Microwave communication

Antenna-Introduction

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By S.Naiman
An antenna is an electrical conductor or
system of conductors
– Transmission - radiates electromagnetic energy into space
– Reception - collects electromagnetic energy from space

Metallic object, often a wire or collection of wires used to

convert high-frequency current into electromagnetic waves
and vice versa

The antenna (aerial ,EM radiator ) is a device, which radiates

or receives electromagnetic waves

In two-way communication, the same antenna can be used

for transmission and reception

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•The antenna is the transition between a guiding
device (transmission line, waveguide) and free space
(or another usually unbounded medium).
Antenna

•Its main purpose is to convert the energy of a guided

wave into the energy of a free space wave( or vice
versa) as efficiently as possible, while in the same
time the radiated power has a certain desired pattern
of distribution
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Another way of analyzing antenna in its equivalent
circuit

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One of the most important issues in the design
of high-power transmission systems is the
matching of the antenna to the transmission
line (TL) and the generator.

Matching is specified most often in terms of

VSWR. Standing waves are to be avoided
because they may cause arching or discharge
in the TL.

The resistive/dielectric losses are undesirable,

too. They decrease the efficiency factor of the
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antenna
 Ams-1

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This is how wires used to convert high-frequency
current into electromagnetic waves and vice versa
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 Radio Link

Antenna Antenna

Radio wave

Transmitter Receiver

Antennas: important elements of any radio link

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 Definition
• Reciprocity—an antenna ability to transfer energy from the
atmosphere to its receiver with the same efficiency with
which it transfers energy from the transmitter into the
atmosphere

• Characteristics and performance are identical( gain ,

directivity, frequency of operation, bandwidth, radiation
resistance, efficiency etc)

• We should know that the reciprocity theorem hold only if the

whole system (antennas + propagation environment) is
isotropic and linear.
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 Patterns
• Radiation pattern —diagram indicating the intensity
of radiation from a transmitting antenna or the
response of a receiving antenna as a function of
direction
• The radiation patterns, are three-dimensional
quantities involving the variation of field or power
(proportional to the field squared) as function of the
spherical coordinates (θ,φ)

•Main lobe (max radiation) in the z direction(θ=0) with minor lobes (side and back)
in other direction

Plot of magnitude of the far-zone field strength versus

position
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around the antenna at a fixed distance from the
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antenna.
• Pattern lobe is a portion of the RP whose local
radiation intensity maximum is relatively weak.
• Lobes are classified as: major, minor, side
lobes, back lobes.

E-Field
components in
terms of θ and φ

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 Definition cont…..

• Isotropic pattern is the pattern of an

antenna having equal radiation in all
directions.(Theoretical concept, cannot be physically
realized)
– Sends (receives) energy equally in (from) all
directions.
– Gain = 1 (= 0 dB)
• When supplied by P, produces at distance r
power flux density = P /(4r2)
Sometime it is known as Reference Antennas
• Omni directional—spherical radiation pattern
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 Omnidirectional (Isotropic antenna)
idealized—
• spherical radiation pattern
• Radiate power equally in all direction (3D)
• constant pattern in the azimuthal direction
(useful for applications such as broadcasting
or handheld cellular phone)
Omnidirectional antenna is an antenna, which
has a nondirectional pattern in a given plane, and a
directional pattern in any orthogonal plane (e.g.
single-wire antennas).
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 Definition cont…..

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 Directional antenna
• Directional —energy is concentrated in
certain directions at the expense of lower
energy in other directions
• Better received signal strength
• Less interference to other receiving
• More complex antenna

• Directional antenna is an antenna, which radiates

(receives) much more efficiently in some directions than in
others. Usually, this term is applied to antennas whose
directivity is much higher than that of a half wavelength
dipole.
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 Antenna gain
Antenna gain —a measure of how much more power
in dB an antenna will radiate in a certain direction
with respect to that which would be radiated by a
reference antenna (a source point)

• Two type of references antenna are generally used.

• Isotropic antenna: gain is given in dBi
• Half wave dipole antenna: gain is given dBd
• Manufacturer often use dBi in their marketing to
show a slightly higher gain
• dBi= dBd+2.15dB
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 Antenna gain
Antenna gain —a measure of how much more power
in dB an antenna will radiate in a certain direction
with respect to that which would be radiated by a
reference antenna (a source point)

• Two type of references antenna are generally used.

• Isotropic antenna: gain is given in dBi
• Half wave dipole antenna: gain is given dBd
• Manufacturer often use dBi in their marketing to
show a slightly higher gain
• dBi= dBd+2.15dB
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 Antenna gain cont……
• Directive gain is the ratio of the power density
radiated in a particular direction to the power
density radiated to the same point by a reference
antenna
D P
Pref
Maximum directive gain is called directivity

Power gain is the same as directive gain except that

the total power fed to the antenna is used( i.e antenna
efficiency is taken into account)
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 Antenna Efficiency
• Antenna Efficiency is the ratio of the power
radiated by an antenna to the sum of the power
radiated and power dissipated
• or the ratio of the power radiated by the antenna
to the total input power

 Prad
Pin x100   P P  P x100
rad
rad d

 Antenna efficiency (percentage)

Prad Power radiated by antenna

Pd Power dissipated in antenna

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 i 2
i 2 Rr
( Rr  Re )
 Rr
Rr  Re
Rr=radiation resistance
Re=effective antenna resistance

Example
For a transmit antenna with a radiation resistance Rr=72Ω,
an effective antenna resistance Re=8Ω, a directive gain
D=20, and an input power Pin=100W, determine
1. Antenna efficiency
2. Antenna gain (absolute and dB)
3. Radiated power in watts, dBm, and dBW
4. EIRP in watts, dBm and dBW
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• Effective area :Related to physical size and
shape of antenna
• Relationship between antenna gain and
effective area

G = antenna gain
Ae = effective area
f = carrier frequency
c = speed of light
λ = carrier wavelength
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 EIRP
• Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) is the
amount of power the transmitter would have to
produce if it was radiating equally to all directions, in
order to provide equivalent PFD at a given direction.
• Note that EIRP may vary as a function of direction
because of changes in the antenna gain vs. angle

EIRP  Prad Dt
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Pt = Pout /Lt [W] (the power into the antenna)

EIRP ( dBm)  10 log Prad

0.001  10 log Dt

EIRP( dBw)  10 log Pr adDt

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 Power density
• To determine a power density t a given point
distance R from a transmit antenna
In terms of antenna Gain

Pdensity  4R 2
Pin At

In terms of directive Gain

Pdensity  Prad Dt
4R 2

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 Antenna - Ideal - contd.
• The power density of an ideal loss-less
antenna at a distance d away from the
transmitting antenna:
Pt Gt Note: the area is for a
Pa  W/Hz sphere.
4d 2
• Gt is the transmitting antenna gain
• The product PtGt : Equivalent Isotropic Radiation Power
(EIRP)
which is the power fed to a perfect isotropic antenna to
get the same output power of the practical antenna in hand.

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Examples
For a transmit antenna with a power gain At=10 and
an input power Pin=100W, determine
1. EIRP in watts, dBm and dBW
2. Power density at a point 10km from the transmit antenna
3. Power density had an isotropic antenna being used with the
same input power and efficiency.

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 Antenna Bandwidth
• Antenna bandwidth is defined s the frequency
range over which antenna operation is satisfactory
• Difference btn the highest and lowest frequencies of
operation

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Lobes are classified as: major, minor, side lobes, back lobes

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 Definition cont…..

• Beam width —the angular separation between

the two half-power points on an antenna’s power
density radiation pattern
• Is the angle of coverage where the radiated
energy is 3dB down from the peak of the beam

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 Definition cont…..
Main beam – the lobe having the maximum value (side lobes – smaller lobes)

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 Pattern beamwidth

• Half-power beamwidth (HPBW) is the angle

between two vectors, originating at the pattern’s
origin and passing through these points of the
major lobe where the radiation intensity is half its
maximum.

• First-null beamwidth (FNBW) is the angle

between two vectors, originating at the pattern’s
origin and tangent to the main beam at its base.
It very often approximately true that
FNBW≈2⋅HPBW.

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 Polarization
• Polarization of the field —the direction of
the electric field of a given electromagnetic
radiated signal
• Linear polarization: The direction of the
electric field is constant and does not change
with time
• For propagation close to earth surface we
use the term vertical, horizontal and slant
polarization
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• Elliptical polarization :The direction of electric
field is time dependent
• Circular polarization: the amplitude of the electric
field is independent of time

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