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Modern Antenna Handbook [Reviews and Abstracts]

Article  in  IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine · January 2010

DOI: 10.1109/MAP.2009.5433113 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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 Reviews and Abstracts
Daniel S. Welle
Dept. Of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Delaware
311 Dupont Hall
Newark, DE 19716 USA
Tel: +1 (302) 831-8784
Email: weile@ee.udel.edu
Modern Antenna Handbook, edited by Constantine A. Balanis,
New York, John Wiley & Sons, 2008 xviii+1680 pages, ISBN 978-
0-470-03634-1.
P rofessor Balanis' Modern Antenna Handbook is the most
recently published of at least three such engineering electro-
magnetics references, including the fourth edition of the Antenna
Engineering Handbook (McGraw-Hill, 2007), and Kai Chang's all-
encompassing Encyclopedia of RF and Microwave Engineering
(Wiley, 2005). Balanis' handbook is the fifth such reference I have
added to my own microwave library. Why add another? Because
this new handbook is an efficient way to keep up with the con-
tinuing advances in antenna technology and applications.
The rapid expansion of wireless communications systems
underlies the choice of most of the topics in this handbook. With
material written by some 68 authors, it means to provide practical
information on the latest antenna technology and analysis for engi-
neers, scientists, and students. In page count, the Modern Antenna
Handbook compares closely with the latest edition of the Antenna
Engineering Handbook. However, in content, the 33 chapters of
the Modern Antenna Handbook are more detailed in coverage,
though less broad in scope, than the 59 chapters of the Antenna
Engineering Handbook . Modern Antenna Handbook has six parts:
(1) "Fundamental Parameters and Definitions of Antennas," com-
prising the first chapter; (2) "Antenna Elements," Chapters 2
through 10; (3) "Arrays and Synthesis Methods," Chapters 11, 12
and 13; (4) "Structures and Techniques Related to Antennas,"
Chapters 14 through 21; (5) "Antenna Applications," Chapters 22
through 28; and (6) "Methods of Analysis, Modeling and Simula-
tion," Chapters 29 through 33. In general, the writing is clear and
concise; the graphics are helpful, and not much of the content
overlaps. Tables very effectively summarize information on many
of the topics. In particular, I will highlight eight chapters (5, 7, 11,
14,21,22, 27, and 31) that I found particularly well written and
informative.
Chapter 1 provides the reader with a good review of the
fundamentals of antennas, quoting often from the IEEE Standard
Definitions of Terms for Antennas (IEEE Std 145-1983). The text
on circular polarization explains well the commonly confused rela-
tionship between the transmitting and receiving modes of antenna
operation. The table at the chapter's end is an excellent summary
of important antenna parameters and formulas.
The nine chapters of the next part of the book overview
antenna elements. Chapter 2 discusses dipoles, monopoles, and
loops, combining theory with brief discussions of some applica-
IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vel. 51, No. 6, December 2009
tions. Chapter 3 covers waveguide antennas, with an emphasis on
design and detailed examples. The last twenty-five pages are
devoted entirely to fabrication, and describe materials, machining,
and environmental conditions. Chapter 4 provides a summary of
microstrip antennas, including their pros and cons and design tech-
niques. Information on array and feed configurations for linear,
dual, and circular polarization is followed by dual and broadband
techniques. A short but informative section on antenna miniaturi-
zation ends the chapter.
Chapter 5 is a good tutorial on reflector-antenna design, made
better than most by its author's awareness that many such reviews
have been written on this topic. The author, an experienced reflec-
tor-antenna designer, brings his own insights and "secrets" to the
discussion. He illustrates error effects, such as defocusing and sur-
face error, with useful plots. The section on advanced analysis
techniques ends with a valuable comparison of the three algorithms
discussed. The next seventeen pages cover single-beam antennas
quite thoroughly, and include several fielded examples. The chap-
ter concludes with multibeam reflector antennas.
Spiral and log-periodic antennas are the subject of Chapter 6.
The author gives this mostly standard material a refreshingly dif-
ferent perspective.
Chapter 7 is an excellent discussion on leaky-wave antennas.
The authors describe the fundamental properties of leaky waves
and the performance of antennas, and give specific examples in the
Antenna Engineering Handbook. They begin with an equation-free
section on the classification of these antennas, and then sketch the
basic mathematical description of leaky waves with ray diagrams.
They introduce the full mathematical theory by considering a mul-
tilayered dielectric structure over a ground plane. The last half of
the chapter covers the radiation properties of one- and two-dimen-
sional leaky-wave antennas, including an interesting discussion on
scanning through broadside.
Reconfigurable antennas as achieved through redistribution
of currents by diodes in an aperture are discussed in Chapter 8. A
large variety of electrically large and small examples are featured,
including single patch and dipole antennas, a reflector, a reflectar-
ray, and patch and slot arrays. Chapter 9 has the general title
"Wideband and Traveling-Wave Antennas," but the chapter con-
centrates on three antennas: biconical, helical, and Yagi-Uda. I
have not seen so much detail on biconical and bowtie antennas in
any other book. Chapter 10 is devoted to small and fractal anten-
nas, with emphasis on the former. The author reviews fundamental
bandwidth properties and limitations of antennas, and then dis-
135
cusses small dipoles and loops. Three sections cover self-resonance
and impedance matching, and optimizing bandwidth. Only in the
final section do fractal antennas receive attention.
Part 3 of the handbook contains three chapters on arrays and
synthesis methods. The best of these is Chapter 11, "Arrays and
Smart Antennas." Adhering to the overarching philosophy of the
handbook, the chapter discusses only wireless applications. Perti-
nent array theory is briefly presented. After a page on propagation
models, smart antennas are explored in depth, including algorithms
for beamforming, their advantages for wireless communications,
and implementation and system-level issues. One page on multi-
ple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) systems concludes the chapter.
Generous use of examples and tabular comparisons enhance under-
standing of the concepts.
Chapter 12, on wideband arrays, describes three different
approaches to wideband antenna design, written by three groups of
authors. Perhaps the most interesting approach is Ben Munk's cur-
rent-sheet array (CSA) concept, based on capacitively coupled
dipole elements over a ground plane. Workers at Harris Corpora-
tion have developed a number of unusual multi-octave CSA pro-
totypes, which are described in considerable detail. I had not seen
this material before. The next section of the chapter is devoted to
more-traditional arrays of Vivaldi printed radiators. The last sec-
tion covers fragmented arrays, which use multilayer, highly opti-
mized versions of printed antennas: what I would call fancy bowtie
elements. Like bowties, these elements radiate forward and back-
ward, so that lossy material is required to eliminate resonances
caused by an underlying ground plane.
Chapter 13 briefly overviews practical synthesis methods for
antenna and arrays. Standard shaped-beam and low-sidelobe syn-
thesis are first reviewed, followed by a more interesting discussion
on pole-residue methods for time- and frequency-domain synthesis.
Part 4, on antenna structures and techniques, begins with
Chapter 14, an excellent tutorial on negative-refractive-index
transmission-line metamaterials for antennas. With many practical
examples, it avoids dwelling heavily in the theoretical world.
Antenna-related structures are created by loading transmission
lines with reactive elements. Such devices include phase-shifting
lines, high-directivity couplers, broadband baluns, series power
dividers, and series-fed printed dipole arrays having reduced beam
squinting, leaky-wave antennas. A wealth of photographs of real-
ized hardware and measured results complement the discussion.
Chapter 15, on artificial impedance surfaces for antennas,
focuses mainly on author Sievenpiper's mushroom-type high-
impedance surface and its applications. Even so, many of the ideas
are of general applicability. After a thorough explanation of the
Sievenpiper surface - including a useful design section - a number
of antenna applications are described, including diffraction control,
tunable impedance surfaces, and reflective and leaky-wave beam
steering. An interesting section on holographic artificial impedance
surfaces shows how these surfaces can be used to incorporate low-
profile or confonnal antennas onto complex-shaped metal plat-
forms. One fascinating example describes how a cylinder can be
coated with an artificial impedance surface to redirect incoming
radiation from a dipole to its opposite side.
Frequency-selective screens (FSS) are the subject of Chap-
ter 16, which begins with a useful section on system requirements
for applications such as reflectors, radomes, and frequency-scanned
antennas. The next section, on design parameters, has good detail,
136
particularly on different element types. The section on numerical
analysis methods is standard, and it leaves out the most-challeng-
ing aspect of this topic: analyzing the effect of an FSS on an inte-
grated antenna or array, a potentially memory-intensive problem.
The last section focuses on non-ideal implementation issues,
including those introduced by curved screens and terahertz fre-
quencies.
Chapter 17 covers RF micro-electromechanical systems (RF-
MEMS) and micro-machined antenna applications. Most of the
chapter concentrates on the RF-MEMS switch, and its use in
reconfigurable printed antennas and phase shifters. Micromachin-
ing planar antenna structures to improve their performance con-
cludes the chapter.
Chapter 18 breaks from the motif of the previous four chap-
ters by turning to feed antennas, which are associated with secon-
dary antennas such as reflectors. A summary of feed parameters,
such as gain, polarization, and bandwidth, is followed by extensive
coverage of a wide variety of feed types, grouped broadly: circular,
rectangular, planar, linear, and compound. The key components
that excite the feed, such as diplexers and beamforming networks,
are also discussed. Throughout the chapter, the author gives plenty
of useful design equations and graphs.
Chapters 19 and 20 are devoted to the topic of antenna meas-
urements. Chapter 19 concentrates on near-field scanning, and is
divided into two main sections. The first provides a theoretical
background, and the second covers the practical implementation of
planar, spherical, and cylindrical scanning systems. There is a brief
discussion on measurement uncertainty at the end of the chapter,
which includes two tables that provide quantitative estimates of the
uncertainty levels from a variety of sources encountered during the
measurement of a low-sidelobe array. Chapter 20, adapted from
Chapter 17 of Balanis' Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design, dis-
cusses the practicalities of antenna measurements from a more
general perspective. Topics include antenna ranges, microwave
absorber, instrumentation, and measurement of radiation patterns,
gain, directivity, radiation efficiency, impedance, current, and
polarization. The last section is a qualitative overview of meas-
urement troubleshooting.
Chapter21, a very good review of antenna scattering, does not
seem to fit the Handbook's wireless theme. Many relevant exam-
ples and drawings illustrate the concepts well. Antenna scattering
modes and impedance effects on scattering are described, leading
to a total radiation and scattering formulation. A section on
antenna-structure scattering discusses shaping, discontinuities,
absorbers, and cancellation. After a brief discussion of array scat-
tering, the chapter concludes with radomes and frequency-selective
surfaces.
The seven chapters of Part 5 are devoted to antenna applica-
tions. Chapters 22, 23, and 24 on wireless antennas for mobile
communications overlap considerably in their material: two chap-
ters would probably have been sufficient. Chapter 22 focuses on
the user antenna. An excellent figure overviews the key aspects of
the design procedure for such low-gain antennas. Fundamental
parameters are reviewed, followed by a section on handset anten-
nas and human interactions. A flowchart serves to clearly organize
the topics for the reader: external and internal antennas, multiple
antennas, housing effects, and human interactions. Another large
section goes into laptop computer antennas, and is organized into
similar topics. Chapter 23 also discusses user antennas, but the best
part of chapter is the section on base-station antennas, a topic not
covered in Chapter 22. As in that chapter, the author makes good
IEEEAntennas and Propagation Magazine, Vel. 51, No. 6, December 2009
use of figures to summarize design issues, requirements, and perti-
nent antenna technology. Chapter 24 attempts to cover mostly the
same material as the previous chapters in just twenty-five pages.
Chapter 25 carries the title "Antenna Array Technologies for
Advanced Wireless Systems," which makes me wonder why it is
not in Part 3, on arrays. Despite the title, the authors have chosen
photographs and examples of arrays from military radar applica-
tions. The authors could have followed the theme of the handbook,
and shown wireless array applications such as Iridium and Global-
star. The authors seem to have chosen to discuss a few specific
array topics. They include a relatively standard review of beam-
forming circuits and beam-steering components. A large section of
the chapter discusses the continuous transverse stub antenna, an
interesting low-cost array concept, but hardly the only one. A sec-
tion on digital beamforming is the only section to directly address
communications systems. The last section is devoted to low-profile
array antennas on electromagnetic bandgap/ ferrite ground planes.
Chapter 26, on antenna design for MIMO, starts where Chap-
ter 11 on arrays ends, and also seems to belong in Part 3 of the
handbook. MIMO, though developed for wireless communications,
is really less an application than a technique for using arrays. The
discussion focuses on the "interaction of the antenna elements with
the electromagnetic propagation" to help the engineer design
antennas for MIMO systems. The material includes a MIMO over-
view and sections on antenna diversity, including mutual coupling
in the MIMO systems model, super directivity in MIMO systems,
and MIMO antenna synthesis. In general, the exposition is mostly
theoretical and equation-based, with only a few computational
examples given.
The last two chapters of this part of the Handbook are written
by the same authors and are related in content, although neither
pertains to wireless applications. Chapter 27 is a very good intro-
duction to the near-field antennas used for medical therapy and
diagnostics, with clear explanations and practical examples. The
chapter is divided into two sections, the first of which covers
therapeutic applications such as the ablation of cancerous tissue.
Antennas are divided into those placed externally and those placed
internally to the body. Single antennas, including patches,
waveguides, and even phased arrays, may be used externally.
Physically small antennas, such as loops and dipoles, are used
internally. The challenge is to design the antenna to minimize
heating of healthy tissues near the target tissue. The second section
focuses on sensing and imaging applications, such as detection of
the heartbeat. Some simple equations and plenty of figures are used
throughout the chapter. Chapter 28 is concerned with exposure of
humans to electromagnetic radiation emitted by cell phones and
power lines, and methods for measuring the effects. Two types of
experimentation are described whereby cells and tissues or live
animals are exposed to radiation in a lab. The antennas are usually
designed and optimized through trial-and-error numerical simula-
tion. Topics covered include the interdisciplinary approach to bio-
electromagnetic research, induced fields, features of exposure sys-
tems, and antennas for the two types of experiments.
The final part of the Handbook comprises five chapters on
numerical electromagnetic analysis and modeling of antennas. The
subject of Chapter 29 is integral equations and their solution by the
Method of Moments. A few pages briefly set up the principal
equations and introduce the Method of Moments. The remainder of
the chapter discusses thin-wire antennas; feed models; basis func-
tions; the source singularity in the Green's function; accuracy and
convergence; printed-circuit antennas, including analysis of a patch
IEEEAntennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 51, No. 6, December 2009
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antenna; and periodic structure analysis. A short section entitled "A
Perspective on Numerical Modeling" gives some good practical
advice. Sources of available software also are provided.
Chapter 30 is devoted to the Finite-Difference Time-Domain
(FDTD) Method. The basic Yee algorithm serves to introduce the
method. Transmitting and receiving antenna formulations are out-
lined, and input signal functions are described. The rest of the
chapter explores four separate examples: a cylindrical monopole, a
horn, a spiral, and a microstrip patch. The authors discuss the
unique challenges of analyzing each example antenna, and provide
practical guidance.
Chapter 31, on the Finite-Element Method (FEM), is one of
the best chapters of the book. Despite its limited length, it provides
a broad overview of the FEM in both the frequency and time
domains, and includes some of the latest advances. Two sections
overview finite-element formulations in the frequency and time
domain. Mesh-truncation approaches, including absorbing bounda-
ries, perfectly matched layers, and boundary integral equations, are
described. The authors describe an interesting combination of time-
domain FEM for modeling of the antenna's details, and the FDTD
method for efficient modeling of the external region. They discuss
feed modeling, input impedance, and far-field pattern computation.
Another section covers phased arrays, both infinite and finite, in
both the time and frequency domains. The section "Numerical and
Practical Considerations" is filled with excellent advice, including
a discussion comparing frequency- and time-domain solvers. The
authors touch on domain decomposition, a relatively new extension
of frequency-domain FEM for solving electrically large problems.
The last fifteen pages of the chapter contain a variety of examples,
both narrowband and wideband, single antennas and arrays (infi-
nite and finite), and even examples on antenna-platform interac-
tion.
Optimizers often are mated with numerical-analysis software,
so Chapter 32, on genetic algorithms, complements well the previ-
ous chapters in this part of the Handbook. The focus of the chapter
is on applications of genetic optimization to a variety of antenna
problems, including array, horn, and reflector pattern synthesis.
Although genetic optimization is very powerful, many other opti-
mization methods are available, and this rather short chapter could
have been extended with discussions of some of those methods.
The last chapter of the Handbook, on neural networks (NNs),
is an understandable introduction to the topic. A number of exam-
ples help the reader grasp how neural networks can be used to
solve antenna problems. Each example briefly describes how the
method is implemented, and how the problem benefits from use of
a neural network. The last sections of the chapter describe issues
and disadvantages that arise when neural networks are used to
solve antenna problems.
In general, Modern Antenna Handbook is uniformly well
written, up-to-date, and filled with a wealth of practical informa-
tion. This makes it a useful reference for most antenna engineers
and graduate students.
Reviewed by:
Eric Holzman
2633 Turf Valley Road
Ellicott City, MD 21042
137