Basic Antenna Theory and

Concepts

ICS 620 Communication

Technologies
Class #11
Introduction
 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
 Antenna Definition
 An antenna is a circuit element that
provides a transition form a guided
wave on a transmission line to a free
space wave and it provides for the
collection of electromagnetic energy.

Antenna research from

Miller & Beasley, 2002
 Antenna Definition-cont’d
 In transmit systems the RF signal is
generated, amplified, modulated and
applied to the antenna
 In receive systems the antenna collects
electromagnetic waves that are
“cutting” through the antenna and
induce alternating currents that are
used by the receiver
 Reciprocity
 An antenna ability to transfer energy form
the atmosphere to its receiver with the same
efficiency with which it transfers energy
from the transmitter into the atmosphere
 Antenna characteristics are essentially the
same regardless of whether an antenna is
sending or receiving electromagnetic
energy
Polarization
 Polarization is the direction of the electric
field and is the same as the physical attitude
of the antenna
 A vertical antenna will transmit a vertically
polarized wave
 The receive and transmit antennas need to
possess the same polarization
Types of Antennas
 Isotropic antenna (idealized)
 Radiates power equally in all directions
 Dipole antennas
 Half-wave dipole antenna (or Hertz antenna)
 Quarter-wave vertical antenna (or Marconi
antenna)
 Parabolic Reflective Antenna
 Directional Antenna
beamwidth
Max power
• A Radiated energy is
focused in a specific
direction

antenna
2 dipole Power 3dB down
from maximum
point A
Beamwidth

 Beamwidth is the angular

separation of the half-power points
of the radiated pattern
 Half-wave Dipole (Hertz) Antenna

 An antenna having a physical length

that is one-half wavelength of the
applied frequency is called a Hertz
antenna or a half-wave dipole
antenna. Hertz antennas are not found
at frequencies below 2MHz because of
the physical size needed of the antenna
to represent a half-wave
 Vertical (Marconi) Antenna

 Vertical Antennas are used for

frequencies under 2 MHz. It uses a
conducting path to ground that acts as
¼ wavelength portion the antenna
above the ground. The above ground
structure represents a /4 wavelength
 Vertical (Marconi) Antenna – cont’d

 Poor grounding conditions of the

earth/soil surrounding the antenna can
result in serious signal attenuation. This
problem is alleviated by installing a
counterpoise
 Counterpoise
 Counterpoise is a grounding grid
established where the earth grounding
cannot satisfy electrical requirements
for circuit completion. It is designed to
be non-resonant at the operating
frequency
Counterpoise-cont’d
radius = ¼ 

antenna

supports
 Antenna Array

 Antenna array is a group of antennas or antenna

elements arranged to provide the desired directional
characteristics. Generally any combination of elements
can form an array. However, equal elements in a
regular geometry are usually used.
 Yagi-Uda Antenna
 The Yagi-Uda antenna is a simple
form of a directional antenna based
off of a reflector placed /4 from
the dipole antenna’s placement.
Complex analysis to define the
radiated patterns are experimental
rather than theoretical calculations
Yagi-Uda Antenna-cont’d

reflector
 /2 /4

dipole
antenna
 Radiated Directed Signal

antenna

2 dipole radiated signal 2 dipole radiated signal

without reflector with reflector
 The Antenna Formula

  c  186,000 misec

frequency of the signal

•c is the speed of light

 is the wavelength of the signal
 use 3 x 108 when dealing in meters for the speed of light
 The Antenna Formula - applied
 If a half-wave dipole antenna needed to
be constructed for a 60 Hz signal, how
large would it need to be?

  c  186,000 misec = 3100 mi

60
2 = 1550 miles!
Radiation & Induction Fields
 The mechanics launching radio
frequencies from an antenna are not
full understood. The RF fields that are
created around the antenna have
specific properties that affect the
signals transmission. The radiated field
field is known as the (surprisingly!)
radiation field
 Radiation & Induction Fields-cont’d
 There are two induction fields or areas
where signals collapse and radiate from
the antenna. They are known as the
near field and far field. The distance
that antenna inductance has on the
transmitted signal is directly
proportional to antenna height and the
dimensions of the wave
R  2D2

 Radiation & Induction Fields-cont’d

R  2D 2


Where: R = the distance from the antenna
D = dimension of the antenna
 = wavelength of the transmitted
signal
 Radiation Resistance
 Radiation Resistance is the portion of
the antenna’s impedance that results in
power radiated into space (i.e., the
effective resistance that is related to the
power radiated by the antenna.
Radiation resistance varies with antenna
length. Resistance increases as the 
increases
 Effective Radiated Power (ERP)

 ERP is the power input value and the

gain of the antenna multiplied together
 dBi = isotropic radiator gain
 dBd = dipole antenna gain
 Radiation Pattern
 Radiation pattern is an indication of
radiated field strength around the
antenna. Power radiated from a /2
dipole occurs at right angles to the
antenna with no power emitting from
the ends of the antenna. Optimum
signal strength occurs at right angles or
180° from opposite the antenna
Radiation Patterns
 Radiation pattern
 Graphical representation of radiation properties

of an antenna
 Depicted as two-dimensional cross section

 Beam width (or half-power beam width)

 Measure of directivity of antenna

 Reception pattern
 Receiving antenna’s equivalent to radiation

pattern
 Radiation Pattern for Vertical Antennas

/4

/2

antenna
Antenna Gain
 Antenna gain
 Power output, in a particular direction,
compared to that produced in any direction by a
perfect omnidirectional antenna (isotropic
antenna)
 Effective area
 Related to physical size and shape of antenna
 Antenna Gain

 Antenna gain is the measure in dB how

much more power an antenna will
radiate in a certain direction with
respect to that which would be radiated
by a reference antenna
Antenna Gain
 Relationship between antenna gain and effective
area
4Ae 4f Ae 2
G 2 
 c2
 G = antenna gain
 Ae = effective area
 f = carrier frequency
 c = speed of light (» 3 ´ 108 m/s)
  = carrier wavelength
Propagation Modes
 Ground-wave propagation
 Sky-wave propagation
 Line-of-sight propagation
Ground Wave Propagation
Ground Wave Propagation
 Follows contour of the earth
 Can Propagate considerable distances
 Frequencies up to 2 MHz
 Example
 AM radio
Sky Wave Propagation
Sky Wave Propagation
 Signal reflected from ionized layer of atmosphere
back down to earth
 Signal can travel a number of hops, back and forth
between ionosphere and earth’s surface
 Reflection effect caused by refraction
 Examples
 Amateur radio
 CB radio
Line-of-Sight Propagation
Line-of-Sight Propagation
 Transmitting and receiving antennas must be within
line of sight
 Satellite communication – signal above 30 MHz not reflected
by ionosphere
 Ground communication – antennas within effective line of
site due to refraction
 Refraction – bending of microwaves by the atmosphere
 Velocity of electromagnetic wave is a function of the density
of the medium
 When wave changes medium, speed changes
 Wave bends at the boundary between mediums
Line-of-Sight Equations
 Optical line of sight
d  3.57 h
 Effective, or radio, line of sight
d  3.57 h
 d = distance between antenna and horizon (km)
 h = antenna height (m)
 K = adjustment factor to account for refraction,
rule of thumb K = 4/3
Line-of-Sight Equations
 Maximum distance between two antennas
for LOS propagation:


3.57 h1  h2 
 h1 = height of antenna one
 h2 = height of antenna two
LOS Wireless Transmission Impairments
 Attenuation and attenuation distortion
 Free space loss
 Noise
 Atmospheric absorption
 Multipath
 Refraction
 Thermal noise
Thermal Noise
 Thermal noise due to agitation of electrons
 Present in all electronic devices and
transmission media
 Cannot be eliminated
 Function of temperature
 Particularly significant for satellite
communication
Noise Terminology
 Intermodulation noise – occurs if signals with
different frequencies share the same medium
 Interference caused by a signal produced at a frequency
that is the sum or difference of original frequencies
 Crosstalk – unwanted coupling between signal
paths
 Impulse noise – irregular pulses or noise spikes
 Short duration and of relatively high amplitude
 Caused by external electromagnetic disturbances, or
faults and flaws in the communications system
Other Impairments
 Atmospheric absorption – water vapor and
oxygen contribute to attenuation
 Multipath – obstacles reflect signals so that
multiple copies with varying delays are
received
 Refraction – bending of radio waves as they
propagate through the atmosphere
Multipath Propagation
Multipath Propagation
 Reflection - occurs when signal encounters a
surface that is large relative to the wavelength of
the signal
 Diffraction - occurs at the edge of an impenetrable
body that is large compared to wavelength of radio
wave
 Scattering – occurs when incoming signal hits an
object whose size in the order of the wavelength
of the signal or less
 The Effects of Multipath
Propagation
 Multiple copies of a signal may arrive at
different phases
 If phases add destructively, the signal level
relative to noise declines, making detection
more difficult
 Intersymbol interference (ISI)
 One or more delayed copies of a pulse may
arrive at the same time as the primary pulse for
a subsequent bit
Types of Fading
 Fast fading
 Slow fading
 Flat fading
 Selective fading
 Rayleigh fading
 Rician fading
Error Compensation Mechanisms
 Forward error correction
 Adaptive equalization
 Diversity techniques
Forward Error Correction
 Transmitter adds error-correcting code to data
block
 Code is a function of the data bits
 Receiver calculates error-correcting code from
incoming data bits
 If calculated code matches incoming code, no error
occurred
 If error-correcting codes don’t match, receiver attempts
to determine bits in error and correct
Adaptive Equalization
 Can be applied to transmissions that carry analog or
digital information
 Analog voice or video
 Digital data, digitized voice or video
 Used to combat intersymbol interference
 Involves gathering dispersed symbol energy back
into its original time interval
 Techniques
 Lumped analog circuits
 Sophisticated digital signal processing algorithms
 Antenna Height
 Antenna height above the ground is directly
related to radiation resistance. Ground
reflections causing out-of-phase signals to
be radiated to receiving antennas will
degrade the transmission. Physical length
and electrical length of most antennas are
approximately 95% of the physical length.
Ideal antenna height is usually based on
trial and error procedures
Smart Antennas
 Smart Antennas
 smart antennas are base station antennas
with a pattern that is not fixed, but adapts to
the current radio conditions
 smart antennas have the possibility for a
large increase in capacity: an increase of
three times for TDMA systems and five times
for CDMA systems has been reported.
 Smart Antennas-cont’d
 Major drawbacks and cost factors
include increased transceiver complexity
and more complex radio resource
management
 Smart Antennas-cont’d
 The idea of smart antennas is to use
base station antenna patterns that are
not fixed, but adapt to the current radio
conditions. This can be visualized as the
antenna directing a beam toward the
communication partner only
 Smart Antennas-cont’d
 Smart antennas add a new way of separating
users, namely by space, through SDMA
(space division multiple access)
 By maximizing the antenna gain in the
desired direction and simultaneously placing
minimal radiation pattern in the directions of
the interferers, the quality of the
communication link can be significantly
improved
 Elements of a Smart Antenna
 Smart antennas consists of a number of
radiating elements, a combining/dividing
network and a control unit
 Phased Array Antenna
 Phased Array antennas are a
combination of antennas in which
there is a control of the phase and
power of the signal applied at each
antenna resulting in a wide variety
of possible radiation patterns
 Types of Intelligent Antennas
 Switched lobe (SL): This is also called
switched beam. It is the simplest
technique, and comprises only a basic
switching function between separate
directive antennas or predefined beams
of an array. The setting that gives the
best performance, usually in terms of
received power, is chosen
 Intelligent Antennas-cont’d
 Dynamically phased array (PA): By
including a direction of arrival (DoA)
algorithm for the signal received from
the user, continuous tracking can be
achieved and it can be viewed as a
generalization of the switched lobe
concept
 Intelligent Antennas-cont’d
 Adaptive array (AA): In this case, a DoA
algorithm for determining the direction toward
interference sources (e.g., other users) is added.
The radiation pattern can then be adjusted to null
out the interferers. In addition, by using special
algorithms and space diversity techniques, the
radiation pattern can be adapted to receive
multipath signals which can be combined. These
techniques will maximize the signal to
interference ratio (SIR)
 SMDA
 Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA)
implies that more than one user can be
allocated to the same physical
communications channel simultaneously
in the same cell, only separated by
angle. In a TDMA system, two users will
be allocated to the same time slot and
carrier frequency at the same time and
in the same cell
 SMDA-cont’d
 In systems providing full SDMA, there
will be much more intracell handovers
than in conventional TDMA or CDMA
systems, and more monitoring by the
network is necessary
 Antenna Installation Considerations

 Safety
 standard operating procedure priority

 Grounding
 lightning strikes

 static charges

 Surge protection
 lightning searches for a second path to

ground
Antenna Installation Considerations-
cont’d
 Adaptive array antenna placement
needs to be considered differently than
current technologies serving the mobile
environment. They need to be place so
they have a greater angular approach
to the receiving units. Existing tower
placement with close proximity to roads
and highways would need to be
reconsidered.
Antenna Installation Considerations

 Base, mast, and supporting

structure needs clearance,
serviceability (access), and
complies with state, federal, and
municipal guidelines