EEE-463 Antenna and Radio Wave Propagation

What is Antenna?
In any wireless communication system, there is one component which fundamentally affects the performance of the system and if it is not working properly, then the system as a whole will not. This component is the antenna A transitional structure between free-space and a guiding device The primary function of an antenna is to couple RF power into free space at the transmitter end and retrieve it again at the receiver end losing as little power and information as possible

WHAT IS PROPAGATION?
Early man and a need to communicate beyond the range of the human voice Development of alternate methods of communication, but limited in range Development of courier and postal systems but still speed constraints For centuries the time required for the delivery of a message depended on the speed of a horse The invention of the telegraph Then a short time later, man discovered how to transmit messages in the form of RADIO WAVES

How waves travel through air.

The object producing the waves is called the SOURCEa bell in this illustration The object responding to the waves is called a DETECTOR or RECEIVERin this case, the human ear The medium is air, which is the means of conveying the waves from the source to the detector As the waves are produced, they carry energy through the medium (air) to the detector (ear)

 The electromagnetic energy of light is a form of electromagnetic radiation. Light and similar forms of radiation are made up of moving electric and magnetic forces and move as waves Electromagnetic waves move in a manner similar to the waves produced by the pebble dropped in the pool of water

Simple radio communication system

Transmitter: an electronic device that generates radiofrequency energy Antenna: converts the energy into radio waves that radiate into space from the antenna at the light speed If another antenna is placed in the path of the radio waves, it absorbs part of the waves and converts them to energy

Radio Frequency
Radio frequency (RF) is a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals. Electric currents that oscillate at radio frequencies have special properties such as: The energy in an RF current can radiate off a conductor into space as electromagnetic waves Skin effect of RF current

 Transmission line may take the form of coaxial cable or any other form, for the transportation of electromagnetic waves

Equivalent of Antenna System

The antenna is represented by a load ZA [ZA = (RL + Rr ) + jXA] The load resistance RL is used to represent the conduction and dielectric losses associated with the antenna structure Rr referred to as the radiation resistance, is used to represent radiation by the antenna The reactance XA is used to represent the imaginary part of the impedance associated with radiation by the antenna Ideal conditions and practical system (conductiondielectric losses, mismatch losses)

Introduction
The reflected waves from the interface create, along with the travelling waves from the source toward the antenna, constructive and destructive interference patterns, referred to as standing waves, inside the transmission line Standing waves represent pockets of energy concentrations and storage

Introduction...
If the antenna is not properly designed than transmission line could act as a energy storage element instead of wave guiding device The standing waves can be reduced, and the energy storage capacity of the line minimized, by matching the impedance of the antenna (load) to the characteristic impedance of the line The antenna must also serve as a directional device in addition to receiving or transmitting energy

Types of Antennas
There are 7 main types of antennas, the grouping of which is based primarily on the way they operate, rather than the use to which they are put. The groups are as follows:-

Element/Wire antennas
Element antennas consist of simple structure based on wires or rods (ie: the elements). A number of examples are shown below (L-R), dipole, monopole, loop, helix

Element antennas
The definition characteristic of element antennas is that they are almost always resonant structures (An antenna is said to be resonant if its input impedance is entirely real, i.e. Zin = R + j*0), and hence have dimensions which are commensurate with the signal wavelength These antennas have a wide range of general characteristics with regard to gain, polarization etc. Current distribution, fields radiated in the far field, Directivity and other properties will be discussed later

Aperture antenna
The type of antenna is exclusively used with rectangular or circular waveguide, since they are formed in most cases, by flaring out the open end of a waveguide Frequency range is restricted to UHF/microwave region The reason they are called aperture antennas is because the collecting area of the antenna is precisely defined by the physical size of the hole. However, the aperture of antenna is a term which is applied to all antennas High gain wide impedance bandwidth Aperture/horn antenna

Printed Antennas
Printed patch radiators come in all shapes, sizes and configuration. However the basic patch antenna consists of a metallic patch on a dielectric substrate whose shape is formed by the etching process Frequency range for this type of antenna are usually GHz region but having small bandwidth. They are low profile, inexpensive to fabricate using modern printed-circuit technology They can be mounted on the surface of highperformance aircraft, spacecraft, mobile telephones etc

Array Antennas
The aggregate of radiating elements The arrangement of the array may be such that the radiation from the elements adds up to give a radiation maximum in a particular direction or directions, minimum in others, or otherwise as desired - Yagi Uda Array - Aperture Array - Microstrip Patch Array - Slotted-waveguide array

 Most brilliant antenna designs, simple to construct and has a high gain, typically operate in the HF to UHF bands (about 3 MHz to 3 GHz), although their bandwidth is typically small Yagi antenna consists of a single 'feed' or 'driven' element, typically a dipole Rest of the elements are parasitic - they reflect or help to transmit the energy in a particular direction

Reflector Antennas
Reflector antennas are utilize the fact that electromagnetic waves can be reflected to a focal point using a shaped metal plate It should be pointed out that the reflector itself is not that antenna and therefore some form of conventional antenna is placed at the focal point of the reflector The most widespread application is of course the satellite receiving antenna

Leaky Wave antennas

These antennas formed from dielectric mmwaveguides and are predominantly used above 30 GHz and up into the infrared region. They make use of the fact that radiation occurs from discontinuities in transmission lines. An example of such antenna is shown below

Lens antennas
Just as light can be refracted and collimated by a glass lens, so can microwaves, though it is usually only has practical applications above 10GHz, an example of this is poly-rod feeds which have been used on satellite dishes instead of horn feeds, at 12GHz The figure below shows a microwave prism made using a foam mould containing styrene pellets