Antennas

Theory, characteristics,
and implementations

Chris Allen (callen@eecs.ku.edu)

Course website URL

people.eecs.ku.edu/~callen/823/EECS823.htm
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 Topics
Role of antennas
Theory
Antenna types
Characteristics
– Radiation pattern – beamwidth, pattern solid angle
– Directivity, gain, effective area
– Bandwidth
Friis’ transmission formula
Implementations
– Dipole, monopole, and ground planes
– Horn
– Parabolic reflector
– Arrays
Terminology

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 The role of antennas
Antennas serve four primary functions
• Spatial filter
directionally-dependent sensitivity
• Polarization filter
polarization-dependent sensitivity
• Impedance transformer
transition between free space and transmission line
• Propagation mode adapter
from free-space fields to guided waves
(e.g., transmission line, waveguide)

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 Spatial filter
Antennas have the property of being more
sensitive in one direction than in another which
provides the ability to spatially filter signals from its
environment.

Directive antenna. Radiation pattern of directive antenna.

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 Polarization filter
Antennas have the property of being more
sensitive to one polarization than another which
provides the ability to filter signals based on its
polarization.
Dipole antenna Dipole antenna
   
V  hE V  hE
Incident  
E-field h  ẑ h Incident h  ẑ h
E-field
vector + +
_ V=0
 _ V = h E0 vector

E  ẑ E 0 E  ŷ E 0

z z
x x
y y

In this example, h is the antenna’s

effective height whose units are
expressed in meters.
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 Impedance transformer
Intrinsic impedance of free-space, E/H
0   0  0
 120 
 376.7 
Characteristic impedance of transmission line, V/I
A typical value for Z0 is 50 .

Clearly there is an impedance mismatch that must be

addressed by the antenna.

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 Propagation mode adapter
In free space the waves spherically expand
following Huygens principle:
each point of an advancing
wave front is in fact the
center of a fresh disturbance
and the source of a new train of waves.

Within the sensor, the waves are guided within a

transmission line or waveguide that restricts
propagation to one axis.

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 Propagation mode adapter
During both transmission and receive operations
the antenna must provide the transition between
these two propagation modes.

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 Antenna types
Antennas come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes

Helical antenna Horn antenna Parabolic reflector antenna

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 Theory
Antennas include wire and aperture types.
Wire types include dipoles, monopoles, loops,
rods, stubs, helicies, Yagi-Udas, spirals.
Aperture types include horns, reflectors, parabolic,
lenses.

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 Theory
In wire-type antennas the radiation characteristics
are determined by the current distribution which
produces the local magnetic field.

Yagi-Uda antenna
Helical antenna

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 Theory – wire antenna example

Some simplifying approximations can be made to take advantage the far-field conditions.

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Theory – wire antenna example
Once Eq and Ef are known, the radiation characteristics can be determined.
Defining the directional function f (q, f) from

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 Theory – aperture antennas
In aperture-type antennas the radiation
characteristics are determined by the field distribution
across the aperture.

Horn antenna Parabolic reflector antenna

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 Theory – aperture antenna example
The far-field radiation pattern can be found from the Fourier
transform of the near-field pattern.

Where Sr is the radial component of the

power density, S0 is the maximum value of
Sr, and Fn is the normalized version of the
radiation pattern F(q, f)
 4 
D0  0.77  
 x z  y z 
 
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 Theory
Reciprocity
If an emf is applied to the terminals of antenna A and the current
measured at the terminals of another antenna B, then an equal
current (both in amplitude and phase) will be obtained at the
terminals of antenna A if the same emf is applied to the terminals
of antenna B.

emf: electromotive force, i.e., voltage

Result – the radiation pattern of an antenna is the same regardless

of whether it is used to transmit or receive a signal.

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Characteristics
Radiation pattern
Radiation pattern – variation of the field intensity of an antenna as an
angular function with respect to the axis

Three-dimensional representation of the

radiation pattern of a dipole antenna

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Characteristics
Radiation pattern
Spherical coordinate system

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Characteristics
Radiation pattern

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Characteristics
Radiation pattern

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Characteristics
Radiation pattern

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Characteristics
Radiation pattern

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Characteristics
Radiation pattern

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 Characteristics
Beamwidth and beam solid angle
The beam or pattern solid angle, p [steradians or sr] is defined as

 p   Fn q, f d 
4
where d is the elemental solid angle given by d   sin q dq df

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Characteristics
Directivity, gain, effective area
Directivity – the ratio of the radiation intensity in a given direction from the
antenna to the radiation intensity averaged over all directions.

[unitless]

Maximum directivity, Do, found in the direction (q, f) where Fn= 1

and or

Given Do, D can be found

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Characteristics
Directivity, gain, effective area
Gain – ratio of the power at the input of a loss-free isotropic antenna to the
power supplied to the input of the given antenna to produce, in a given
direction, the same field strength at the same distance

Of the total power Pt supplied to the antenna, a part Po is radiated out into space
and the remainder Pl is dissipated as heat in the antenna structure. The
radiation efficiency l is defined as the ratio of Po to Pt
Po
l 
Pt
Therefore gain, G, is related to directivity, D, as
Gq , f   l Dq , f 

And maximum gain, Go, is related to maximum directivity, Do, as

Go  l Do

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 Characteristics
Directivity, gain, effective area
Effective area – the functional equivalent area from which an antenna
directed toward the source of the received signal gathers or absorbs the
energy of an incident electromagnetic wave

It can be shown that the maximum directivity Do of an antenna is related to an

effective area (or effective aperture) Aeff, by
4 4
D0  A   a Ap
 
2 eff 2

where Ap is the physical aperture of the antenna and a = Aeff / Ap is the

aperture efficiency (0 ≤ a ≤ 1)
Consequently
2 2
Aeff   [m2]
 p  xz  yz

For a rectangular aperture with dimensions lx and ly in the x- and y-axes, and
an aperture efficiency a = 1, we get

 xz   l x [rad]  yz   l y [rad]
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Characteristics
Directivity, gain, effective area
Therefore the maximum gain and the effective area can be used
interchangeably by assuming a value for the radiation efficiency (e.g., l = 1)

4
G0  l Aeff
 2

4 4
G0  Aeff 
2
xz  y z
2
Aeff  G0
4

Example: For a 30-cm x 10-cm aperture, f = 10 GHz ( = 3 cm)

xz  0.1 radian or 5.7°, yz  0.3 radian or 17.2°
G0  419 or 26 dBi
(dBi: dB relative to an isotropic radiator)

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Characteristics
Bandwidth
The antenna’s bandwidth is the range of operating
frequencies over which the antenna meets the operational
requirements, including:
– Spatial properties (radiation characteristics)
– Polarization properties
– Impedance properties
– Propagation mode properties
Most antenna technologies can support operation over a
frequency range that is 5 to 10% of the central frequency
(e.g., 100 MHz bandwidth at 2 GHz)
To achieve wideband operation requires specialized
antenna technologies
(e.g., Vivaldi, bowtie, spiral)

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 Friis’ transmission formula
At a fixed distance R from the transmitting antenna, the
power intercepted by the receiving antenna with effective
aperture Ar is
Pt
Pi  S r Ar  Gt Ar
4 R 2

where Sr is the received power density (W/m2), and Gt is

the peak gain of the transmitting antenna.

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 Friis’ transmission formula
If the radiation efficiency of the receiving antenna is r,
then the power received at the receiving antenna’s output
terminals is
Pt
Pr   r Pi  Gt  r Ar
4 R 2

Therefore we can write

2
Pr    At Ar
   Gt Gr  t  r 2 2
Pt  4  R   R

which is known as Friis’ transmission formula

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 Friis’ transmission formula
as Friis’ transmission formula can be rewritten to explicitly
represent the free-space transmission loss, LFS
 4 R 
2

LFS   
  
which represents the propagation loss experienced in
transmission between two lossless isotropic antennas.
With this definition, the Friis formula becomes

Pr Gt Gr

Pt LFS

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 Friis’ transmission formula
Finally, a general form of the Friis’ transmission formula
can be written that does not assume the antennas are
oriented to achieve maximum power transfer
2
Pr   
   Gt q t , ft Gr q r , fr 
Pt  4  R 

where (qt, ft) is the direction of the receiving antenna in

the transmitting antenna coordinates, and vice versa for
(qr, fr).

An additional term could be included to represent a

polarization mismatch between the transmit and receive
antennas.
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 Implementation
Dipole, monopole, and ground planes
Horns
Parabolic reflectors
Arrays

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Implementation
Dipole, monopole, and ground plane
For a center-fed, half-wave dipole oriented parallel to the z axis
  
cos  cos q 
j 60 I 0   2   e  jk r
Eq   (V/m)
r  sin q 
 
2
  
cos  cos q  
15 I 02  2 
Sr   (W/m2)
r2  sin q 
 

 
cos  cos q 
2

Fn q, f  Fn q  2 
Tuned half-wave
sin 2 q dipole antenna

D0  1.64  2.15 dB

q  78
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Dipole antennas

Versions of broadband dipole antennas

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Dipole antennas

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 Monopole antenna

q q
Ground
plane

Mirroring principle creates image Radition pattern of vertical monopole above

of monopole, transforming it into ground of (A) perfect and (B) average
a dipole conductivity

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 Ground plane
A ground plane will produce an image of nearby currents. The image
will have a phase shift of 180° with respect to the original current.
Therefore as the current element is placed close to the surface, the
induced image current will effectively cancel the radiating fields from
the current.
The ground plane may be any conducting surface including a metal
sheet, a water surface, or the ground (soil, pavement, rock).

Horizontal current
element
Conducting surface
(ground plane)
Current element
image

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Implementation
Horn antennas

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Implementation
Horn antennas

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Implementation
Parabolic reflector antennas
Circular aperture with uniform illumination. Aperture radius = a.
Ap =  a 2

E0 Ap  J 2  a q 
E q   j e  jk r 2 1  where q  sin q 
r  2a q 
 J 2  a q  
2

S r q   S 0 2 1  where S 0  S r 0 
E02 Ap2
 2aq  2  2 r 2

J1( ) is the Bessel function of the first kind, zero order

4  Ap
D0 
2


1 2 
2a

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Implementation
Antenna arrays
Antenna array composed of several similar radiating
elements (e.g., dipoles or horns).
Element spacing and the relative amplitudes and phases
of the element excitation determine the array’s radiative
properties.

Linear array examples

Two-dimensional array of
microstrip patch antennas

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Implementation
Antenna arrays
The far-field radiation characteristics Sr(q, f) of an N-element array
composed of identical radiating elements can be expressed as a product of
two functions:

S r q,f  Fa q,f Se q,f

Where Fa(q, f) is the array factor, and Se(q, f) is the power directional pattern
of an individual element.
This relationship is known as the pattern multiplication principle.
The array factor, Fa(q, f), is a range-dependent function and is therefore
determined by the array’s geometry.
2
N 1
 
Fa q, f   Ai e  jkr i

i 0
The elemental pattern, Se(q, f), depends on the range-independent far-field
radiation pattern of the individual element. (Element-to-element coupling is
ignored here.)

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Implementation
Antenna arrays
In the array factor, Ai is the feeding coefficient representing the
complex excitation of each individual element in terms of the
amplitude, ai, and the phase factor, i, as
j i
Ai  ai e
and ri is the range to the distant observation point.

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Implementation
Antenna arrays
For a linear array with equal spacing d between adjacent
elements, which approximates to

ri  R  i d cos q
For this case, the array factor becomes
2
N 1
Fa q, f  Fa q   i e
a e j i j i k d cos q

i 0

Note that the e-jkR term which is common to all of the

summation terms can be neglected as it evaluates to 1.

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Implementation
Antenna arrays
By adjusting the amplitude and phase of each
elements excitation, the beam characteristics can
be modified.

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Implementation
Antenna arrays

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Implementation
Antenna arrays

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Implementation
Example: 2-element array
Isotropic radiators

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Implementation
Example: 2-element array
Isotropic radiators

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Implementation
Example: 2-element array
Half-wave dipole radiators

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Implementation
Example: 2-element array
Half-wave dipole radiators

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Implementation
Example: 6-element array
Half-wave dipole radiators
grating lobes

d ≥  produces two grating lobes

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Antenna arrays
Beam steering effects
Inter-element separation affects linear array gain and
grating lobes
• The broadside array gain is approximately
2Nd
G array  G element , for N  ~ 5

where d is the inter-element spacing and N is the
number of elements in the linear array

• To avoid grating lobes, the maximum inter-element

spacing varies with beam steering angle or look angle, q,
as 
d max 
1  sin q

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Antenna arrays
Beamwidth and gain
An 2-D planar array with uniform spacing, N x M elements
in the two dimensions with inter-element spacing of /2
provides a broadside array gain of approximately
G array  N  M  G element , for N, M  5

The beamwidth of a steered beam from a uniform

N-element array is approximately (for N > ~5)
0.866  b
  , radians  for 0  q  180
sin q N d
where b is the window function broadening factor
(b = 1 for uniform window function) and
d is the inter-element spacing
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 Conclusions
Antennas play an important role in microwave
remote sensing systems.
There are both art and science aspects to antennas.
Antenna arrays enable the radiation characteristics
to be changed electronically (i.e., very rapidly)
unlike conventional mechanically-steered
antennas.
Digital beamforming (dedicated transmit or receive
electronics for each element) enable
simultaneous realization of multiple antenna
beams and/or multiple independent signals.

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 Terminology
Antenna – structure or device used to collect or radiate electromagnetic waves
Array – assembly of antenna elements with dimensions, spacing, and illumination sequency such that the
fields of the individual elements combine to produce a maximum intensity in a particular direction and
minimum intensities in other directions
Beamwidth – the angle between the half-power (3-dB) points of the main lobe, when referenced to the peak
effective radiated power of the main lobe
Directivity – the ratio of the radiation intensity in a given direction from the antenna to the radiation intensity
averaged over all directions
Effective area – the functional equivalent area from which an antenna directed toward the source of the
received signal gathers or absorbs the energy of an incident electromagnetic wave
Efficiency – ratio of the total radiated power to the total input power
Far field – region where wavefront is considered planar
Gain – ratio of the power at the input of a loss-free isotropic antenna to the power supplied to the input of the
given antenna to produce, in a given direction, the same field strength at the same distance
Isotropic – radiates equally in all directions
Main lobe – the lobe containing the maximum power
Null – a zone in which the effective radiated power is at a minimum relative to the maximum effective
radiation power of the main lobe
Radiation pattern – variation of the field intensity of an antenna as an angular function with respect to the
axis
Radiation resistance – resistance that, if inserted in place of the antenna, would consume that same amount
of power that is radiated by the antenna
Side lobe – a lobe in any direction other than the main lobe

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