EEE F474

Antenna Theory and Design

BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus

Dr. Praveen Kumar A.V.

EEE Department
BITS Pilani, Pilani

Antenna Arrays
BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus

High quality communication link

Power received

Pr Pt G t G r

4R

Long distant communication suffers from large free-space loss

Signal loss deteriorates the C/N at the receiver, increases the bit error rate etc

Solution ?
G rad D

Use high gain (pencil-beam) antennas

4
12

Eg: In Satellite communication, parabolic reflector antenna (D = 35 dB) is used for sending
payload data to earth station

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Coverage area
GEO

Covering a large area on earth using a pencil-beam requires

mechanically scanning the area using the beam.
LEO

f >>

Lower the altitude, higher the required scan angle for the same area coverage.
Unfortunately, a parabolic antenna cant be mechanically scanned over large angles
Solution

Electronic scanning
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Phased array
Many antenna elements are arranged in such a way that the field from all of
them add constructively in the desired direction and destructively in other
directions , enabling
High gain
Electronic scanning

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Array controls
1. Geometry of the overall array (linear, circular, spherical etc)
2. Spacing between individual elements (in terms of )
3. Excitation amplitude of individual elements

4. Excitation phase of individual elements

5. Relative radiation pattern of individual elements

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Yagi-Uda antenna (1926)

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Yagi-Uda antenna (2010)

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
image of a five-element Yagi-Uda antenna
consisting of a feed element, one reflector,
and three directors, fabricated by e-beam
lithography. Overall dimension of the
antenna is 800 nm, equal to the wavelength
of operation. A quantum dot is attached to
one end of the feed element.

http://www.2physics.com/2010/10/optical-nano-antenna-controls-single.html
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Patch antenna array

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Array printed on wafer

Radiation pattern ( 20 beamwidth)

8 to 12 GHz

http://electronicdesign.com/communications/build-phased-array-wafer-boost-antenna-performance
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Uniform linear array

An array of identical elements all of identical magnitude and each with a progressive
phase shift (b)

Far -field approximations

for a two element array

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At point P in the far-field,

E E1 E2 E2 .... E N
e jkr1
e jkr2 jb
e jkrN j( N 1)b
E E , f
E , f
e .... E , f
e
r1
r2
rN
j k{r1 d cos( )}b
j k{r ( N 1)d cos( )} ( N 1) b
jkr
e 1
e 1 e

E , f

....

r
r
r
1
1
1

E , f e jkr1

1 e j kd cos( )b e j2 kd cos( )b .... e j( N 1) kd cos( )b

r1

Array factor, AF 1 e

j kdcos( ) b

j2 kdcos( ) b

.... e

j(N 1) kdcos( )b

AF is the total field at point P, had all the elements been replaced by isotropic radiators

Total pattern = AF pattern of one element placed at the origin (ref)

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

AF 1 e j kd cos( )b e j2 kd cos( )b .... e j( N 1) kd cos( )b

1 e j e j2 .... e j( N 1) , kd cos() b
e j e j2 e j3 .... e jN

AFe j

AFe j AF e j e j2 e j3 .... e jN 1 e j e j2 .... e j( N 1)

e jN 1
AF

jN

jN /2

e 1 e
j /2
j
e 1 e
e

e
e

j( N 1) /2

jN /2
j /2

e jN /2
e j /2

sin N / 2
sin / 2
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Array size and directivity

AFnor

N=2

N=10

1 sin Nx
N sin x

N=5

N=100

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Normalized AF, AF nor

1 sin N / 2

N sin / 2

Had the reference been taken

at the centre of array, e j( N 1) /2 1

Angle of maxima of the AF (Argument of AF= 0)

Angle of minima of the AF (Nr of AF = 0)

To prevent maxima
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Angle of half-power point of the AF

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