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Analysis and Design Pyramidal Horn Antenna in X-Band

Conference Paper · February 2020

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 International Conference on Communication, Electrical and Computer Networks (ICCECN 2020)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1 – 2 February 2020

Analysis and Design Pyramidal Horn Antenna in

X-Band
Fadhil Mukhlif1,*

1Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

*Corresponding Author: fadhil.researcher@gmail.com

Abstract: In this paper I have analyzed and designed a
pyramidal horn antenna in X-band. The designed
frequency is chosen to be 9 GHz at which the horn
antenna is designed. After calculation the various
parameters such as [a1, b1, ρe, ρh, Pe, Ph, ψe and ψh], for
certain waveguide feeder which chosen to be WR-90
(2.286, 1.016) cm and Gain 15 dB, I have got the S11 and the
radiation pattern. These results are obtained by using
Matlab and CST software.
Keywords: Pyramidal Horn antenna, E-sectored plane,
radiation pattern, First null beamwidth FNBW, Half power
beamwidth HPBW.
used in other different areas such as satellite tracking
systems, reflectors feeding and radars [2, 3].
2 THEORETICAL CONSIDERATION:
The only practical way to increase the directivity of
a waveguide is to flare out its ends into a horn. Fig.1
shows three types of horns: The H-plane sectoral horn in
which the long side of the waveguide (the a-side) is
flared, the E-plane sectoral horn in which the short side
is flared, and the pyramidal horn in which both sides are
flared.

1 INTRODUCTION
One of the simplest and probably the most widely
used microwave antenna is the horn. Its existence and Figure 1: H-Plane, E-Plane and Pyramidal Horns geometry
early use dates back to the late 1800s. Although
neglected somewhat in the early 1900s, its revival The pyramidal horn is the most widely used antenna
beginning the late 1930s from the interest in microwaves for feeding large microwave dish antennas and for
and waveguide transmission lines during the period of calibrating them. The sectoral horns may be considered
World War II. The horn is widely used as a feed element as special limits of the pyramidal horn. We will discuss
for large radio astronomy, satellite tracking, and only the pyramidal case.
communication dishes found installed throughout the
world. In addition to its utility as a feed for reflectors and
lenses, it is a common element of phased arrays and
serves as a universal standard for calibration and gain
measurements of other high gain antennas. Its
widespread applicability stems from its simplicity in
construction, ease of excitation, versatility, large gain,
and preferred overall performance [1].
Owing to the special features of broadband DRH
antennas such as high gain and directivity performance,
low VSWR and acceptable half-power beam-width over
the entire frequency band, they are one of the
appropriate choices for EMC and standard antenna Figure 2: E-plane view
measurements. Moreover, features such as easy
excitation, relatively simple construction and high peak
power handling capability make these antennas widely

1
 GE GH
D p  10 log10
10.1859
50 50 (13)
e  h 

3 CALCULATIONS
By specifying the desired gain which is 15 dB and
the waveguide feeder WR-90 (2.286, 1.016) cm at 9
GHz, we obtain the whole results regard the Pyramidal
Figure 3: H-Plane view
horn by using MATLAB:
Table 1: Results obtained by MATLAB

By considering this type of horn antenna we can list the Parameters Value
equations we would use it to calculate the various
parameters: Χ 1.8301

Ρe 6.100486 cm

(1) Ρh 7.342661 cm

a1 8.568933 cm
G0
 trial  (2)
2 2 b1 6.377296 cm

Pe 4.372244 cm
Ρe = χ.λ (3)
Ph 4.372244 cm

(4) A 12.24749

B 9.9999
(5)
Ψe 31.512701 Deg.

(6) Ψh 35.697321 Deg.

Ge 101.85916
1
 2  2 Gh 124.7519
 
 
PE  b1  b  e
b
  1
 4
(7)
 1   Dp 16.998 dB

1 4 SIMULATION RESULTS
 2  2
 
PH  a1  a  h
1
   (8) After employing the whole results obtained in
 a1  4
   previous section, we draw the pyramidal horn just like
fig. 4.
a 50
A 1 (9)
 h 

b 50
B 1 (10)
 e 

(11)

(12) Figure 4: Pyramidal horn

2
 Results obtained from CST: shown the main lobe
direction toward zero degree.

Table 2: Results obtained by CST

Parameters Value

S11 -22.8 dB

Resonant frequency 8.478 GHz

Gain 14.47 dB

Figure 5: Reflection coefficient response Directivity 14.49 dBi

Main lobe
3.1 dBW/m2
magnitude

Main lobe direction 0 deg.

Angular width (3dB) 33.8 deg.

FNBW 180 deg.

Side lobe level -19.6 dB

Horns have very little loss, so the directivity of a

horn is roughly equal to its gain.[1] The gain G of a
pyramidal horn antenna (the ratio of the radiated power
intensity along its beam axis to the intensity of an
isotropic antenna with the same input power) is:[4]
Figure 6: Radiation pattern distribution

The gain of the horn is 14.47 dB in the +Z direction

Where;

A is the area of the aperture, λ is the wavelength,

eA is a dimensionless parameter called the aperture
efficiency,
The aperture efficiency ranges from 0.4 to 0.8 in
practical horn antennas. For optimum pyramidal horns,
eA = 0.511.while for optimum conical horns eA =
0.522. [3] So an approximate figure of 0.5 is often
used. The aperture efficiency increases with the length
of the horn, and for aperture-limited horns is
approximately unity. And according to power pattern in
polar shown the FNBE equal to 180 deg. and the
HPBW equal to 33 deg. with minimum side lobe level.

Figure 7: Power pattern

3
 5 BANDWIDTH CALCULATION
As the Pyramidal horn works in the X band segment
which it has the limitation in radar engineering for
example, the frequency range is specified by the IEEE at
8.0 to 12.0 GHz. The designed pyramidal horn covers
the whole X-band because bandwidth is referring to the
difference between upper and lower cut-off frequency at
-10 dB because the transmitted power is assumed to be
90% of the received power.
REFERENCES
[1] F. M. Aswad, M. Z. Abidin, A. Aziz, and Y. H. Ho,
"Design of rectangular microstrip patch antenna with two
enhancements (bandwidth and gain)," Australian Journal of
Basic and Applied Sciences (AJBAS), vol. 9, pp. 166-170,
2015.
[2] Constantine A. Balanis, 3rd edition ‘Antenna Theory
Analysis and Design’

[3] M. Abbas-Azimi, F. Arazm and R. Faraji-Dana ‘Design and

optimisation of a high-frequency EMC wideband horn antenna’,
IET Microwave Antennas Propag., 2007
6 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
[4] Tasuku, Teshirogi; Tsukasa Yoneyama (2001). Modern
 Simulation results show us the convergence millimeter-wave technologies. USA: IOS Press. pp. 87–89.
among the results obtained from matlab and CST ISBN 1586030981.
simulation tool. [5] Crawford, A.B.; D. C. Hogg, and L. E. Hunt (July 1961).
"Project Echo: A Horn Antenna for Space Communication".
 The main lobe oriented towards zero deg with
Bell System Technical Journal (USA) 40: 1095–1099. cited in
maximum beam width and highest directivity and Meeks 1976, p.13
gain as will.
 Horn antenna is a perfect antenna in term of high
gain and directivity; in other word it could be
assumed as a standard reference to the rest of
antennas and suitable tool to measure the gain for
different kinds of antennas.
 In term of cost horn antenna is easy to fabricate
that is pushing down the cost.
 From the polar diagram there a main lobe directed
toward zero deg. and back lobe in reverse
direction.

 In term of return loss, the pyramidal produce -22.8

dB return loss at 8.478 GHz showing broadband
bandwidth which cover the whole x-band.

 Slightly difference between the gain and the

directivity referring to the minimum loss in horn
antennas.

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