TCL 3205: Antenna Engineering

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING HONOURS

DEGREE IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERING
 REFERENCE TEXTS

 John D Kraus, Ronald J Marhefka, Ahmed S Khan “Antenna and wave

propagation” 4th Edition 2010
 Constantine Balanis. A, “Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design”, 3rd
Edition, John Wiley and Sons, 2012.
 Abdollah Ghasemi, Ali Abedi, Farshid Ghasemi, “Propagation
Engineering in a Radio Links Design”, Springer Science + Business
media, New York, 2013.
 Stutzman, Warren L, Gary A.Thiele, “Antenna theory and design”, 3rd
Edition, John Wiley and Sons 2012
 Ghasemi, A., Abedi, A. and Ghasemi, F., 2013. Propagation engineering
in radio links design. Springer Science & Business Media.
 Prasad, K.D. and Handa, D., 2003. Antenna and wave propagation.
Satya Prakashan.
Brief Course Outline
Antenna Fundamentals

Antenna Arrays

Antenna types and applications

Antenna Measurements

Wave propagation
 Assessment Scheme
Course nature   Theory  

Assessment Method (Weightage 100%)    

Assessment Test I Test II Test III Assignment

tool I Assignment
Total
Unit I&II Unit Unit I to II
In-semester III&IV IV
Weightage 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 25%

 Final Exam End of Semester Examination Weightage : 75%

Antennas in Wireless Communication
 Antenna Fundamentals- Unit I
 Basic antenna parameters
 Basic Antenna parameters, Antenna field zones
 Antenna Reciprocity Theorem
 Friis transmission equation
 Radiation: Retarded potential
 Far Field due to an alternating current element, Power Radiated by a current element
 Far field due to sinusoidal current distribution for half wave dipole and Quarter wave monopole
 Introduction
A brief overview of contemporary antenna types used
 cellular,
 communication links
 satellite communication
 radar,
 other microwave and
 millimeter wave systems

Microwave is presumed to cover the frequency spectrum from 800 MHz to 94 GHz
 Types of antennas
Loop Antenna Log periodic antenna Horn antenna

Helical Antenna

Dipole Antenna
Patch antenna
Half wave dipole antenna

Monopole Antenna
 Antenna fundamentals contn’d
Antenna- fundamentally a device that translates guided wave energy into radiating energy
Electromagnetic radiation- is the emission of energy from a device in the form of electromagnetic waves
Radiation pattern- is a graphical or mathematical description of the radiation properties of an antenna as a
function of space coordinates. The standard (r, ) spherical coordinate system is typically used
Directivity (D) - Directivity of an antenna is the ratio of radiation density in the direction of maximum
radiation to the radiation density averaged over all the directions
D= =
Directivity is proportional to the Effective Aperture Area of Antenna
Gain= - where η is Efficiency of Antenna
Effective Area-
2D - Antenna Radiation Pattern
 Antenna Radiation Pattern

An isotropic radiator is defined as “a hypothetical

lossless antenna having equal radiation in all directions.”
Omnidirectional- “having an
essentially nondirectional pattern
in a given plane (in this case in
azimuth) and a directional
pattern in any orthogonal plane
(in this
case in elevation).” ii

Directional Antenna- having

the property of radiating or
receiving electromagnetic
waves more effectively in some
directions than in others
An omnidirectional antenna is class of antenna which radiates equal radio
power in all directions perpendicular to an axis(azimuthal directions), with
power varying with angle to the axis(elevation angle), declining to zero on
the axis Note that this is different from an isotropic antenna, which
radiates equal power in all directions, having a spherical radiation
pattern. Omnidirectional antennas oriented vertically are widely used
for nondirectional antennas on the surface of the Earth because they
radiate equally in all horizontal directions, while the power radiated
drops off with elevation angle so little radio energy is aimed into the
sky or down toward the earth and wasted. Omnidirectional antennas
are widely used for radio broadcasting antennas, and in mobile
devices that use radio such as cell phones, FM radios, walkie-talkies, 
wireless computer networks, cordless phones, GPS, as well as for
base stations that communicate with mobile radios, such as police
and taxi dispatchers and aircraft communications.
 FIELD REGIONS / ZONES
Reactive Near-field Region,
that portion of the near-field region immediately surrounding the antenna wherein
the reactive field predominates.” For most antennas, the outer
boundary of this region is commonly taken to exist at a distance
from the antenna surface, where λ is the wavelength and D is the largest
dimension of the antenna

Fresnel- Radiating Near Field

that region of the field of an antenna between the reactive near-field region and
the far-field region wherein radiation fields predominate and wherein the
angular field distribution is dependent upon the distance from the antenna.
Distance from the antenna R is

Fraunhofer- Far Field Region

region of the field of an antenna where the angular field distribution is essentially
independent of the distance from the antenna
Antenna Amplitude changes
 Antenna fundamentals contn’d
Beamwidth - the angular separation between two identical points on opposite side of
the pattern maximum
Half-Power Beamwidth (HPBW)- the plane containing the direction of the maximum of a
beam, the angle between the two directions in which the radiation intensity is one-
half value of the beam.
First-Null Beamwidth (FNBW)- the angular separation between the first nulls of the pattern
 Antenna fundamentals contn’d
Bandwidth - the range of frequencies within which the performance of the antenna, with
respect to some characteristic, conforms to a specified standard

Antenna Polarization- Polarization of a radiated wave is defined as “that property of an electromagnetic

wave describing the time-varying direction and relative magnitude of the electric- field
vector; specifically, the figure traced as a function of time by the extremity of the vector at a fixed
location in space, and the sense in which it is traced, as observed along the direction of propagation.”
 Antenna fundamentals contn’d
Antenna Polarization- Polarization of a radiated wave is defined as “that property of an electromagnetic
wave describing the time-varying direction and relative magnitude of the electric- field
vector; specifically, the figure traced as a function of time by the extremity of the vector at a fixed
location in space, and the sense in which it is traced, as observed along the direction of propagation.”

𝑬=𝒂𝜽 𝑬 𝜽 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝝎 𝒕+𝒂 𝝓 𝑬 𝝓 𝒄𝒐𝒔 (𝝎 𝒕+𝜶)

Case 1: Wave is Linearly Polarized

Case 2: Wave is Circularly Polarized

Case 3: Wave is Elliptically Polarized

• The polarization of an antenna is loosely defined as the direction of the
electromagnetic fields produced by the antenna as energy radiates away
from it. These directional fields determine the direction in which the energy
moves away from or is received by an antenna
• It is defined as the orientation of the electric field vector of the radiated
electromagnetic wave by the antenna with a negligible amount of losses.
Input Impedance and VSWR of Antenna
 Link Budget- Friis transmission Equation

Power density Example 1- A GSM1800 cell tower antenna is

transmitting 20W of power in the frequency
range of 1840 to 1845MHz. The gain of the
antenna is 17dB.
Find the power density at a distance of (a) 50m
and (b) 300m in the
direction of maximum radiation.
Friis formula is valid for a received signal in the far
field
Solution- Example 1
Example
Two lossless X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz) horn antennas are separated
by 100λ. The reflection coefficients at the terminals of the
transmitting and receiving antennas are 0.1 and 0.2, respectively.
The maximum directivities of the transmitting and receiving
antennas (over isotropic) are 16 dB and 20 dB, respectively. If the
input power in the lossless transmission line connected to the
transmitting antenna is 2W, and the antennas are aligned for
maximum radiation between them and are polarization-matched,
find the power delivered to the load of the receiver.
Coordinate system for radiation
pattern measurement.
 Antenna Arrays
Arrays of Two Isotropic Sources
 Principles of Pattern Multiplication
 Linear Array of N Elements with Uniform Amplitude
 Broadside
 Ordinary Endfire
Two Same Dipoles and Pattern Multiplication
PATTERN MULTIPLICATION