Introduction to Antenna and
its Fundamental Parameters
Mr. Aniket Prabhakar Joshi
Department of Electronics &
Telecommunication
Government College of Engineering, Karad
Factors responsible for
radiation
Time varying current OR
Acceleration or deceleration of charges
are capable for giving radiation
So there is a possibility of radiation
Spatial Imbalance between two
conductors
As frequency increases we should get
more radiation
So radiation phenomenon is a high
frequency phenomenon
Its 2xT/4
Again its T/2
i.e. T/2
only
Fundamental Parameters
Radiation Pattern:
Basic Types - Field Pattern, Power Pattern
Special Types - Isotropic, Omnidirectional, Directional
Radiation Power Density (Wrad)
Radiation Intensity (Urad)
Beamwidth – HPBW, FNBW
Directivity(D)
Antenna Efficiency(e0)-Total efficiency, Radiation Efficiency
Gain(G)
Beam Efficiency (B.E.)
Polarization (Linear, Circular, Elliptical)
Bandwidth
Input Impedance, Radiation Resistance
Vector Effective Length
Effective Area
Friis Transmission Equation- Radio communication link
Isotropic pattern
Hypothetical (not physically
realizable)concept
Imaginary, Assumed Reference antenna
Radiates equally in all directions
Example: Point source, Sun
Directional pattern
Maximum intensity in certain desired
direction
Example: Horn, Reflector
Omnidirectional pattern
Like Apple Cut
Inverted 8 shape
Directional in one plane (e.g. elevation plane) and
non directional in orthogonal plane (e.g. azimuth
plane)
Example: dipole, monopole
Radiation Power Density(Wrad)
Energy and Power are associated with
EM fields
Quantity used to describe the power
associated with an EM wave is
Instantaneous Poynting Vector
Poynting Vector is a power density
(W/m2)
Total power crossing a closed surface
can be obtained by integrating the
normal component of poynting vector
over the entire surface
Radiation Power Density
Radiation Intensity (U)
In a given direction, it is defined as
“the power radiated by the antenna
per unit solid angle”
Measured in W/sr
It is a far field parameter and can be
obtained by simply multiplying the
radiation power density by square of
a distance
So the power pattern is also a
measure of radiation intensity
Units
Beamwidths
Beamwidth is associated with pattern of an
antenna and v.imp figure of merit
It is defined as the angular separation
between two identical points on opposite
side of pattern maxima (two identical
symmetric points)
Types
1) HPBW(Half Power Beamwidth)
One of the most important and widely used
2) FNBW(First Null Beamwidth)
Angular separation between first nulls
Directivity(D)
Directivity Continued…
Directivity also describes the directional properties
of the antenna and so its controlled by pattern
It is a figure of merit describing how well the
radiator directs energy in a certain direction
Stated more simply “Directivity of non-isotropic
source is equal to the ratio of its radiation intensity
in a given direction over that of an isotropic
source”
For isotropic source, obviously D=1(unity)
since U=U0
Other antennas have directivities higher than 1
E.g. short or infinitesimal dipole D=1.5
λ/2 dipole has D=1.64
DIRECTIVITY AND RESOLUTION
The resolution of an antenna may be defined as equal to half the
beamwidth between first nulls (FNBW)/2, for example, an
antenna whose pattern FNBW = 2◦ has a resolution of 1◦ and,
accordingly, should be able to distinguish between transmitters
on two adjacent satellites in the Clarke geostationary orbit
separated by 1◦. Thus, when the antenna beam maximum is
aligned with one satellite, the first null coincides with the
adjacent satellite.
Efficiency (e0)
Gain
Gain is closely related to directivity
It takes into account the efficiency as well
as antenna’s directional capabilities
It is defined as “the ratio of maximum
radiation intensity in a given direction to
the maximum radiation intensity from a
reference antenna produced in the same
direction with same power input”
Gain includes the effect of losses in an
antenna under consideration and in the
reference antenna
Beam Efficiency
Another parameter that is used to judge
the quality of transmitting and receiving
antennas is beam efficiency
For an antenna whose major lobe is
directed along z-axis(θ=0),beam
efficiency is defined as,
BE =
Very high BE is necessary for antennas
used in astronomy, radar , radiometry
and other such applications
Beam Efficiency continued..
Another definition
It is the ratio of main beam area (ΩM )to
the total beam area (ΩA)
ΩA= ΩM+ Ωm
BE = ΩM /ΩA
Stray factor = Ωm /ΩA
It is a dimensionless quantity
[*Reference J D Kraus*]
Bandwidth
Linear Polarization
E ( z , t ) Em cos(t z )aˆ x
E ( z, t ) E xm cos(t z )aˆ x E ym cos(t z n ) aˆ y
Circular Polarization
E ( z , t ) E0 cos(t z )aˆ x E0 cos(t z (2n 1) ) aˆ y
2
Elliptical Polarization
Radiation Resistance
• From the circuit point of view, the antennas appear to the
transmission lines as a resistance Rr , called the radiation
resistance. It is not related to any resistance in the antenna
itself but is a resistance coupled from space to the antenna
terminals.
• The radiation resistance Rr may be thought of as a “virtual”
resistance that does not exist physically but is a quantity
coupling the antenna to distant regions of space via a “virtual”
transmission line.
**It
should be
Receiving**
***Refer J D Kraus as
well***
SHAPE-IMPEDANCE CONSIDERATIONS
References
Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design by
Constantine A. Balanis, Balanis PPTs
Antennas: John D. Kraus
PICT workshop slides
Electromagnetic Waves by Dr. R. K.
Shevgaonkar
