Antenna and Wave propagation

EEC 241 &EET 237

Chapter (2)

Fundamental Parameters of Antenna

Prepared by :
Dr. Amaal Ashraf
 Class Participation
Class Participation 15 %

Class Attendance 10 %

Quizzes and Assignments 15 %

Mid-term examination 20 %

Final-term examination 40 %

Total 100 %

Antenna EEC 241 & EET 237 2

 Text Books

• C. Balanis,“Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design” , 4th

Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2016.

• W. Stutzman, G. Thiele, “Antenna Theory and Design”,

3rd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2013.

Antenna EEC 241 & EET 237 3

 Chapter Contents
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Radiation Pattern
2.3 Radiation Power Density
2.4 Radiation Power Intensity
2.5 Beamwidth
2.6 Directivity
2.7 Antenna Gain
2.8 Antenna Efficiency
2.9 Antenna Bandwidth
2.10 Input Impedance
2.11 Polarization
2.12 Antenna Equivalent Aperture (Effective Area)
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 2.6 Directivity
• The directivity of an antenna is defined as “the ratio of the radiation intensity in a
given direction from the antenna to the radiation intensity averaged over all
directions.
• The average radiation intensity is equal to the total power radiated by the antenna
divided by 4π.
• The directivity of a non isotropic source is equal to the ratio of its radiation intensity
in a given direction over that of an isotropic source.

 D = directivity (dimensionless)
 D0 = maximum directivity (dimensionless)
 U = radiation intensity (W/unit solid angle)
 Umax = maximum radiation intensity (W/unit solid angle)
 U0 = radiation intensity of isotropic source (W/unit solid angle)
 Prad = total radiated power (W)
• For anisotropic source, the directivity is unity since its power is radiated equally
well in all directions.
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2.6 Directivity (continued)
• For all other sources, the directivity will always be greater than unity.
• The directivity gives an indication of the directional properties of the antenna as
compared with those of an isotropic source.

• The beam solid angle ΩA is defined as the solid angle through which all the power of the
antenna would flow if its radiation intensity is constant and equal to the maximum
value of U for all angles with in ΩA .
• For antennas with one narrow major lobe and very negligible minor lobes, the beam solid
angle is approximately equal to the product of the half- power Beamwidthes in two
perpendicular planes.
• With one major lobe and negligible minor lobes, the beam solid angle can be approximated
as:
where
θ1r = half-power beamwidth in one plane (rad)
θ2r = half-power beamwidth in a plane at a right angle to the
other (rad)
AntennaFig.
EEC 241 & EET
2.14 237
Beam solid angles 6
 Example
If the radial component of the radiated power density of an antenna is:

Find the maximum directivity of the antenna

Write an expression for the directivity as a function of the directional angles θ and φ.

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2.6 Directivity (continued)
 Kraus' approximate formula:

where
θ1d = half-power beamwidth in one plane (degrees)
θ2d = half-power beamwidth in a plane at a right angle to the other (degrees)
 Tai and Pereira approximate formula:

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Antenna EEC 241 & EET 237 9
 2.7 Antenna Gain
• Gain measure describing the performance of an antenna. It takes into account the
directivity and the efficiency of the antenna.
• Directivity is a measure that describes only the directional properties of the antenna,
and it is therefore controlled only by the pattern.
• Power Gain of an antenna in a given direction is 4π times the ratio of the radiation
intensity in that direction to the net power input accepted by the antenna from a
connected transmitter and is given by:

• The total radiated power (Prad) is related to the total input power (Pin ) by
𝑃𝑖𝑛 = 𝑃𝑟𝑎𝑑 + 𝑃𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠
Where eo is the total antenna efficiency, thus:

• The value of the gain is related to the directivity by:

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2.7 Antenna Gain (continued)
• Similarly, the maximum value of the gain is related to the directivity by:

• In practice, when ever the term gain is used, it is usually refers to the maximum
power gain.
• For many practical antennas an approximate formula for the gain is:

Where
Θ1d is the half power beam width in one plane (Degrees).
Θ2d is the half power beamwidth in one plane at right angle to the other (Degrees).

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2.8 Antenna Efficiency
• It represents the losses in the input terminal and within the structure of the
antenna.
• There are two kinds of losses as shown in Fig. 2.16:
1. Reflections because of the mismatch between the transmission line and the antenna
2. I 2R losses (conduction and dielectric)
• In general, the overall efficiency can be written as

where
e0 = total efficiency (dimensionless)
er = reflection(mismatch) efficiency = (1 − Γ2) (dimensionless)
ec = conduction efficiency (dimensionless)
ed = dielectric efficiency (dimensionless)
Γ= voltage reflection coefficient at the input terminals of the antenna

Fig.2.16 Reference terminals and losses of an antenna.

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2.8 Antenna Efficiency (continued)
when Zin = antenna input impedance, Z0 = characteristic impedance of the transmission line

• Usually ec and ed are very difficult to compute, but they can be determined
experimentally. Even by measurements they cannot be separated, and it is usually
more convenient to write the above equation as

where ecd = eced = antenna radiation efficiency, which is used to relate the gain and
directivity.

Fig. 2.17 Reflection coefficient of an antenna

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 2.8 Antenna Efficiency (continued)
• Radiation Efficiency, ecd represents the losses due to the conductor and
dielectric of the structure of the antenna.

Where
Pr is the power radiated by the antenna.
Pr+PL is the total power or the power delivered to the antenna.
Rr is the radiation resistance.
RL expresses the conduction- dielectric losses, or any losses in the nearby region like
ground losses.
Example: consider a lossless antenna with input impedance of 60Ω, is connected to a
transmission line whose characteristic impedance is 50Ω. Calculate the efficiency, eo of
this antenna.
Solution the over all efficiency is given by:

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 Example:
A lossless resonant half-wavelength dipole antenna, with input impedance of 73 ohms, is
connected to a transmission line whose characteristic impedance is 50 ohms. Assuming that the
pattern of the antenna is given approximately by

find the maximum absolute gain of this antenna.

Solution:
Let us first compute the maximum directivity of the antenna.

Since the antenna was stated to be lossless, then the radiation efficiency ecd = 1. Thus, the
total maximum gain is equal to

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There is another loss factor which is not taken into account in the gain. That is the loss
due to reflection or mismatch losses between the antenna (load) and the transmission
line. This loss is accounted for by the reflection efficiency is equal to

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 Antenna Radiation Efficiency
 The antenna efficiency that takes into account the reflection, conduction, and
dielectric losses

 For a metal rod of length L and uniform cross-sectional area A, the dc resistance

 If the skin depth of the metal is very small compared to the smallest diagonal of the
cross section of the rod, the current is confined to a thin layer near the conductor
surface. Therefore the high-frequency resistance can be written, based on a
uniform current distribution
The skin depth

Where: P is the perimeter of the cross section of the rod (P = C = 2πa for a circular
wire of radius a), Rs is the conductor surface resistance, ω is the angular frequency,
μ0 is the permeability of free-space, and σ is the conductivity of the metal.

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 2.9 Antenna Bandwidth
• The bandwidth of an antenna is defined as “the range of frequencies within which
the performance of the antenna, with respect to some characteristic, conforms to a
specified standard.”
• The antenna characteristics (such as input impedance, pattern, beamwidth,
polarization, side lobe level, gain, beam direction, radiation efficiency)
For broadband antennas, the bandwidth is usually expressed as the ratio of the upper-to-
lower frequencies of acceptable operation. For example, a 10:1 bandwidth indicates that
the upper frequency is 10 times greater than the lower.

• For narrowband antennas, the bandwidth is expressed as a percentage of the

frequency difference (upper minus lower) over the center frequency of the
bandwidth.

or the bandwidth is given by:

Where: fupper … is the upper frequency.

flower…. is the lower frequency. And fc….. is the central frequency.
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 2.10 Input Impedance
• Input impedance is defined as “the impedance presented by an antenna at its
terminals or the ratio of the voltage to current at a pair of terminals or the ratio of the
appropriate components of the electric to magnetic fields at a point which given by:

where
ZA = antenna impedance at terminals a –b (ohms)
RA = antenna resistance at terminals a –b (ohms)
XA = antenna reactance at terminals a –b (ohms)

where
Rr = radiation resistance of the antenna
RL = loss resistance of the antenna

Fig. 2.15 (a) Antenna in transmitting mode, (b) Its Thevenin equivalent.
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 2.10 Input Impedance (continued)
• The antenna is attached to a generator with internal impedance

where
Rg = resistance of generator impedance (ohms)
Xg = reactance of generator impedance (ohms)
• To find the amount of power delivered to Rr for radiation and the amount dissipated
in RL as heat (I 2RL/ 2),

its magnitude by
• where Vg is the peak generator voltage. The power delivered to the antenna for
radiation is given by

and that dissipated as heat by

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 2.10 Input Impedance (continued)
• The remaining power is dissipated as heat on the internal resistance Rg of the
generator, and it is given by

• The maximum power delivered to the antenna occurs when we have conjugate
matching; that is when

For this case

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 2.11 Polarization
• Polarization of an antenna in the transmitting mode:
Polarization of an antenna in a given direction is defined as “the polarization of the
wave transmitted (radiated), when the antenna is excited.
• Polarization of an antenna in the receiving mode:
It is the polarization of an incident wave from the given direction which results in
maximum available power at the antenna terminals.
• Polarization of a radiated wave:
It is the property of a radiated electromagnetic wave describing the time varying direction
and relative magnitude of the electric field vector, as observed along the direction of
propagation.
• Consider a uniform plane wave with vectors lying in the x-y plane, travelling in the
z-direction.
• Let us write the x- component of the forward electric field vector as:

• The magnetic field vector is given by :

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2.11 Polarization (continued)
Polarization types
1. Linear polarization, LP
2. Circular Polarization, CP
3. Elliptical Polarization, EP

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 2.11 Polarization (continued)
Polarization Loss Factor (PLF)
• It represent the power loss due to the polarization mismatching between the antenna
and the incoming wave. It is also called the polarization efficiency, ep.
• Assuming that the electric field of the incoming wave can be written as

• The polarization of the electric field of the receiving antenna can be expressed as

• Polarization loss factor or polarization efficiency, ep is defined as:

Example:

Fig. 2.19 Polarization Loss

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2.12 Antenna Equivalent Aperture (effective area)
• An antenna in the receiving mode, whether it is in the form of a wire, horn, aperture,
array, dielectric rod, etc., is used to capture (collect) electromagnetic waves and to
extract power from them.
• For each antenna, an equivalent length and a number of equivalent areas can then be
defined. It is usually referred to as effective aperture (or effective area).
• The effective aperture is the ratio of the power delivered to the load, Prad to the
incident power density, Pdinc.

Where:
Ae= effective aperture (effective area) (m2)
Prad= Power delivered to the load (W)
Pdinc= Power density of incident wave (W/m2)
• From the definition of the effective aperture, it is also the area which when
multiplied by the incident power density gives the power delivered to the load.
When the load is conjugate matched to the antenna impedance (ZL=Z*A), the effective
aperture reaches its maximum value corresponding to maximum received power, and
designated Aem (maximum effective area).

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2.12 Antenna Equivalent Aperture (continued)

Fig. 2.20 Antenna Equivalent Area

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 2.12 Antenna Equivalent Aperture (continued)
• As the effective aperture increased, the directivity of the antenna increased. There
is a direct proportionality between the maximum effective aperture (Aem) and the
gain (Gmax). The relation between Aem and Gmax is given by:

• Aperture Efficiency is defined as:

Where Ap is the physical aperture antenna area.

• For aperture antennas:

• For wire antennas, usually:
based on the cross- section of the wire.

Example: Determine the effective maximum aperture, Aem of the antenna described in
previous Example if the operating frequency, f= 1GHz.
Solution: λ= c/f = 30cm,

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