radio waves propagate in the direction at right angles to
the circle of the loop.
Similarly the receiving antenna is placed in such a way as to be
perpendicular to the magnetic field of the radio waves.
Dielectric Antennas using high frequency dielectric ceramics can be compact
Antenna and achieve high performance.
 Directional Pattern of Antenna
There are both directional antennas and non-directional antennas.

• Antennas with directivity are used in cases where the direction of the other
party in communication is fixed. This avoids unwanted radio wave
emission in the environment and does not pick up noise from other
directions. It is convenient as it allows efficient transmission with low
power.
• Radio waves radiating in a specific direction are called a beam.
• Non-directional antennas radiate unwanted radio waves in the
environment, and conversely pick up noise from every direction. So, they
are suited to mobile applications.
• Directional antennas include Yagi-Uda arrays, parabola antennas and the
like.
• Non-directional antennas include whip antennas and so on.
 Conti..

Directional antennas and non-directional antennas

In the diagram above, with the whip antenna the radio waves are radiating in
every direction equally, so it is a non-directional antenna.
With the Yagi-Uda array and parabola antenna, the radio waves are radiating in a
specific direction, so they are said to be directional antennas (beam antennas)
 Conti..
Main lobe, side lobe, and back lobe

• If we take the Yagi-Uda array as an example, the

largest radiation beam in the intended direction is the
main lobe,
• And in the opposite direction the unwanted radiation
that occurs is called the side lobe.
• A side lobe occurring in space in the direction
opposite to the main lobe is called back lobe.
 Conti..
FB Ratio
• If we look at the directional pattern of the Yagi-Uda array,
there are a main lobe and a back lobe generated.
• The ratio between the main lobe and back lobe, called the FB
(Front/Back) ratio, is calculated to express the level of
directivity of the antenna, and this is shown in decibels (dB).
• Therefore the larger this value, the better the performance of
the antenna.
 Impedance Matching
• When connecting an antenna from a high
frequency circuit it is necessary to transfer
power efficiently and ensure that no problems
arise with reflection of the radio waves
• Reflection occurs when the signal source
impedance and the impedance of the antenna do
not match
• and making them match is called impedance
matching
 Horizontally polarized waves and
vertically polarized waves
• The radio waves radiated from antennas standing vertically
propagate vertically in relation to the ground, and are called
vertical waves
• In the same way, with horizontally placed antennas the
electric field is horizontal in relation to the ground, so the
waves are called horizontal waves
• Circularly polarized waves are also used, for satellite
broadcasts and so on
• Naturally, if the plane of polarization of both antennas does
not match, there will be a lot of loss in capturing the radio
waves.
Conti..
 Antenna material
• Because high frequency currents flow through antennas,
naturally they must be made of metal. Therefore, metals with
a low specific resistance are used as the material for antennas
• However, silver and gold are not appropriate from the
perspective of cost accounting, and steel rusts and is heavy so
it is not suitable for antennas
• Ordinarily, aluminum is used for antennas for its low specific
resistance and low cost, but this is often used for relatively
large antennas
• For compact equipment such as mobile phones and radio
modules, antennas made of shape memory alloys (titanium-
nickel alloy) or of stainless steel are used, or dielectric
antennas. Even simple antennas made of piano wire are used.
 How to use Antenna
• Antennas should be attached to the outside of the product, on the top if
possible.
• The antenna should be attached in a position as far as possible from the
human body. Radio waves above 750 MHz are particularly easily absorbed
by the human body, so caution is required.
• The case in which the radio module is incorporated should be ABS plastic.
When using a metal case that attenuates radio waves, only the main unit of
the radio module should be built in, and the antenna should be outside.
• The antenna should be kept as straight as possible and should not be bent
into a circle.
• Make the plane of polarization of the radio waves match for both antennas.
 How to use mobile phones efficiently
For high quality voice and data transmission

• Extend the antenna fully when using the phone, and take care not to
cover it in any way.
• As there is an internal antenna near the top of the phone, hold the
phone near the bottom.
• Try to keep the antenna as far from your body as possible.
• If the state of the signal seems bad, trying moving or turning around.
• Use an antenna of an appropriate length. Do not modify or replace
the antenna.
• Make sure the antenna is vertical.