A REPORT ON TYPES OF ANTENNAS

A REPORT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE COURSE EEE C472- SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

Prof. M.K.Deshmukh (Instructor-in-charge) Dept. of EEE/ENI

Submitted By:Deepak Uppal 2010A3PS216G

CONTENTS
1. Introduction 2. Different Types of Antennas used in Satellite Communications 2.1 Horn Antenna 2.2 Phased Array Antenna 2.3 Helical Antenna 2.4 Reflector Array Antenna 2.5 Patch Antenna 2.6 Parabolic Antenna 2.7 Lens Antenna 3. Different Parameters of Antenna Systems 3.1 Gain 3.2 Beam width 3.3 Bandwidth 3.4 Polarization 3.5 Effective Area or Aperture 4. Comparison between Parabolic Reflector and Horn Antennas References 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 6 7 9

1. Introduction
An antenna (or aerial) is an electrical device which converts electric power into radio waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver. In transmission, a radio transmitter supplies an electric current oscillating at radio frequency (i.e. high frequency AC) to the antenna's terminals, and the antenna radiates the energy from the current as electromagnetic waves (radio waves). In reception, an antenna intercepts some of the power of an electromagnetic wave in order to produce a tiny voltage at its terminals that is applied to a receiver to be amplified. Antennas may also include reflective or directive elements or surfaces not connected to the transmitter or receiver, such as parasitic elements, parabolic reflectors or horns, which serve to direct the radio waves into a beam or other desired radiation pattern. Antennas can be designed to transmit or receive radio waves in all directions equally (omnidirectional antennas), or transmit them in a beam in a particular direction, and receive from that one direction only (directional or high gain antennas). The first antennas were built in 1888 by German physicist Heinrich Hertz in his pioneering experiments to prove the existence of electromagnetic waves predicted by the theory of James Clerk Maxwell. Hertz placed dipole antennas at the focal point of parabolic reflectors for both transmitting and receiving.

2. Different Types of Antennas used in Satellite Communications

2.1 Horn Antenna
A horn antenna or microwave horn is an antenna that consists of a flaring metal waveguide shaped like a horn to direct radio waves in a beam. Horns are widely used as antennas at UHF and microwave frequencies, above 300 MHz They are used as feeders (called feed horns) for larger antenna structures such as parabolic antennas, as standard calibration antennas to measure the gain of other antennas, and as directive antennas for such devices as radar guns, automatic door openers, and microwave radiometers. Their advantages are moderate directivity (gain), low standing wave ratio (SWR), broad bandwidth, and simple construction and adjustment. An advantage of horn antennas is that since they have no resonant elements, they can operate over a wide range of frequencies, a wide bandwidth. The usable bandwidth of horn antennas is typically of the order of 10:1, and can be up to 20:1.

2.2 Phased Array Antenna

A phased array is an array of antennas in which the relative phases of the respective signals feeding the antennas are varied in such a way that the effective radiation pattern of the array is reinforced in a desired direction and suppressed in undesired directions. An antenna array is a group of multiple active antennas coupled to a common source or load to produce a directive radiation pattern. Usually, the spatial relationship of the individual antennas also contributes to the directivity of the antenna array. Use of the term "active antennas" is intended to describe elements whose energy output is modified due to the presence of a source of energy in the element (other than the mere signal energy which passes through the circuit) or an element in which the energy output from a source of energy is controlled by the signal input. One common application of this is with a standard multiband television antenna, which has multiple elements coupled together.

2.3 Helical Antenna

A helical antenna is an antenna consisting of a conducting wire wound in the form of a helix. In most cases, helical antennas are mounted over a ground plane. The feed line is connected between the bottom of the helix and the ground plane. Helical antennas can operate in one of two principal modes: normal mode or axial mode. In the normal mode or broadside helix, the dimensions of the helix (the diameter and the pitch) are small compared with the wavelength. The antenna acts similarly to an electrically short dipole or monopole, and the radiation pattern, similar to these antennas is omnidirectional, with maximum radiation at right angles to the helix axis. The radiation is linearly polarised parallel to the helix axis. In the axial mode or end-fire helix, the dimensions of the helix are comparable to a wavelength. The antenna functions as a directional antenna radiating a beam off the ends of the helix, along the antenna's axis. It radiates circularly polarised radio waves.

2.4 Reflector Array Antenna

In telecommunication and radar, a reflective array antenna is a class of directive antennas in which multiple driven elements are mounted in front of a flat surface designed to reflect the radio waves in a desired direction. They are often used in the VHF frequency band, and these versions often resemble a highway billboard, so they are sometimes called "billboard antennas". The curtain array is a larger version used by shortwave radio stations. Reflective array antennas usually have a number of identical driven elements, fed in phase, in front of a flat, electrically large reflecting surface to produce a unidirectional beam, increasing antenna gain and reducing radiation in unwanted directions. The individual elements are most commonly half wave dipoles, although they sometimes contain parasitic elements as well as driven elements. The reflector may be a metal sheet or more commonly a wire screen. A metal screen reflects radio waves as well as a solid metal sheet as long as the holes in the screen are smaller than about one-tenth of a wavelength, so screens are often used to reduce weight and wind loads on the antenna. They usually consist of a grill of parallel wires or rods, oriented parallel to the axis of the dipole elements. The driven elements are fed by a network of transmission lines, which divide the power from the RF source equally between the elements. This often has the circuit geometry of a tree structure.

2.5 Patch Antenna

A patch antenna (also known as a rectangular micro strip antenna) is a type of radio antenna with a low profile, which can be mounted on a flat surface. It consists of a flat rectangular sheet or "patch" of metal, mounted over a larger sheet of metal called a ground plane. The assembly is usually contained inside a plastic Radom, which protects the antenna structure from damage. Patch antennas are simple to fabricate and easy to modify and customize. They are the original type of micro strip antenna described by Howell in 1972; the two metal sheets together form a resonant piece of micro strip transmission line with a length of approximately one-half wavelength of the radio waves. The radiation mechanism arises from discontinuities at each truncated edge of the micro strip transmission line. The radiation at the edges causes the antenna to act slightly larger electrically than its physical dimensions, so in order for the antenna to be resonant, a length of micro strip transmission line slightly shorter than one-half a wavelength at the frequency is used. A patch antenna is usually constructed on a dielectric substrate, using the same materials and lithography processes used to make printed circuit boards.
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2.6 Parabolic Antenna

A parabolic antenna is an antenna that uses a parabolic reflector, a curved surface with the cross-sectional shape of a parabola, to direct the radio waves. The most common form is shaped like a dish and is popularly called a dish antenna or parabolic dish. The main advantage of a parabolic antenna is that it has high directivity. It functions similarly to a searchlight or flashlight reflector to direct the radio waves in a narrow beam, or receive radio waves from one particular direction only. Parabolic antennas have some of the highest gains, that is, they can produce the narrowest beam-widths, of any antenna type. In order to achieve narrow beamwidths, the parabolic reflector must be much larger than the wavelength of the radio waves used, so parabolic antennas are used in the high frequency part of the radio spectrum, at UHF and microwave (SHF) frequencies, at which the wavelengths are small enough that conveniently-sized reflectors can be used. Parabolic antennas are used as high-gain antennas for point-to-point communications, in applications such as microwave relay links that carry telephone and television signals between nearby cities, wireless WAN/LAN links for data communications, satellite communications and spacecraft communication antennas. They are also used in radio telescopes. The other large use of parabolic antennas is for radar antennas, in which, there is a need to transmit a narrow beam of radio waves to locate objects like ships, airplanes, and guided missiles. With the advent of home satellite television receivers, parabolic antennas have become a common feature of the landscapes of modern countries.

2.7 Lens Antenna

Lens Antenna is an antenna whose directivity pattern is a result of the difference between the phase velocity of propagation of an electromagnetic wave in air and that in the lens material. Lens antennas are used in radar and metering equipment that operates in the centimetre wavelength range. A lens antenna consists of a lens proper and of a feed. The shape of the lens depends on the refractive index n (the ratio of the phase velocity of propagation of a radio wave in a vacuum to that in the lens). A decelerating lens antenna, as in optics, is one for which n > 1. An accelerating lens antenna (without an optical analogy) is one for which n < 1. The feed is usually a horn antenna that generates a spherical wave front or an antenna array that produces a cylindrical wave front.
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Decelerating lens antennas are made of high-quality low-loss homogeneous dielectrics (polystyrene, Fluor plastics) or synthetic dielectrics (systems of variously shaped metallic particles suspended in air or in a homogeneous dielectric with a relative dielectric constant approaching unity). The refractive index can change within wide limits with extremely low losses. Accelerating lens antennas are made of shaped metal sheets. There is no analogy in optics. The principle of operation derives from the fact that the phase velocity of an electromagnetic wave propagating between parallel metal sheets depends on the distance between them if the electric field vector is parallel to the sheets. In such a case the phase velocity is greater than the speed of light, and the refractive index is less than unity. Zoning the surfaces of a lens antenna reduces its weight and dimensions. The shape and height in profile of the individual zones are chosen such that the electromagnetic waves refracted by adjacent zones leave the lens with a phase shift of 360. The field at the aperture remains cophase.

3. Different Parameters of Antenna Systems

3.1 Gain
Gain is a parameter which measures the degree of directivity of the antenna's radiation pattern. A high-gain antenna will preferentially radiate in a particular direction. Specifically, the antenna gain, or power gain of an antenna is defined as the ratio of the intensity (power per unit surface) radiated by the antenna in the direction of its maximum output, at an arbitrary distance, divided by the intensity radiated at the same distance by a hypothetical isotropic antenna.

3.2 Beam width

In a radio antenna pattern, the half power beam width is 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. Beam width is usually but not always expressed in degrees and for the horizontal plane.

3.3 Bandwidth

An antenna's bandwidth specifies the range of frequencies over which its performance does not suffer due to a poor impedance match. IEEE defines bandwidth as "The range of frequencies within which the performance of the antenna, with respect to some characteristic, conforms to a specified standard." In other words, bandwidth depends on the overall effectiveness of the antenna through a range of frequencies, so all of these parameters must be understood to fully characterize the bandwidth capabilities of an antenna.

3.4 Polarization
The polarization of an antenna refers to the orientation of the electric field (E-plane) of the radio wave with respect to the Earth's surface and is determined by the physical structure of the antenna and by its orientation; note that this designation is totally distinct from the antenna's directionality. Thus, a simple straight wire antenna will have one polarization when mounted vertically, and a different polarization when mounted horizontally. As a transverse wave, the magnetic field of a radio wave is at right angles to that of the electric field, but by convention, talk of an antenna's "polarization" is understood to refer to the direction of the electric field. Polarization is predictable from an antenna's geometry, although in some cases it is not at all obvious (such as for the quad antenna). An antenna's linear polarization is generally along the direction (as viewed from the receiving location) of the antenna's currents when such a direction can be defined.

3.5 Effective Area or Aperture

The effective area or effective aperture of a receiving antenna expresses the portion of the power of a passing electromagnetic wave which it delivers to its terminals, expressed in terms of an equivalent area. For instance, if a radio wave passing a given location has a flux of 1 pW / m2 (1012 watts per square meter) and an antenna has an effective area of 12 m2, then the antenna would deliver 12 pW of RF power to the receiver (30 microvolts rms at 75 ohms). Since the receiving antenna is not equally sensitive to signals received from all directions, the effective area is a function of the direction to the source.

4. Comparison between Parabolic Reflector and Horn Antennas

Parameter
Gain

Parabolic Reflector

Horn Antenna

For conical horns, the gain is A is the area of the antenna aperture, that is, the mouth of the parabolic reflector, d is the diameter of the parabolic reflector is the wavelength, eA is a dimensionless parameter between 0 and 1 called the aperture efficiency. 30-40 dB is common ( Where, A is the area of the aperture, d is the aperture diameter of a conical horn is the wavelength, eA is a dimensionless )

parameter between 0 and 1 called the aperture efficiency Bandwidth Have a reasonable bandwidth, with the fractional bandwidth being at least 5% on commercially available models, and can be very wideband in the case of huge dishes (like the Stanford "big dish", which can operate from 150 MHz to 1.5 GHz). HPBW is given by: Pyramidal microwave horn

antenna, has a bandwidth of 0.8 to 18 GHz Corrugated horn antenna with a bandwidth of 3.7 to 6 GHz

Beam-width

3dB beam width (in degrees) for pyramidal horns:

For an ideal uniformly

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illuminated parabolic reflector and in degrees, k would be 57.3 (the number of where is the aperture degrees in a radian). dimension in wavelengths in For a "typical" parabolic is the antenna k is approximately 70 the E-plane and aperture in wavelengths dimension in the H-plane Aperture The actual gain is in terms of the effective aperture, which is related to the physical area by the efficiency term ( ). This efficiency term will often be on the order of 0.6-0.7 for a well-designed dish antenna. 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. 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.

5. References
1) http://www.geosats.com/antennas.html 2) http://www.antenna-theory.com/antennas/reflectors/dish.php 3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna_%28radio%29 4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna_measurement#Bandwidth 5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parabolic_antenna#Radiation_pattern 6) http://www.qsl.net/n1bwt/chap4.pdf 7) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_antenna