Chapter 1

Basic Antenna Concepts

 Antenna & Wave Propagation
• Syllabus
• Text Books:
1. Antenna Theory: Analysis And Design – C A
Balanis - Wiley, John & Sons.
2. Antennas- J D Krauss- Mcgraw-Hill Higher
Education.
 Definitions of Antenna
• Antenna is a metallic device (as a rod or wire)
for radiating or receiving radio waves
(frequency between 3 KHz and 300 GHz).
• As per IEEE, antenna is a device which
radiating or receiving radio waves.
• Antenna is a transition device, or transducer,
between a guided wave and a free-space
wave, or vice-versa.
 Continue
• Transmitting antenna convert electrical energy
in to RF waves.
• Receiving antenna convert RF waves in to
electrical signal.
 Transmission Line and Antenna
• In transmission line, energy is guided as a
plane transverse electromagnetic mode wave
with little loss.
• The spacing between wire is assumed to be
small fraction of a wavelength.
 Continue
• The guiding device or transmission line may
take the form of a coaxial line or a hollow pipe
(waveguide), and it is used to transport
electromagnetic energy from the transmitting
source to the antenna, or from the antenna to
the receiver.
• The transmission line is represented by a line with characteristic
impedance Zc, and the antenna is represented by a load ZA [ZA =
(RL + Rr ) + jXA] connected to the transmission line.
• 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.
• Under ideal conditions, energy generated by the source should be
totally transferred to the radiation resistance Rr , which is used to
represent radiation by the antenna.
 CURRENT DISTRIBUTION ON A THIN
WIRE ANTENNA
• The movement of the
charges creates a traveling
wave current, along each of
the wires. When the current
arrives at the end of each of
the wires, it undergoes a
complete reflection.

The reflected travelling wave, when combined with the incident

travelling wave, forms in each wire a of sinusoidal form. pure
standing wave pattern
• For the two-wire balanced (symmetrical) transmission line, the
current in a half cycle of one wire is of the same magnitude but
180◦ out-of-phase from that in the corresponding half-cycle of
the other wire. If in addition the spacing between the two wires
is very small (s<<λ), the fields radiated by the current of each
wire are essentially cancelled by those of the other. The net
result is an almost ideal, non radiating transmission line.
• As the section of the transmission line begins to flare, it can be
assumed that the current distribution is essentially unaltered
uinform in each of the wires. However, because the two wires
of the flared section are not necessarily close to each other, the
fields radiated by one do not necessarily cancel those of the
other. Therefore ideally there is a net radiation by the
transmission line system.
• If the diameter of each wire is very small (d <λ), the ideal standing wave
pattern of the current along the arms of the dipole is sinusoidal with a
null at the end.
• The current pattern of a very small dipole (usually λ/50 < l ≤ λ/10) can be
approximated by a triangular distribution.
• Because of its cyclical spatial variations, the current standing wave
pattern of a dipole longer than λ(l > λ) undergoes 180◦ phase reversals
between adjoining half cycles.
• Therefore the current in all parts of the dipole does not have the same
phase.
• In turn , the fields radiated by some parts of the dipole will not reinforce
those of the others. As a result, significant interference and cancelling
effects will be noted in the formation of the total radiation pattern .
CURRENT DISTRIBUTION ON LINEAR
DIPOLES
 Dipole antenna and its radiation
pattern
• The radiation pattern of the half wave dipole is as shown in
fig.

• The radiation pattern of full wave dipole is as shown in fig.

 Continue……
• The radiation pattern of the 3λ/2 dipole is as shown in fig.
How the electric lines of force are detached from the
antenna to form the free-space waves.
Example: Dipole

• Figure 1.14(a) displays the lines of force created

between the arms of a small center-fed dipole in
the first quarter of the period during which time
the charge has reached its maximum value
(assuming a sinusoidal time variation) and the
lines have traveled outwardly a radial distance
λ/4.
• During the next quarter of the period, the original
three lines travel an additional λ/4 (a total of λ/2
from the initial point) and the charge density on
the conductors begins to diminish.
• The lines of force created by the opposite charges
are three and travel a distance λ/4 during the second
quarter of the first half, and they are shown dashed
in Figure 1.14(b).
• Since there is no net charge on the antenna, then the
lines of force must have been forced to detach
themselves from the conductors and to unite
together to form closed loops.
• In the remaining second half of the period, the same
procedure is followed but in the opposite direction.
After that, the process is repeated and continues
indefinitely and electric field patterns are radiated.
 Types of Antenna
½ Wave Dipole
E:

H:

¼ Wave Monopole
H:

E:
• The world’s most popular antenna is the half-wave dipole.
This means that the total length of the antenna is equal to
half of the wavelength of the signal you’re trying to
transmit or receive.
• The dipole is fed by a two wire line where the two currents
are equal in amplitude but opposite in direction.
• This shows the current distribution; the ends are
essentially an open circuit, so most of the energy is
radiated out the center of the antenna.

• The electric field radiates in a donut shaped pattern around

the dipole axis, and the magnetic field radiates in a circle
outward from the antenna.
• The quarter-wave monopole is very similar; it basically
consists of one-half a dipole plus a perfectly conducting
plane. Most of the parameters are halved, including the
total power radiated.
 Continue
Loop Antennas

Micro-strip Antennas
• A third type of antenna is the loop antenna.
These are very useful as receivers, especially for
low frequencies when dipoles would become
very large.

• Microstrip or patch antennas are often

manufactured directly on a printed circuit board.
The dielectric between the two rectangular
conductors is simply the printed-circuit substrate.
These antennas are generally built for devices
that require small antennas, leading to
frequencies usually in the gigahertz.
 Continue
Helical Antennas Horn Antennas
• Helical antennas are used because they are
circularly polarized. This means that they radiate
in both the vertical and horizontal directions,
unlike the dipole which only radiates normal to
its axis (horizontal polarization)

• Circular polarization is often used where the

relative orientation of the transmitting and
receiving antennas cannot be easily controlled,
such as in space craft communication, or where
the polarization of the signal may change.
 Cont.
• Horn antennas are obviously very directional.
The gain is very high in the direction of the horn’s
axis.
• A horn antenna or microwave horn is an antenna
that consists of a flaring metal waveguide
shaped like a horn to direct radio waves in a
beam.

• Horns are widely used as antennas at microwave

frequencies, above 300 MHz.
• They are used as feed antennas for larger
antenna structures such as parabolic antennas.
Parabolic Reflector Antennas

Parabolic reflector with front

feed (horn)
• Reflector antennas are typically used when very
high gain (e.g. satellite transmission or reception)
or a very narrow main beam (e.g. secure
communication) is required.

• The smaller dish antennas typically operate

somewhere between 2 and 28 GHz (e.g. dish to
receive satellite TV signals).
• The large dishes can operate in the VHF region
(30-300 MHz), but typically need to be extremely
large at this operating band.
 Antenna Applications
VHF and UHF Antennas

UHF/VHF/FM
Transmitting Tower Receiving Antenna
• Another application for antennas is VHF and UHF
antennas, which stand for Very High Frequency and
Ultra High Frequency.

• You’ve all seen the tall transmitting towers. They need

to be large enough to provide a large range of
coverage. VHF and UHF covers frequencies from 3
MHz to 3000 MHz and includes television and FM radio
broadcasting.

• The most common type of receiving antenna is called a

Yagi array antenna. The array has different size
conductors to receive different frequencies. Yagi
arrays are highly directional, so they should always be
pointed towards the transmitter tower.
 Antenna Applications
Wireless Communications

¼ Wave Whip

¼ Wave Helical
• Antennas have lots of applications in wireless
communications. Many different types of antennas can be
used, and they all have their own advantages.
• Two common antennas are the quarter wave helical and
quarter wave whip antennas.

• The whip, which is the same as a monopole, is the most

common antenna for cellular phones, walkie-talkies,
cordless telephones, and is typically used in the 400 to 500
MHz range.
• The quarter wave helical antenna is smaller than the whip
and has similar performance. Lately it is used in the 800 to
1000 MHz bands.
• Other applications: RFID antennas, Wi-Fi antenna, Mobile
Antennas
Antenna Applications

Base station
antenna for mobile
communication
 Base station antennas for mobile
communication
• It is triangular array configuration consisting of
12 dipoles, with 4 dipoles on each side of
triangle.
• Each 4-element array on each side of triangle,
is used to cover an angular sector of 120°.