Antennas and Propagation

Chapter 3: Antenna Parameters

Introduction

Purpose
Introduce standard terms and definitions for antennas
Need a common language to specify performance

Two types of parameters

1. Radiation parameters
What is the spatial selectivity of the element?
Indicate where is power sent / collected from.

2. Network parameters
What does the antenna present at its port(s)?
Indicates requirements for system it connects to.

Antennas and Propagation Slide 2 Chapter 3

Outline: Radiation Parameters

Goal
Precisely define the spatial selectivity of antennas

Main Concepts
Radiation patterns, pattern cuts, beamwidth
Field regions: far-field, near-field
Power density of EM fields
Radiation Power Density
Directivity / Gain

Antennas and Propagation Slide 3 Chapter 3

Radiation Patterns

Definition
Graphical representation of radiation (or reception) properties
Function of spatial coordinates

Possible quantities
Power density (most common)
Field strength
Directivity
Gain
Phase
Polarization

Antennas and Propagation Slide 4 Chapter 3

Far-field / Cuts

Far-Field Patterns
Usually more interesting than near fields
Pattern only a function of angles (, )
Field Cuts
Complete 3D pattern difficult to visualize (and plot!)
More precise to look at cuts of the pattern:

x-y Cut

x-z Cut

Antennas and Propagation Slide 5 Chapter 3

Far-field / Cuts: Patch Antenna
3D Pattern y
xz and yz cuts

Antennas and Propagation Slide 6 Chapter 3

Earth Coordinate System

Global Coordinate System

Horizontal (H) / Azimuth
Vertical (V) / Elevation

Caution
Depends on how antenna is mounted
Natural coordinates for analyzing antenna (x, y, z)
May be different from way mounted relative to Earth
Need to rotate axes

Antennas and Propagation Slide 7 Chapter 3

General Pattern Types

Isotropic Pattern
Power (or field) equally radiated in all directions
In practice, does not exist!
Used as a reference
Omnidirectional Pattern
Radiated field constant in azimuth ()
May vary with elevation ()
Examples: dipole or small loop
Directional Pattern
Radiates significantly more power in some directions than others
Directional in the ___________ plane
Significantly more directional than a half-wave dipole

Antennas and Propagation Slide 8 Chapter 3

Principal Patterns

Motivation
Defines patterns independent of coordinate system
Useful for antennas with linear polarization

E-Plane Pattern
Cut of the pattern containing E and the direction of max radiation

H-Plane Pattern
Cut of the pattern containing H and the direction of max radiation

Antennas and Propagation Slide 9 Chapter 3

Principal Patterns

Example: Horn Antenna

xz: E-Plane

xy: H-Plane

Antennas and Propagation Slide 10 Chapter 3

Beamwidth

Definition
Angular extent of the main beam
Critera
HPBW: Half-power beamwidth
FNBW: First null beamwidth

Antennas and Propagation Slide 11 Chapter 3

Field Regions

Reactive Near-field
Region immediately surrounding antenna
Convention:
Fields can be very intense
Mostly reactive (stored energy, not propagating)
Note:
D = largest antenna dimension
= wavelength

Caution
Expressions do not work for electrically small antennas
Maximum dimension must be comparable or larger than

Antennas and Propagation Slide 12 Chapter 3

Field Regions (2)

Radiating Near-Field (Fresnel) Region

Fields are radiating
But, radiation pattern is a strong function of distance r
Convention:

Far-Field (Fraunhofer) Region

Angular field distribution nearly independent of distance
Fields are transverse to direction of propagation
Convention:

Antennas and Propagation Slide 13 Chapter 3

Power Flow

Power Flow of EM Field

Instantaneous Poynting Vector

W/m2 V/m A/m

Time-average power

In frequency domain, this becomes

Interpretation
Power per unit area power density
Direction is direction of power flow

Antennas and Propagation Slide 14 Chapter 3

Power Radiated by Antenna

Total radiated power

Integrate over surface
enclosing antenna

W on surface of S
Power radiated per unit area
Radiation power density

Visualization
Generally fix r and plot W(, )

Antennas and Propagation Slide 15 Chapter 3

Normalization

Can normalize W

Obtain power per unit solid angle

Independent of distance from antenna
U is called radiation intensity

In Far-Field Region

Antennas and Propagation Slide 16 Chapter 3

Directivity

Definition
Sometimes called directive gain, given by
Radiation intensity of given antenna
Radiation intensity of a reference antenna
Note: Total radiated power same for two antennas
Reference Antenna: Standard is to choose isotropic radiator

Radiation intensity of
isotropic radiator

In terms of radiation density

Antennas and Propagation Slide 17 Chapter 3

Directivity (2)

Maximum Directivity

When directivity given as a single number Maximum directivity

Notes
Directivity of an isotropic radiator is 1
Therefore, D > 1 in practice
D usually expressed in dB

Antennas and Propagation Slide 18 Chapter 3

Directivity (3)

Explicit Computation
Given far E-fields,

Observation:
Directivity is the radiation density divided by
the average radiation intensity (over solid angle)

Antennas and Propagation Slide 19 Chapter 3

Gain

Comparison with Directivity

Directivity/Gain
Radiation intensity of given antenna
Radiation intensity of a reference antenna

Directivity:
Total radiated power of two antennas kept the same
Gain:
Input power of two antennas kept the same

What is the difference?

Losses

Antennas and Propagation Slide 20 Chapter 3

Gain (2)

Computation

Efficiency
et is the total efficiency of the antenna
et = er ec ed
where
er = Reflection efficiency 1-||2
ec = Conduction efficiency
ed = Dielectric efficiency

Radiation Efficiency
et = Prad / Pin = Rrad / (Rrad + RL)

Antennas and Propagation Slide 21 Chapter 3

Antenna Polarization

Definition
TX: Polarization of the radiated wave produced by the antenna
RX: Polarization of incident plane wave yielding maximum available
output power at the antenna terminals

Directional Dependence
Polarization can be defined
1. As a function of direction
2. For direction of maximum gain
(assumed if no direction specified)

Antennas and Propagation Slide 22 Chapter 3

Review of EM Polarization

Definition
For a plane wave propagating in the - direction
Instantaneous field is

where

Maximum Amplitude Phase

of x,y Components of x,y Components

Polarization = Shape of curve traced by tip of E vector in xy plane

Antennas and Propagation Slide 23 Chapter 3

Review of EM Polarization (2)

In xy plane

Traces out an ellipse in general

Special Cases
Linear polarization

Circular Polarization

Antennas and Propagation Slide 24 Chapter 3

Outline: Network Parameters

Goal
Precisely define the input/output interface of the antenna

Main Concepts
Input impedance
Reflection coefficient / VSWR
Mutual Coupling, Z-parameters, S-parameters

Antennas and Propagation Slide 25 Chapter 3

Antenna Input Characteristics

Input Impedance
Have seen that mismatch reduces efficiency of antenna system

To ensure maximum transmission,

Conjugate match condition:

In Practice
Antennas designed to have convenient input impedance (50 Ohms)
Matching network integrated in antenna
Transforms raw antenna impedance to Z0
Antennas and Propagation Slide 26 Chapter 3
Antenna Input Characteristics (2)

Nominal input impedance is Z0

Actual impedance varies slightly with frequency
Also, no fabrication process is perfect
Variations in impedance from one antenna to next
Characterizing input Impedance
Graphical representations
Smith Chart
Re/Im Parts of Impedance
Impedance (Ohms)

Antennas and Propagation Slide 27 Chapter 3

Antenna Input Characteristics (3)

Problem with Providing Input Impedance

Impedance varies from one device to the next
(fabrication variations)
Every antenna must be measured

More common approach

Antenna design assumes system impedance of Z0
Specify:
1. Worst case reflection, or
2. Voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR)

Antennas and Propagation Slide 28 Chapter 3

Reflection Coefficient

Definition
= V-/V+ on the feeding line
||2 indicates what fraction of power is reflected
Power lost, because not delivered to antenna

Return Loss
Related to :
Return Loss = 20 log10 ||
IEEE definition: Return Loss as a positive value (hence sign)
Worst case return loss
Return Loss min = 20 log10 ||max

Antennas and Propagation Slide 29 Chapter 3

VSWR

Definition
Voltage standing wave ratio
(max voltage to min voltage on feed line)

Reason:
Wave ratio was easy to measure with old slotted waveguides
Still used in many specifications of RF parts / antennas

Expressed as a ratio
i.e. 1.2:1 or 2:1
If a single number, indicates worst-case value

Antennas and Propagation Slide 30 Chapter 3

Mutual Coupling

Where important
Antenna arrays
Multimode or multipolarization antennas Multiple ports

Basic problem
Antenna elements close together
Signals on one element create signal on other element
Usually want to receive signals on antennas independently

SP Algorithms
Typically are degraded by the effect

Antennas and Propagation Slide 31 Chapter 3

Characterizations: Z-Parameters

Example: Dual Polarization Patch Antenna

Square patch at 2.44 GHz
Feed 1 Vertical Pol.
Feed 2 Horizontal Pol.

Network Characterizations
1. Z-Parameters

1 2

Coupling means Z21 or Z12 0

Antennas and Propagation Slide 32 Chapter 3

Simulated Z-Parameters

Antennas and Propagation Slide 33 Chapter 3

Characterizations: S-Parameters

Network Characterizations
2. S-Parameters (S = scattering)
More useful for high-freq. analysis

1 2

You should see relation to

Worst-case coupling: 20 log10 |S21|max

Often quoted as minimum isolation: -20 log10 |S21|max

Antennas and Propagation Slide 34 Chapter 3

Simulated S-Parameters

Antennas and Propagation Slide 35 Chapter 3

Antenna Bandwidth

Definition
Range of frequencies over which the antenna conforms
to some specified standard
Specified standard includes any performance metrics so far:

Patterns
Gain
Efficiency
Side lobe levels
Beamwidth
Input Impedance
Isolation
Etc.

Antennas and Propagation Slide 36 Chapter 3

Antenna Bandwidth (2)

Wideband antennas
Bandwidth expressed as a ratio
fmax/fmin : 1
E.g. 10:1 Maximum frequency ten times greater than minimum
frequency

Narrowband Antennas
Usually express as fractional bandwidth, or
(fmax fc)/fc x 100 where fc (fmax + fmin)/2.
E.g. 5% fractional bandwidth
5% deviation from center frequency can be tolerated

Antennas and Propagation Slide 37 Chapter 3

Summarizing

So far ...
Have characterized a single antenna (patterns, port characteristics)
But,
How do TX/RX antennas work together?
How do we use parameters to estimate gain of whole link?

Simplest Case: Free Space Propagation

Governed by Friis Transmission Equation

More complicated cases

Multipath, shadowing
Consider later in course (Propagation part of class!)

Antennas and Propagation Slide 38 Chapter 3

Friis Transmission Equation

Radiation power density from transmitter

Antennas and Propagation Slide 39 Chapter 3

Friis Transmission Equation (2)

Next, power collected by receive antenna

Need to derive notion of receiving aperture or effective area
Assuming antenna captures power from area Ar

Turns out that Ar is a directional quantity related to Gr

Antennas and Propagation Slide 40 Chapter 3

Relation of Effective Area and Gain

Consider again (assumed)

Now consider making 1=RX and 2=TX (switch roles)

Know by reciprocity that received power same

(switched TX/RX)

Comparing, this means that

Since we have specified nothing about antennas,

(ANY reciprocal antenna!)

Antennas and Propagation Slide 41 Chapter 3

Friis Transmission Equation (3)

How do we find the constant?

Analyze a convenient antenna and find both G and Ar

Later we will do this for an infinitesimal (Hertzian) dipole:

Ar = 32/(8) and Gr = 1.5

Which means for any antenna

Gr/Ar = 4/2

Antennas and Propagation Slide 42 Chapter 3

Summary

Standard terms and definitions for antennas

Radiation Parameters

Network (port) Parameters

Friis Transmission Equation

Next time: Start analyzing specific antenna types

Antennas and Propagation Slide 43 Chapter 3