Antenna & Waveguides

Prepared by
MOHD TAUFIK BIN JUSOH @ TAJUDIN
Basic Antenna Operation
Size of antenna is inversely proportional to frequency
Relatively small antenna can efficiently radiate high frequency
electromagnetic waves while low-frequency waves require relatively
large antennas.
Every antenna has directional characteristic and radiate more energy in
certain direction.
Directional characteristic of antennas are used to concentrate radiation in
desired direction or capture energy arriving from a particular direction.
Electromagnetic wave reception occurs in an antenna because the
Electromagnetic flux of the wave cuts across antenna conductor
therefore inducing a voltage into the conductor that varies with time.
(same manner)
 The induced voltage represents energy that the antenna absorbs from the
passing wave
Basic Antenna Operation (cont)
 Basic antenna operation is best understood by looking at the voltage
standing wave patterns on a transmission line, shown in figure below

Radiation from a transmission line: (a) transmission-line radiation; (b)

spreading conductors/dipole antenna; (c) Marconi antenna/ vertical
monopole; (d) Hertz antenna / half wave dipole antenna
Antenna Equivalent Circuit
In radio system, transmitters are connected to receivers
through transmission lines, antennas and free space.
Electromagnetic waves are coupled from transmit to
receive antennas through free space in a manner
similar to the way energy is coupled from the primary
to the secondary of a transmitter.
Degree of coupling of antennas is much lower than
transformers; since electromagnetic waves are involve
rather than just a magnetic waves.
Antenna Equivalent Circuit (cont)
Antenna coupling system can be represented with a four-terminal network as in Figure
2(a).
Electromagnetic energy must be transferred from the transmitting antenna to free space
and then from free space to the receiving antenna.
Figure 2(b) – equivalent cct for a transmit antenna
Figure 2(c) - equivalent cct for a receive antenna

Figure 2 : (a) Antenna as a four-terminal network; (b) transmit

antenna equivalent circuit; (c) receive antenna equivalent circuit
Antenna Reciprocity
A basic antenna – is a passive reciprocal device – passive in that is cannot actually
amplify a signal
Transmit antenna – must be capable of handling high powers and therefore must be
constructed with materials that can withstand high voltages and currents, such as
metal tubing.
Receive antenna – produce very small voltages and currents and can be constructed
from small-diameter wire.
Standard antennas - have no active a components (diodes, transistors, FETs),
therefore they are passive and reciprocal.
In practice active antenna does not exists. Active antennas is actually a combination
of a passive antenna and LNA. Active antennas are nonreciprocal.
In many radio communication system, same antenna is use for transmitting and
receiving (reciprocal). Must be constructed from heavy duty material.
Isolation is needed, a coupling device known as diplexer is use to direct the
transmit and receive signal.
Bear in mind, active or passive antenna produce power loss whether they are use
for transmitting or receiving signals.
Radiation Pattern
Radiation pattern – is a polar diagram or graph representing fields
strength of power densities at various angular positions relative to
an antenna.
Provide information that describes how an antenna directs the
energy to radiate
Information presented in the form of a polar plot for both horizontal
(azimuth) and vertical (zenith or elevation) sweeps.
Define quantitative aspects such as 3 dB beamwidth, directivity,
side lobe, levels and front to back ratio.
The radiation pattern could be divided into
Main lobes
Side lobes
Back lobes
 Radiation Pattern (cont)
Figure 3 : Radiation patterns: (a) absolute (fixed power) radiation pattern; (b) relative (fixed distance) radiation pattern; (c) relative (fixed
distance) radiation pattern in decibels; and (d) relative (fixed distance) radiation pattern in decibels for an omnidirectional (point source)
antenna
Radiation Pattern (cont)
Near fields – refer to pattern that is close to the antenna
During one half of a cycle, power is radiated from an antenna where some of
the power is stored temporarily in the near field.
During second half of a cycle , power in the near field is returned to the
antenna.
also known as induction field.

D = antenna diameter
λ = wavelength

Far field – refer to pattern that is far from the antenna

Power that reaches far field continues radiate outward and is never returned to
the antenna.
Also known as radiation field since the radiated power is more important.
Radiation Pattern (cont)
Radiation resistance
All the power supplied to an antenna is not radiated.
Some of it is converted to heat and dissipated .
Radiation resistance is somewhat ‘unreal’ in that it cannot be
measured directly. It is an AC antenna resistance and is equal to
the ratio of the power radiated by the antenna to the square of the
current at its feedpoint

Where ;
Rr = radiation resistance (ohm)
Prad = power radiated by antenna(watts)
i = antenna current at the feedpoint (ampere)
 Radiation Pattern (cont)
Antenna Efficiency
Is the ratio of the power radiated by an antenna to the sum of the
power radiated and the power dissipated

η=antenna efficiency
Prad=radiated power (watts)
Pin = input power (watts)=Prad + Pd

or the ratio of the power radiated by an antenna to the total input
power

Where;
Prad=radiated power (watts)
Pd = power dissipated in antenna (watts)
 Radiation Pattern (cont)
 Simplified equivalent circuit for an antenna, see Figure 4

Figure 4

 Some of the input power is dissipated in the effective resistance

(ground resistance, corona, imperfect dielectric, eddy currents etc) and
the remainder is radiated.
 Since the total antenna power is the sum of the dissipated and radiated
power, therefore in terms of resistance and current, antenna efficiency
is;
Where;
Re = effective antenna
resistance
Antenna Gain
Directive gain – is the ratio of the power density radiated in a
particular direction to the power density to the same point by
a reference antenna (isotropic antenna, lossless), assuming
both antenna radiate the same amount of power
The maximum directive gain is called directivity.

Where ;
D = directivity (unitless)
P = power density at some point with a given antenna (watts/msqr)
Pref = power density at some point with a reference antenna (watts/msqr)
If the antenna is lossless, it radiates 100 % of the input power
For an isotropic reference, the power in dB of a half-wave
dipole is approximately 2.15 dB
Antenna Gain (cont)
Isotropic radiator is a sphere shape that radiates power equally
in all direction simultaneously.
Antennas do not increase the transmit power but shape of the
radiation field to lengthen or shorten the distance of the
propagated wave.
The higher the gain the farther the wave will travel
concentrating its output wave more tightly.
2 types of references
Isotropic antenna : gain is given in dBi
Half wave dipole antenna is given in dBd
Manufacturers often use dBi in their marketing (to show a
slightly higher gain)
Antenna Gain (cont)

Dipole pattern, 0 dBi

Isotropic pattern,
0 dBi

0 (dBd) = 2.15 (dBi) 3 (dBd) = 5.15 (dBi)

 Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP)
Effective Isotropic Radiated Power is define as an
equivalent transmit power and is express mathematically;

Where;
Dt = transmit antenna directive gain (unitless)

EIRP also can be written using input power and power gain
as ;

Where;
At = transmit antenna power gain (unitless)
EIRP (cont)
Example 1
For a transmit antenna with power gain At = 10, and
an input power , Pin = 100Watt, determine;
a) EIRP in Watt , dBm, and dBW
b) Power density at a point 10 km from the transmit
antenna
c) Power density had an isotropic antenna been used with
the same input power an efficiency
Example 1 : Solution
a)

b)
Example 1 : Solution
c)

It can be seen that the power density at a point 10 km

from the transmit antenna is 10 times greater with the
given antenna than it would be had an isotropic
radiator been used. To achieve the same power
density , the isotropic antenna would require an input
power 10 times greater or 1000 W
Example 2
For a transmit antenna with radiation resistance Rr = 72
Ohms, an effective antenna resistance, Re = 8 ohms, a
directive gain , D=20, and an input power Pin = 100
W. Determine
a) Antenna efficiency
b) Antenna gain (absolute and dB)
c) Radiated power in watts, dBm, and dBW
d) EIRP in watts, dBm and dB W
Example 2 : Solution
a)

b)

c)
Example 2 : Solution
d)
Antenna Polarization
Polarization – the polarization of an antenna simply refers to the
orientation of the electric field radiated from it.
A radio wave is made of electric field and magnetic field which are
perpendicular to each other
The sum of the two fields is called electro-magnetic field
Energy is transferred back and forth from one field to the other in the
process known as oscillation
Polarization is the physical orientation of the antenna in a horizontal
or vertical position
Horizontal Polarization – electric field is parallel to the ground
Vertical Polarization – the electric field is perpendicular to the ground
Antennas that are not polarized in the same way are not able to
communicate with each other effectively
Polarization (Cont)

Linear Elliptical Circular

Polarization Polarization Polarization
Antenna Beamwidth
Antenna beamwidth is simply the angular separation
between the two half-power (-3 dB) points on the
major lobe of an antenna’s plane radiation pattern,
usually taken in one of the ‘principle’ planes
The beamwidth for the antenna whose radiation
pattern is shown in Figure 5

Figure 5
Antenna Beamwidth (cont)
Angle formed between points A, X, and B (angle θ) is
the beamwidth for the particular antenna.
Point A and B are half-power points and antenna
beamwidth is sometimes called -3 dB beamwidth or
half-power beamwidth.
Antenna gain is inversely proportional to beamwidth.
The higher gain the narrower beamwidth.
An omnidirectional (isotropic) radiates equally well in
all directions . It has a gain of unity and a beamwidth of
360 degree
Typical antenna beamwidths between 30 degdree and 60
degree
Antenna Bandwidth
Antenna Bandwidth – is vaguely defined as the
frequency range over which antenna operation is
“satisfactory”
Bandwidth is normally taken as the difference between
the half-power frequency (difference between the
highest and lowest frequencies of operation) but
sometimes refers to variations in the antenna’s input
impedance.
Bandwidth of antenna = half-power bandwidth
(HPBW)
Antenna bandwidth is often expressed as a percentage
of the antenna’s optimum frequency operation.
Example 3

Determine the percent bandwidth for an antenna with

an optimum frequency of operation of 400 MHz and –
3dB frequencies of 380 MHz and 420 MHz.
VSWR
Occurs when there is mismatched impedance (resistance to
current flow, measured in Ohms) btw devices in a RF system
Caused by an RF signal reflected at a point of impedance
mismatch in the signal path
VSWR causes return loss, Г or loss of forward energy
through a system
VSWR is a ratio
Typical value of VSWR would be 1.5 : 1
 The first two numbers relate the ratio of impedance mismatch
against a perfect impedance match
 The second number is always 1, representing the perfect match
 Impedance mismatch will reduce system efficiency
Types of Antennas
Some examples of antennas are;
Shape or geometries
Wire antennas : dipole, loop, helix
Aperture : horn, slot
Printed antennas, patch, printed slot
Gain
High gain : dish
Medium gain : horn
Low gain : dipole, loop, slot, patch
Beam Shapes :
Omnidirectional : dipole
Pencil beam : dish
Fan beam : array
Bandwidth
Wide band : log, spiral, helix
Narrowband : patch, slot
Types of Antennas (cont)

Half-wave dipole
The linear half-wave dipole is one of the most widely used antennas at
frequencies above 2 MHz.
At frequency below 2 MHz, the physical length of a half-wavelength
antenna is prohibitive.
The half-wave dipole generally referred to as a “Hertz antenna” after
Heinrich Hertz

Figure 6 Idealized voltage and current distributions along a half-wave

dipole
Half-wave Dipole

Figure 7 Half-wave dipole radiation patterns: (a) vertical (side) view of a

vertically mounted dipole; (b) cross-sectional view; (c) horizontal (top) view
 Grounded Antenna
A monopole (single pole ) – an antenna one-quarter wavelength
long, mounted vertically with the lower end either connected
directly to ground or grounded through the antenna coupling
network, is called a “Marconi antenna”
The characteristics of the Marconi antenna are similar to those of
the Hertz antenna because of the ground-reflected waves.

Figure 8 Quarter-wave grounded

antenna: (a) voltage and current
standing waves; (b) radiation pattern
Antenna Arrays
An antenna array is form when two or more antenna
elements are combined to form a single antenna
An antenna element is an individual radiator, such as a
half – or quarter-wave dipole.
The elements are physically in such a way that their
radiation fields interact with each other, producing a
total radiation pattern.
The purpose of an array is to increase the directivity of
an antenna system and concentrate the radiated power
within a smaller geographic area.
 Antenna Arrays
In essence, there are TWO types of
antenna elements
Driven element
Parasitic element (non-driven)
Driven - elements are directly
connected to the transmission line
and receive power from or are
driven by a the source
Parasitic - elements are not
connected to the transmission line;
they receive energy through mutual
induction with a driven element or
other parasitic element.
Parasitic element is longer than
Figure 9 Antenna array
driven element
Other type of antennas array
Broadside Array
End-fire array
Nonresonant Array : The Rhombic antenna

Figure 10 Broadside
antenna: (a) broadside
array; (b) radiation pattern
Other type of antennas array (cont)
End-fire array

Figure 11 End-fire antenna: (a) end-fire array; (b) radiation pattern (side view)
Other type of antennas array (cont)
Nonresonant Array : The Rhombic antenna
Ideal for HF transmission (range 3 MHz – 30 MHz)

Figure 12 Rhombic antenna: (a) rhombic array; (b) radiation pattern

Effect of Gain, Bandwidth, front-to-back ration for
half-wave dipole by adding directors and reflectors
Special –Purpose Antennas
Folded Dipole Antenna
Yagi- Uda Antenna
Turnstile Antenna
Helical Antenna
Log-periodic Antenna
Loop Antenna
Phased Array Antenna
Special –Purpose Antennas
Folded Dipole
The folded dipole is essentially a single antenna made up
of two elements

Figure 13 (a) Folded dipole; (b) three-element folded dipole

Special –Purpose Antennas (cont)
Yagi-Uda Antenna
A widely used antenna that commonly uses a folded dipole as the
driven element.
A Yagi Uda is a linear array consists of a dipole and two or more
parasitic elements.
ONE (1) use for reflector and ONE (1) or more use for director.
The driven element is a half-wavelength folded dipole, connected
to transmission line. Use for receiving only.
The reflector is a straight aluminium rod approximately 5 % longer
than dipole (driven element).
The director is cut approximately 5 % shorter than the driven
element.
The spacing between elements is generally between 0.1 and 0.2
wavelength.
Special –Purpose Antennas (cont)
Typical directivity of the Yagi Uda is between 7 dB and 9 dB.
Bandwidth of the Yagi can be increased by using more than
one folded dipole, each cur slightly different length.
The Yagi commonly use for VHF television reception because
its wide bandwidth (54 MHz – 216 MHz)

Figure 14 Yagi-Uda
antenna: (a) three-
element Yagi; (b)
radiation pattern
Special –Purpose Antennas (cont)
Turnstile Antenna
Form by placing two dipoles at right angles to each other, 90 degree
out of phase
This will produce nearly omni-directional pattern
Gain can up more than 10 dB

Figure 15 (a) Turnstile antenna; (b) radiation pattern

Special –Purpose Antennas (cont)
Helical Antenna
Helical antenna is a broadband VHF and UHF antenna that is
ideally suited for application for which radiating circular rather than
horizontal or vertical polarized EM waves are required.
Can be used as a single-element antenna or stacked horizontally or
vertically in an array to modify its radiation pattern by increasing
the gain and decreasing the beamwidth of the primary lobe.

Figure 16 End-fire helical antenna

Waveguide
A waveguide is a special type of transmission line that
consists of a conducting metallic tube through which
high frequency elelctromagnetic energy is propagated.
Efficiently interconnect high frequency
electromagnetic waves between an antenna and a
transceiver.
Waveguide (cont)
Parallel-wire transmission line, including coaxial cables,
cannot effectively propagate EM energy above
approximately 20 GHz.
Parallel-wire impractical for many UHF and microwave
applications. Several alternative , including fiber optic
and waveguides.
In simplest form, a waveguide is a hollow conductive
tube, usually rectangular in cross section but sometimes
circular or elliptical.
Waveguides do not conduct current but it reflects EM
energy from its surface.
Rectangular Waveguide
Rectangular wave guide is the most common form of waveguide.
To understand how rectangular waveguides work, it is necessary
to understand the basic behavior of waves reflecting from a
conducting surface.
Important characteristics or TEM waves in order to propagate in
waveguides.
Phase Velocity and Group Velocity
Cut off Frequency and Cut off wavelength
Modes of Propagation
Characteristic Impedance
Impedance Matching
Transmission Line to Waveguide Coupling
Rectangular Waveguide (cont)

Figure 17 : Cross-sectional view of a rectangular

waveguide
Rectangular Waveguide
(cont)

Figure 18 Electromagnetic wave propagation

in a rectangular waveguide
Other Type of Waveguides
Circular Waveguide
Used in Radar and microwave application

Figure 19 Circular waveguide with rotational joint

Other Type of Waveguides
Ridged Waveguide
More expansive to manufacture than a standard rectangular
waveguide
But it has more loss per unit length than a rectangular waveguide

Figure 20 Ridged waveguide: (a) single ridge; (b) double ridge

Other Type of Waveguides
Flexible Waveguide
Consists of spiral-wound ribbon of brass or copper.
Use for interconnects when several transmitters and
receivers are needed.

Figure 21 Flexible
waveguide