UNIT IV SPECIAL ANTENNAS 9

Principle of frequency independent antennas –Spiral antenna, Helical antenna, Log periodic. Modern
antennas-Reconfigurable antenna, Active antenna, Dielectric antennas, Electronic band gap structure and
applications, Antenna Measurements-Test Ranges, Measurement of Gain, Radiation pattern, Polarization,
VSWR
 UNIT IV
SPECIAL ANTENNAS

PRINCIPLE OF FREQUENCY-INDEPENDENT ANTENNA

An antenna with primary electrical characteristics that vary insignificantly with frequency over an
extremely wide range; the various types of such antennas constitute a group of broadband antennas for
which the ratio of maximum operating frequency to minimum ranges to 20:1 or more. The weak
dependence of the antennas’ characteristics (the shape of the directive pattern, the front-to-rear ratio, the
input impedance, and so on) on frequency stems from the fact that the radiation field is created by
currents distributed over a finite portion of the antenna surface, known as the active region, beyond whose
limits the currents decrease sharply; as the frequency varies, the active region changes in such a way that
its relative dimensions expressed in terms of the wavelength λ corresponding to the frequency remain
unchanged. The lower wavelength limit λmax of the antenna’s operating range is determined by the
frequency at which the active region is shifted to the edge of the antenna. The antenna’s operating range
can, in principle, be extended toward the shorter wavelengths as far as desired, but in practice the limit is
determined by a number of incidental factors, such as the cross-sectional dimensions of the power feeder
that are acceptable for given values of the losses introduced, the breakdown voltage, the transmitted
power, and so on.The most common frequency-independent antennas are in the form of two-arm spiral
and conical helical antennas, log-periodic antennas, and sickle-shaped dipoles. There are also multiarm
spiral and helical antennas that have several independent inputs; a well-known type is in the form of a
conical dipole with an ultra-wide range of input impedances.

Frequency-independent antennas are used for shortwave radio communications, telemetry, and radio
astronomy. During the 1970’s lightweight types of relatively simple design were developed for various
frequency ranges: log-periodic wire antennas were developed for decameter waves, and spiral and helical
antennas were created for centimeter and millimeter waves from strip conductors deposited on a
fiberglass substrate by a photochemical process. Highly directional frequency-independent antennas are
being designed as horn antennas with walls having transverse ribs and antenna arrays composed of log-
periodic or conical helical radiators positioned along radii in a specific sector of a circle.

SPIRAL ANTENNA

Spiral antennas belong to the class of "frequency independent" antennas; these antennas are
characterized as having a very large bandwidth. The fractional Bandwidth can be as high as 30:1. This
means that if the lower frequency is 1 GHz, the antenna would still be efficient at 30 GHz, and every
frequency in between.

Spiral antennas are usually circularly polarized. The spiral antenna's radiation pattern typically has a peak
radiation direction perpendicular to the plane of the spiral (broadside radiation). The Half-Power
Beamwidth (HPBW) is approximately 70-90 degrees. Spiral antennas are widely used in the defense
industry for sensing applications, where very wideband antennas that do not take up much space are
needed. Spiral antenna arrays are used in military aircraft in the 1-18 GHz range. Other applications of
spiral antennas include GPS, where it is advantageous to have RHCP (right hand circularly polarized)
antennas.

Turnur started messing with a dipole antenna. Instead of leaving the arms straight, he wrapped them
around each other, forming a spiral. This was the beginning of the spiral antenna. We can define the arms
of a spiral antenna using simple polar coordinates and polar functions. The log-periodic spiral antenna,
also known as the equiangular spiral antenna, has each arm defined by the polar function.a constant that
controls the initial radius of the spiral antenna. The parameter a controls the rate at which the spiral
antenna flares or grows as it turns. Equation [1], in English, states that the spiral antenna radius grows
exponentially

The planar spiral antenna will have peak radiation directions into and out of the screen (broadside to the
plane of the spiral, in both the front and the back). The spiral antenna of Figure 1 will radiate Right Hand
Circularly Polarized (RHCP) fields out of the screen, and Left Hand Circularly Polarized (LHCP) fields
into the screen. The sense of the circularly polarized fields can be determined by placing your thumb in
the direction of the fields, and curling your fingers in the direction of the spiral antenna (If your fingers
curl the right way using your right hand, then it is RHCP. Otherwise, it is LHCP).

The parameters that effect the radiation of the spiral antenna include:
1. Total Length of the Spiral, or the outer radius - This determines the lowest frequency of operation for
the spiral antenna. The lowest operating frequency of the spiral antenna is commonly approximated to
occur when the wavelength is equal to the circumference of the spiral:

2. The Flare Rate (a) - The rate at which the spiral grows with angle is the flare rate. If it is too large, the
spiral is tightly wrapped around itself. In this case, it will behave more like a capacitor, with closely
coupled conductors, giving poor radiation. If the flare rate is too small, the spiral acts more like a dipole
as it doesn't wrap around itself. A commonly used value is a = 0.22.

3. Feed Structure - The feed must be controlled with a balun so that the spiral has balanced currents on
either arm. A commonly used balun for spiral antennas is the infinite balun. More importantly, the feed
structure determines the high end of the operating band. How tightly you can wrap the spiral in on itself
determines how small the wavelength can be that will fit on your spiral and still maintain spiral antenna
operation. The highest frequency in the spiral antenna's operating band occurs when the innermost radius
of the spiral (i.e. where the spiral starts after the feed structure) is equal to lambda/4 (one quarter
wavelength). That is, the highest frequency can be determined from the inner radius (<="" i=""> in

4. Number of Turns (N) - The number of turns of the spiral is also a design parameter. Experimentally it is
found that spirals with at least one-half turn up to 3 turns work well, with 1.5 turns being a good number.

Radiation occurs from the spiral antenna when the currents on the spiral's arms are in phase. As the spiral
winds outward from the center, there will exist some region for each frequency (wavelength) where the
currents add constructively and produce radiation. This radiation removes energy from the electric current
on the spiral antenna; as a result, the magnitude of the current dies off with distance from the spiral
antenna. Hence, there is little reflection of current from the end of the spiral antenna. How quickly the
current decreases in magnitude away from the center of the spiral is a function of the geometry of the
spiral antenna.

To furthur reduce reflection from the end of the spiral (which will decrease overall antenna efficiency and
bandwidth), sometimes resistive loads are applied to the end of spirals to keep current from reflecting at
the end of the spiral arms.

Impedance of Slot Antenna - Babinet's Principle

To estimate the impedance of the spiral antenna, we can recall Babinet's Principle, which was discussed
with respect to slot antennas. Note that the Log-Periodic Spiral Antenna and it's dual surface are identical.
That is, if we rotate the Log-Periodic Spiral by 90 degrees, we get the exact same shape, which is the dual
of the spiral antenna. This unique property means has a nice consequence. Since the impedance of two
antennas that are identically shaped must also be identical, we can obtain the impedance from Babinet's

That is, the Log-Periodic Spiral Antenna has a theoretical impedance of about 188 Ohms. In actual
realizations of Spiral antennas the impedance tends to be less than this, in the 100-150 Ohm range.

Radiation Patterns

The radiation pattern of the Log-Periodic Spiral Antenna is approximately .This pattern has two equal
radiation peaks, both broadside to the plane of the spiral antenna (which lies in the z=0 plane, or x-y
plane). One peak is above the planar spiral antenna and the other is below. The Spiral Antenna has
circular polarization over a wide beamwdith, often for angular regions as wide as . This is a very broad
beamwidth for circular polarization; this is one of the features that makes spiral antennas very useful.

The Archimedean Spiral Antenna

Another common planar spiral antenna type is known as the Archimedean Spiral antenna. Each arm of the
Archimedean spiral is defined by the equation. states that the radius r of the antenna increases linearly
with the angle . The parameter a is simply a constant that controls the rate at which the spiral flares out.
The second arm of the Archimedean spiral the same as the first, but rotated 180 degrees. A plot of the we
have two arms of the Archimedean spiral antenna flaring away from the center, as defined by Equation .
The feed of the antenna (the voltage source), is placed directly across between the two arms of the spiral -
the positive end to one arm and the negative end of the feed to the second spiral arm.

Cavity-Backed Slot Antennas

The slot antennas described previously have been planar slot antennas. As discussed, they are commonly
used on aircraft or other metallic backed objects. As such, it is desirable to design the slot antenna to be
cavity-backed by some metal. This isolates the spiral antenna from what is behind it, so that it can be
mounted on objects without worrying about retuning the antenna.

Cavity-backed slots come in two types. The first is a simple metallic backing separated from the spiral by
some distance or depth, d. This metallic backing will causes reflections of the radiated fields that enter the
cavity. As such, they can often cancel the fields travelling broadside to the plane of the spiral antenna. If
the depth d is small relative to a wavelength, or an integer multiple of a half-wavelength, the reflected
field will tend to cancel the forward travelling field of the spiral antenna, thus leading to poor radiation.
Hence, doing a metallic cavity-backed spiral will work, but will decrease the wideband characteristics of
the spiral antenna.

An alternative method is to use an absorbing material to cavity back the spiral antenna. In this scenario,
the reflected fields from the cavity will be attenuated, so that there is no destructive interference; hence,
the spiral antenna will maintain its wideband characteristics. This tends to decrease the antenna efficiency
of the spiral antenna, since roughly half the radiated power should be absorbed (the fields travelling into
the cavity). However, this loss of efficiency is approximately 3 dB, which is often tolerable.

HELICAL ANTENNA

Helix antennas (also commonly called helical antennas) have a very distinctive shape.The most popular
helical antenna (helix) is a travelling wave antenna in the shape of a corkscrew that produces radiation
along the axis of the helix antenna. These helix antennas are referred to as axial-mode helical antennas.
The benefits of this helix antenna is it has a wide bandwidth, is easily constructed, has a real input
impedance, and can produce circularly polarized fields.

The parameters of the helix antenna are defined below.

 D - Diameter of a turn on the helix antenna.
 C - Circumference of a turn on the helix antenna (C=pi*D).
 S - Vertical separation between turns for helical antenna.
 pitch angle, which controls how far the helix antenna grows in the z-direction per turn, and is given by
 N - Number of turns on the helix antenna.
 H - Total height of helix antenna, H=NS.

The antenna in Figure 1 is a left handed helix antenna, because if you curl your fingers on your left hand
around the helix your thumb would point up (also, the waves emitted from this helix antenna are Left
Hand Circularly Polarized). If the helix antenna was wound the other way, it would be a right handed
helical antenna.

The radiation pattern will be maximum in the +z direction (along the helical axis in Figure 1). The design
of helical antennas is primarily based on empirical results, and the fundamental equations will be
presented here.

Helix antennas of at least 3 turns will have close to circular polarization in the +z direction when the
circumference C is close to a wavelength:

Once the circumference C is chosen, the inequalites above roughly determine the operating bandwidth of
the helix antenna. For instance, if C=19.68 inches (0.5 meters), then the highest frequency of operation

will be given by the smallest wavelength that fits into the above equation, or =0.75C=0.375 meters,
which corresponds to a frequency of 800 MHz. The lowest frequency of operation will be given by the

largest wavelength that fits into the above equation, or =1.333C=0.667 meters, which corresponds to a
frequency of 450 MHz. Hence, the fractional BW is 56%, which is true of axial helical antennas in
general.

The helix antenna is a travelling wave antenna, which means the current travels along the antenna and
the phase varies continuously. In addition, the input impedance is primarly real and can be approximated
in Ohms .The helix antenna functions well for pitch angles between 12 and 14 degrees. Typically, the
pitch angle is taken as 13 degrees.

The normalized radiation pattern for the E-field components .For circular polarization, the orthogonal
components of the E-field must be 90 degrees out of phase. This occurs in directions near the axis (z-axis)
of the helix. The axial ratio for helix antennas decreases as the number of loops N is added. In the above,
c is the speed of light. Note that for a given helix geometry (specified in terms of C, S, N), the gain
increases with frequency. For an N=10 turn helix, that has a 0.5 meter circumference as above, and an
pitch angle of 13 degrees (giving S=0.13 meters), the gain is 8.3 (9.2 dB).
The Half-Power Beamwidth for helical antennas can be approximated (in degrees) by:

LOG PERIODIC ANTENNA

Log Periodic Antennas on the previous Log Periodic Tooth Antenna page. Now we expand on that design
further and introduce the Log-Periodic Dipole Antenna Array (sometimes abbreviated LPDA).

we use an expansion factor k=1.25. This means that each dipole is 25% longer than the one to the left of
it, and the separation (d) between each dipole also increases by 25%. In addition, the log-periodic dipole
array is arranged such that each element is fed out of phase to the element on either side. This is
illustrated by the criss crossing feed pattern.

This antenna is often characterized by "active" and "passive" regions. This means that if we are discussing
the radiation mechanism at say f=300 MHz, then the bulk of the radiation from this antenna will come
from the dipoles with lengths near half a wavelength at 300 MHz (so L=0.5 meters).

we see that the elements near the half-wavelength dipole will contribute to the radiation of the LPDA,
however the other elements will not. The elements that are too short will be too capacitive to radiate; the
elements much longer than a half-wavelength will also not radiate well. Note that this is somewhat of an
approximation, as if elements are 1.5 wavlengths, they will tend to radiate well. However, this should
give a bit of intuition.

If we assume 3 active elements , then one could argue that this antenna resembles somewhat a 3-element
Yagi-Uda Antenna. That is, the driven arm is in the center, the reflector element is the longer dipole to the
 right, and the director is the shorter dipole to the left. As such, the direction of peak radiation for the
LPDA in Figure 2 is towards the left.

Another interpretation of the radiation mechanism of the log periodic dipole array is that if the Log
Periodic Tooth Antenna has the arms reduced to wires (dipoles), and it is folded back on itself, then the
LP tooth would reduce to the log periodic dipole antenna array. This represents somewhat of an evolution
then of the Log Periodic Tooth antenna.

The design of the log periodic dipole array antenna as shown in Figure 1 is somewhat of an empirically
successful design. That is, there is a bit of intuition we can give regarding this antenna as in the
preceeding paragraphs; however, generally this antenna is one that has been found to work well in
practice after experimentation. As an example, it is experimentally found that for good antenna gain, the
expansion factor (k) should be kept small (1.25 being on the high side).

we see two connections to plug in the antenna, a SMA connector and an F-type connector. These both
connect to the same antenna feed port, this is just for versatility. The feed cable then run alongs the lower
boom of the antenna, and then connects as shown on the right side of Figure 5. The center conductor of
the coaxial cable feeds to the upper boom, and the outer conductor of the coaxial feed grounds to the
lower boom. In this manner we have implemented the feed across the gap required.

In addition, we need to have the oscillating connections between dipoles . This is accomplished in a
simple manner. we alternate the dipole arms such that the left arm is connected to the top boom, then the
lower boom, then top boom, etc. The right arm of the dipole then does just the opposite. In this manner,
we have electrically set up the structure , without having to criss-cross a bunch of wires.

MODERN ANTENNAS-RECONFIGURABLE ANTENNA

A reconfigurable antenna is an antenna capable of modifying dynamically its frequency and radiation
properties in a controlled and reversible manner. [2] In order to provide a dynamical response, reconfigurable
antennas integrate an inner mechanism (such as RF switches, varactors, mechanical actuators or tunable
materials) that enable the intentional redistribution of the RF currents over the antenna surface and produce
reversible modifications over its properties. Reconfigurable antennas differ from smart antennas because the
reconfiguration mechanism lies inside the antenna rather than in an external beamforming network. The
reconfiguration capability of reconfigurable antennas is used to maximize the antenna performance in a
changing scenario or to satisfy changing operating requirements.Reconfigurable antennas can be classified
according to the antenna parameter that is dynamically adjusted, typically the frequency of operation,
radiation pattern or polarization.

Frequency reconfiguration

Frequency reconfigurable antennas can adjust dynamically their frequency of operation. They are
particularly useful in situations where several communications systems converge because the multiple
antennas required can be replaced by a single reconfigurable antenna. Frequency reconfiguration is
generally achieved by modifying physically or electrically the antenna dimensions using RF-switches,
impedance loading

Radiation pattern reconfiguration

Radiation pattern reconfigurability is based on the intentional modification of the spherical distribution of
radiation pattern. Beam steering is the most extended application and consists in steering the direction of
maximum radiation to maximize the antenna gain in a link with mobile devices. Pattern reconfigurable
antennas are usually designed using movable/rotatable structures or including switchable and reactively-
loaded parasitic elements.. In last 10 years, metamaterial-based reconfigurable antennas have gained
attention due their small form factor, wide beam steering range and wireless applications.

Polarization reconfiguration

Polarization reconfigurable antennas are capable of switching between different polarization modes. The
capability of switching between horizontal, vertical and circular polarizations can be used to reduce
polarization mismatch losses in portable devices. Polarization reconfigurability can be provided by
changing the balance between the different modes of a multimode structure.

Compound reconfiguration
Compound reconfiguration is the capability of simultaneously tuning several antenna parameters, for
instance frequency and radiation pattern. The most common application of compound reconfiguration is the
combination of frequency agility and beam-scanning to provide improved spectral efficiencies. Compound
reconfigurability is achieved by combining in the same structure different single-parameter reconfiguration
techniques or by reshaping dynamically a pixel surface.
ACTIVE ANTENNA
An active antenna is an antenna that contains active electronic components such as transistors, as
opposed to most antennas which only consist of passive components such as metal rods, capacitors and
inductors. Active antenna designs allow antennas of limited size to have a wider frequency range
(bandwidth) than passive antennas, and are primarily used in situations where a larger passive antenna is
either impractical (inside a portable radio) or impossible (suburban residential area that disallows use of
large outdoor low-frequency antennas).

Most active antennas consist of a short conventional antenna, such as a small whip antenna, connected to
an active component (usually a FET). The signal attenuation caused by the antenna-size-to-wavelength
mismatch is compensated by the active circuit. The active circuit consists of an impedance translating
stage and an optional amplification stage. This arrangement is especially useful for constructing compact
low frequency antennas which, due to budgetary, spatial, or practical requirements (e.g., installation in
vehicles), must be downsized. Low frequency signal wavelengths range from one to ten kilometers.

Power for the active components may be supplied by batteries, a filtered power supply, or through the
signal feeder itself (phantom power). Antennas containing active impedance translating and optionally
amplifying stages are usually used only for receiving, since operation of such stages is unidirectional.

Active antennas need power supply. It usually consume 3 to 20 mA in GPS system. It usually houses
LNA along with antenna circuitry part. This is beneficial in two aspects:
• The losses of cable length after LNA device will not affect overall noise figure of GPS receiver part.
• LNA portion with antenna will help reduce overall noise figure of system which results into better
sensitivity.

Active type of antenna is always favourable when RF cable length between antenna and receiver exceeds
10cm. Only concern should be taken care is that LNA does not overload the receiver.

DIELECTRIC ANTENNAS

A dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) is a radio antenna mostly used at microwave frequencies and
higher, that consists of a block of ceramic material of various shapes, the dielectric resonator, mounted on
a metal surface, a ground plane. Radio waves are introduced into the inside of the resonator material from
the transmitter circuit and bounce back and forth between the resonator walls, forming standing waves.
The walls of the resonator are partially transparent to radio waves, allowing the radio power to radiate
into space.
An advantage of dielectric resonator antennas is they lack metal parts, which become lossy at high
frequencies, dissipating energy. So these antennas can have lower losses and be more efficient than metal
antennas at high microwave and millimeter wave frequencies. Dielectric waveguide antennas are used in
some compact portable wireless devices, and military millimeter-wave radar equipment. Long et al. did
the first design and test of dielectric resonator antennas considering a leaky waveguide model assuming
magnetic conductor model of the dielectric surface .

An antenna like effect is achieved by periodic swing of electrons from its capacitive element to the
ground plane which behaves like an inductor. The authors further argued that the operation of a dielectric
antenna resembles the antenna conceived by Marconi, the only difference is that inductive element is
replaced by the dielectric material.

Dielectric resonator antennas offer the following attractive features:

 There is no inherent conductor loss in dielectric resonators. This leads to high radiation efficiency
of the antenna. This feature is especially attractive for millimeter (mm)-wave antennas, where the
loss in metal fabricated antennas can be high.
 DRAs offer simple coupling schemes to nearly all transmission lines used at microwave and mm-
wave frequencies. This makes them suitable for integration into different planar technologies.
The coupling between a DRA and the planar transmission line can be easily controlled by varying
the position of the DRA with respect to the line. The performance of DRA can therefore be easily
optimized experimentally.
 The operating bandwidth of a DRA can be varied over a wide range by suitably choosing
resonator parameters. For example, the bandwidth of the lower order modes of a DRA can be
easily varied from a fraction of a percent to about 20% or more by the suitable choice of the
dielectric constant of the material and/or by strategic shaping of the DRA element.
 Use of multiple modes radiating identically has also been successfully addressed.
 Each mode of a DRA has a unique internal and associated external field distribution. Therefore,
different radiation characteristics can be obtained by exciting different modes of a DRA.

ELECTRONIC BAND GAP STRUCTURE

 The electrons of a single, isolated atom occupy atomic orbitals each of which has a discrete
energy level. When two or more atoms join together to form into a molecule, their atomic orbitals
overlap. The Pauli exclusion principle dictates that no two electrons can have the same quantum
 numbers in a molecule. So if two identical atoms combine to form a diatomic molecule, each
atomic orbital splits into two molecular orbitals of different energy, allowing the electrons in the
former atomic orbitals to occupy the new orbital structure without any having the same energy.
 Similarly if a large number N of identical atoms come together to form a solid, such as a crystal
lattice, the atoms' atomic orbitals overlap. [1] Since the Pauli exclusion principle dictates that no
two electrons in the solid have the same quantum numbers, each atomic orbital splits into N
discrete molecular orbitals, each with a different energy. Since the number of atoms in a
macroscopic piece of solid is a very large number (N~10 22) the number of orbitals is very large
and thus they are very closely spaced in energy (of the order of 10 −22 eV). The energy of adjacent
levels is so close together that they can be considered as a continuum, an energy band.

 This formation of bands is mostly a feature of the outermost electrons (valence electrons) in the
atom, which are the ones involved in chemical bonding and electrical conductivity. The inner
electron orbitals do not overlap to a significant degree, so their bands are very narrow.

 Band gaps are essentially leftover ranges of energy not covered by any band, a result of the finite
widths of the energy bands. The bands have different widths, with the widths depending upon the
degree of overlap in the atomic orbitals from which they arise. Two adjacent bands may simply
not be wide enough to fully cover the range of energy. For example, the bands associated with
core orbitals (such as 1s electrons) are extremely narrow due to the small overlap between
adjacent atoms. As a result, there tend to be large band gaps between the core bands. Higher
bands involve comparatively larger orbitals with more overlap, becoming progressively wider at
higher energies so that there are no band gaps at higher energies.

Band theory is only an approximation to the quantum state of a solid, which applies to solids consisting of
many identical atoms or molecules bonded together. These are the assumptions necessary for band theory
to be valid:

 Infinite-size system: For the bands to be continuous, the piece of material must consist of a large
number of atoms. Since a macroscopic piece of material contains on the order of 10 22 atoms, this
is not a serious restriction; band theory even applies to microscopic-sized transistors in integrated
circuits. With modifications, the concept of band structure can also be extended to systems which
are only "large" along some dimensions, such as two-dimensional electron systems.
  Homogeneous system: Band structure is an intrinsic property of a material, which assumes that
the material is homogeneous. Practically, this means that the chemical makeup of the material
must be uniform throughout the piece.
 Non-interactivity: The band structure describes "single electron states". The existence of these
states assumes that the electrons travel in a static potential without dynamically interacting with
lattice vibrations, other electrons, photons, etc.

The above assumptions are broken in a number of important practical situations, and the use of band
structure requires one to keep a close check on the limitations of band theory:

 Inhomogeneities and interfaces: Near surfaces, junctions, and other inhomogeneities, the bulk
band structure is disrupted. Not only are there local small-scale disruptions (e.g., surface states or
dopant states inside the band gap), but also local charge imbalances. These charge imbalances
have electrostatic effects that extend deeply into semiconductors, insulators, and the vacuum (see
doping, band bending).
 Along the same lines, most electronic effects (capacitance, electrical conductance, electric-field
screening) involve the physics of electrons passing through surfaces and/or near interfaces. The
full description of these effects, in a band structure picture, requires at least a rudimentary model
of electron-electron interactions (see space charge, band bending).
 Small systems: For systems which are small along every dimension (e.g., a small molecule or a
quantum dot), there is no continuous band structure. The crossover between small and large
dimensions is the realm of mesoscopic physics.
 Strongly correlated materials (for example, Mott insulators) simply cannot be understood in terms
of single-electron states. The electronic band structures of these materials are poorly defined (or
at least, not uniquely defined) and may not provide useful information about their physical state.

ANTENNA MEASUREMENTS
 we want to measure many of the fundamental parameters listed on the Antenna Basics page. The most
common and desired measurements are an antenna's radiation pattern including antenna gain and
efficiency, the impedance or VSWR, the bandwidth, and the polarization.

The procedures and equipment used in antenna measurements are described in the following sections:

1. Required Equipment and Ranges

In this first section on Antenna Measurements, we look at the required equipment and types of "antenna
ranges" used in modern antenna measurement systems.

2. Radiaton Pattern and Gain Measurements

The second antenna measurements section discusses how to perform the most fundamental antenna
measurement - determining an antenna's radiation pattern and extracting the antenna gain.

3. Phase Measurements

The third antenna measurements section focuses on determining phase information from an antenna's
radiation pattern. The phase is more important in terms of 'relative phase' (phase relative to other
positions on the radiation pattern), not 'absolute phase'.

4. Polarization Measurements

The fourth antenna measurements section discusses techniques for determining the polarization of the
antenna under test. These techniques are used to classify an antenna as linearly, circularly or elliptically
polarized.

5. Impedance Measurements

The fifth antenna measurement section illustrates how to determine an antenna's impedance as a function
of frequency. Here the focus is on the use of a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA).

6. Scale Model Measurements

 The sixth antenna measurement section explains the useful concept of scale model measurements. This
page illustrates how to obtain measurements when the physical size of the desired test is too large (or
possibly, too small).

7. SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) Measurements

The final antenna measurement section illustrates the new field of SAR measurements and explains what
SAR is. These measurements are critical in consumer electronics as antenna design consistently needs
altered (or even degraded) in order to meet FCC SAR requirements.

Required Equipment in Antenna Measurements

For antenna test equipment, we will attempt to illuminate the test antenna (often called an Antenna-
Under-Test) with a plane wave. This will be approximated by using a source (transmitting) antenna with
known radiation pattern and characteristics, in such a way that the fields incident upon the test antenna
are approximately plane waves. More will be discussed about this in the next section. The required
equipment for antenna measurements include:

 A source antenna and transmitter - This antenna will have a known pattern that can be used to illuminate
the test antenna
 A receiver system - This determines how much power is received by the test antenna
 A positioning system - This system is used to rotate the test antenna relative to the source antenna, to
measure the radiation pattern as a function of angle.

A block diagram of the above equipment is shown in Figure 1.

These components will be briefly discussed. The Source Antenna should of course radiate well at the
desired test frequency. It must have the desired polarization and a suitable beamwidth for the given
antenna test range. Source antennas are often horn antennas, or a dipole antenna with a parabolic
reflector.

The Transmitting System should be capable of outputing a stable known power. The output frequency
should also be tunable (selectable), and reasonably stable (stable means that the frequency you get from
the transmitter is close to the frequency you want).

The Receiving System simply needs to determine how much power is received from the test antenna.
This can be done via a simple bolometer, which is a device for measuring the energy of incident
electromagnetic waves. The receiving system can be more complex, with high quality amplifiers for low
power measurements and more accurate detection devices.

The Positioning System controls the orientation of the test antenna. Since we want to measure the
radiation pattern of the test antenna as a function of angle (typically in spherical coordinates), we need to
rotate the test antenna so that the source antenna illuminates the test antenna from different angles. The
positioning system is used for this purpose.

Once we have all the equipment we need (and an antenna we want to test), we'll need to place the
equipment and perform the test in an antenna range, the subject of the next section.

The first thing we need to do an antenna measurement is a place to perform the measurement. Maybe you
would like to do this in your garage, but the reflections from the walls, ceilings and floor would make
your measurements inaccurate. The ideal location to perform antenna measurements is somewhere in
outer space, where no reflections can occur. However, because space travel is currently prohibitively
expensive, we will focus on measurement places that are on the surface of the Earth. There are two main
types of ranges, Free Space Ranges and Reflection Ranges. Reflection ranges are designed such that
reflections add together in the test region to support a roughly planar wave. We will focus on the more
common free space ranges.

Free Space Ranges

Free space ranges are antenna measurement locations designed to simulate measurements that would be
performed in space. That is, all reflected waves from nearby objects and the ground (which are
undesirable) are suppressed as much as possible. The most popular free space ranges are anechoic
chambers, elevated ranges, and the compact range.

Elevated Ranges

Elevated Ranges are outdoor ranges. In this setup, the source and antenna under test are mounted above
the ground. These antennas can be on mountains, towers, buildings, or wherever one finds that is suitable.
This is often done for very large antennas or at low frequencies (VHF and below, <100 MHz) where
indoor measurements would be intractable. The basic diagram of an elevated range is shown in Figure 2.

The source antenna is not necessarily at a higher elevation than the test antenna, I just showed it that way
here. The line of sight (LOS) between the two antennas (illustrated by the black ray in Figure 2) must be
unobstructed. All other reflections (such as the red ray reflected from the ground) are undesirable. For
elevated ranges, once a source and test antenna location are determined, the test operators then determine
where the significant reflections will occur, and attempt to minimize the reflections from these surfaces.
Often rf absorbing material is used for this purpose, or other material that deflects the rays away from the
test antenna.

Compact Ranges

The source antenna must be placed in the far field of the test antenna. The reason is that the wave
received by the test antenna should be a plane wave for maximum accuracy. Since antennas radiate
spherical waves, the antenna needs to be sufficiently far such that the wave radiated from the source
antenna is approximately a plane wave

However, for indoor chambers there is often not enough separation to achieve this. One method to fix this
problem is via a compact range. In this method, a source antenna is oriented towards a reflector, whose
shape is designed to reflect the spherical wave in an approximately planar manner. This is very similar to
the principle upon which a dish antenna operates.

the spherical waves from the source antenna are reflected to be planar (collimated).The length of the
parabolic reflector is typically desired to be several times as large as the test antenna. The source antenna
in Figure 4 is offset from the reflector so that it is not in the way of the reflected rays. Care must also be
exercised in order to keep any direct radiation (mutual coupling) from the source antenna to the test
antenna.
we have our measurement equipment and an antenna range, we can perform some antenna measurements.
We will use the source antenna to illuminate the antenna under test with a plane wave from a specific
direction. The polarization and antenna gain (for the fields radiated toward the test antenna) of the source
antenna should be known.

Due to reciprocity, the radiation pattern from the test antenna is the same for both the receive and transmit
modes. Consequently, we can measure the radiation pattern in the receive or transmit mode for the test
antenna. We will describe the receive case for the antenna under test.

The test antenna is rotated using the test antenna's positioning system. The received power is recorded at
each position. In this manner, the magnitude of the radiation pattern of the test antenna can be
determined. We will discuss phase measurements and polarization measurements later.

The coordinate system of choice for the radiation pattern is spherical coordinates.

Measurement Example

An example should make the process reasonably clear. Suppose the radiation pattern of a microstrip
antenna is to be obtained. As is usual, lets let the direction the patch faces ('normal' to the surface of the
patch) be towards the z-axis. Suppose the source antenna illuminates the test antenna from +y-direction.

the received power for this case represents the power from the angle: . We record
this power, change the position and record again. Recall that we only rotate the test antenna, hence it is at
 the same distance from the source antenna. The source power again comes from the same direction.
Suppose we want to measure the radiation pattern normal to the patch's surface (straight above the patch).

the positioning system rotating the antenna such that it faces the source of illunation. In this case, the

received power comes from direction . So by rotating the antenna, we can obtain "cuts"
of the radiation pattern - for instance the E-plane cut or the H-plane cut. A "great circle" cut is when =0

and is allowed to vary from 0 to 360 degrees. Another common radiation pattern cut (a cut is a 2d

'slice' of a 3d radiation pattern) is when is fixed and varies from 0 to 180 degrees. By measuring the
radiation pattern along certain slices or cuts, the 3d radiation pattern can be determined.

It must be stressed that the resulting radiation pattern is correct for a given polarization of the source
antenna. For instance, if the source is horizontally polarized (see polarization of plane waves), and the test
antenna is vertically polarized, the resulting radiation pattern will be zero everywhere. Hence, the
radiation patterns are sometimes classified as H-pol (horizontal polarization) or V-pol (vertical
polarization). See also cross-polarization.

In addition, the radiation pattern is a function of frequency. As a result, the measured radiation pattern is
only valid at the frequency the source antenna is transmitting at. To obtain broadband measurements, the
frequency transmitted must be varied to obtain this information.

On the previous page on measuring radiation patterns, we saw how the radiation pattern of an antenna can be
measured. This is actually the "relative" radiation pattern, in that we don't know what the peak value of the
gain actually is (we're just measuring the received power, so in a sense can figure out how directive an
antenna is and the shape of the radiation pattern). In this page, we will focus on measuring the peak gain of
an antenna - this information tells us how much power we can hope to receive from a given plane wave.

We can measure the peak gain using the Friis Transmission Equation and a "gain standard" antenna. A
gain standard antenna is a test antenna with an accurately known gain and polarization (typically linear).
The most popular types of gain standard antennas are the thin half-wave dipole antenna (peak gain of 2.15
dB) and the pyramidal horn antenna (where the peak gain can be accurately calculated and is typically in
the range of 15-25 dB). Consider the test setup shown in Figure 1. In this scenario, a gain standard
antenna is used in the place of the test antenna, with the source antenna transmitting a fixed amount of
power (PT). The gains of both of these antennas are accurately known.

From the Friis transmission equation, we know that the power received (PR) is given by:

If we replace the gain standard antenna with our test antenna (as shown in Figure 2), then the only thing
that changes in the above equation is GR - the gain of the receive antenna. The separation between the
source and test antennas is fixed, and the frequency will be held constant as well.

Figure 2. Record the received power with the test antenna (same source antenna).

Let the received power from the test antenna be PR2. If the gain of the test antenna is higher than the gain
of the "gain standard" antenna, then the received power will increase. Using our measurements, we can
easily calculate the gain of the test antenna. Let Gg be the gain of the "gain standard" antenna, PR be the
power received with the gain antenna under test, and PR2 be the power received with the test antenna.
Then the gain of the test antenna (GT) is (in linear units):

The above equation uses linear units (non-dB). If the gain is to be specified in decibels, (power received
still in Watts), then the equation becomes:

And that is all that needs done to determine the gain for an antenna in a particular direction.

Efficiency and Directivity

Recall that the directivity can be calculated from the measured radiation pattern without regard to what
the gain is. Typically this can be performed by approximated the integral as a finite sum, which is pretty
simple.

Recall that the efficiency of an antenna is simply the ratio of the peak gain to the peak directivity:

Hence, once we have measured the radiation pattern and the gain, the efficiency follows directly from
these.

In the next section, we'll look at measuring the phase of an antenna's radiation pattern.

Fundamental to an antenna's radiation pattern is its polarization. On this page, we'll discuss methods and
techniques for measuring the polarization of an antenna. Note that the polarization varies depending on
the direction of radiation from an antenna. For instance, a circularly polarized antenna may be
approximately circular only over a narrow beamwidth, and linearly polarized away from the antenna's
main beam (this is often the case for circularly polarized patch antennas).

To perform the measurement, we will use our test antenna as the source. Then we will use a linearly
polarized antenna (typically a half-wave dipole antenna) as the receive antenna. The linearly polarized
receive antenna will be rotated, and the received power recorded as a function of the angle of the receive
antenna. In this manner, we can gain information on the polarization of the test antenna. This received
information only applies to the polarization of the test antenna for the direction in which the power is
received. For a complete description of the polarization of the test antenna, the test antenna must be
rotated so that the polarization can be determined for each direction of interest.

The basic setup for polarization measurements is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Basic setup for antenna polarization measurements.

The power is recorded for the a fixed position (orientation) of the receive antenna, then it is rotated about
the x-axis as shown in Figure 1, and the power is recorded again. This is done for a complete rotation of
the linearly polarized receive antenna.

From this information, a lot can be determined about the polarization of the test antenna. Lets look at a
couple of cases. Suppose that the test antenna is vertically linearly polarized, and that the receive antenna
is also vertically linearly polarized, and that the rotation angle zero has both antennas polarization
matched. Then the output of our experiment, as a function of the rotation angle of the receive antenna,
would look something like the graph shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Output of Measurement when the Test Antenna is Linearly Polarized. Left: Rectangular Plot.
Right. Polar Plot.

The plots in Figure 2 give two views of the output. The left side gives an x-y plot of the output. The right
side gives a polar plot, which may be helpful in visualizing the results. Note that the result is periodic -
when the receive antenna is rotated 180 degrees, it is again vertically polarized so that the received power
is identical.

Suppose now that the test antenna was horizontally polarized - again linearly polarized, but initially not
polarization matched to the receive antenna. Then the resulting received power plots would resemble that
shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Output measurement of Linearly Polarized Test Antenna (Horizontal Pol).

In this case, we see that the shape of the resulting measurements are the same, but that the peaks of the
received power occur for different angles. As a result, we know that when the test antenna is linearly
polarized, the received power will resemble the shapes shown in Figures 2 and 3, and by determining the
angle in which the received power is at a peak, we can determine the angle of the linear polarization.

Suppose now that the test antenna was radiating a RHCP (Right Hand Circularly Polarized) wave. If the
test antenna was subject to the same measurement as above, the normalized (make the peak output power
equal to one for simplicity) output power would resemble that of Figure 4.
Figure 4. Output of Measurement when the Test Antenna is Circularly Polarized.

Because a circularly polarized wave has equal amplitude components in two orthogonal directions, the
received power is constant for a rotated linearly polarized antenna (incidentally, this is a feature of
circular polarization that makes it attractive - you don't have to worry about getting the orientation right).
Note also that the received power is the same whether or not the test antenna is left hand (LHCP) or right
hand (RHCP). As a result, this method can determine the type of polarization, but can not determine the
sense of rotation for the polarization. We will need another measurement to determine this, which is
discussed later.

For a radio (transmitter or receiver) to deliver power to an antenna, the impedance of the radio and
transmission line must be well matched to the antenna's impedance. The parameter VSWR is a measure
that numerically describes how well the antenna is impedance matched to the radio or transmission line it
is connected to.

VSWR stands for Voltage Standing Wave Ratio, and is also referred to as Standing Wave Ratio (SWR).
VSWR is a function of the reflection coefficient, which describes the power reflected from the antenna. If
the reflection coefficient is given by , then the VSWR is defined by the following formula:
The reflection coefficient is also known as s11 or return loss. See the vswr table below to see a numerical
mapping between reflected power, s11 and VSWR. If you don't want to go through complicated equations
to understand the relationship between VSWR, mismatch loss, s11/gamma and would like a calculator to
do it for you, check out our VSWR calculator page and we'll do the VSWR conversion for you.

The VSWR is always a real and positive number for antennas. The smaller the VSWR is, the better the
antenna is matched to the transmission line and the more power is delivered to the antenna. The minimum
VSWR is 1.0. In this case, no power is reflected from the antenna, which is ideal.

Often antennas must satisfy a bandwidth requirement that is given in terms of VSWR. For instance, an
antenna might claim to operate from 100-200 MHz with VSWR<3. This implies that the VSWR is less
than 3.0 over the specified frequency range. This VSWR specifications also imples that the reflection
coefficient is less than 0.5 (i.e., <0.5) over the quoted frequency range.

Physical Meaning of VSWR

VSWR is determined from the voltage measured along a transmission line leading to an antenna. VSWR
is the ratio of the peak amplitude of a standing wave to the minimum amplitude of a standing wave, as
seen in the following Figure:
Figure 1. Voltage Measured Along a Transmission Line.

In industry, VSWR is sometimes pronounced "viz-wer".

When an antenna is not matched to the receiver, power is reflected (so that the reflection coefficient, ,
is not zero). This causes a "reflected voltage wave", which creates standing waves along the transmission
line. The result are the peaks and valleys as seen in Figure 1. If the VSWR = 1.0, there would be no
reflected power and the voltage would have a constant magnitude along the transmission line.

VSWR, Reflected Power, and s11

Is a VSWR of 3 bad? How bad is a VSWR of 12? Well, there are no hard rules. In this section, we'll try to
put the VSWR number in context. Below is a table showing the relationship between VSWR, total
reflected power, and (also known as s11), and total reflected power. Note that the reflected power is
simply the reflection coefficient ( ) squared. Note that VSWR is a highly non-linear function of the
reflection coefficient . That is, there is very little difference in reflected power when the VSWR
increases from 9 to 10; however there is an 11% change in reflected power when the VSWR changes
from 1 to 2.

In general, if the VSWR is under 2 the antenna match is considered very good and little would be gained
by impedance matching. As the VSWR increases, there are 2 main negatives. The first is obvious: more
power is reflected from the antenna and therefore not transmitted. However, another problem arises. As
VSWR increases, more power is reflected to the radio, which is transmitting. Large amounts of reflected
power can damage the radio. In addition, radios have trouble transmitting the correct information bits
when the antenna is poorly matched (this is numerically defined in terms of another metric, EVM - Error
Vector Magnitude).