AntennaGain

Previous:Efficiency

AntennaFundamentals(Menu)

(Home)Antennas

Onthispage,we'llintroduceanotherfundamentalantennaparameter:antennagain.

AntennaGain
ThetermAntennaGaindescribeshowmuchpoweristransmittedinthedirectionofpeakradiation
to that of an isotropic source. Antenna gain is more commonly quoted than directivity in an
antenna'sspecificationsheetbecauseittakesintoaccounttheactuallossesthatoccur.
Atransmittingantennawithagainof3dBmeansthatthepowerreceivedfarfromtheantennawill
be3dBhigher(twiceasmuch)thanwhatwouldbereceivedfromalosslessisotropicantennawith
thesameinputpower.Notethatalosslessantennawouldbeanantennawithanantennaefficiencyof
0 dB (or 100%). Similarly, a receive antenna with a gain of 3 dB in a particular direction would
receive3dBmorepowerthanalosslessisotropicantenna.
AntennaGainissometimesdiscussedasafunctionofangle.Inthiscase,weareessentiallyplotting
theradiationpattern,wheretheunits(ormagnitudeofthepattern)aremeasuredinantennagain.An
exampleoftheradiationpatternplottedintermsofgainisshowninFigure1:

Figure1.ExampleGainPatternforanAntenna.
However, more often a single number is quoted the gain is the 'peak gain' over all directions.
AntennaGain(G)canberelatedtodirectivity(D)andantennaefficiencyby:
[Equation1]
Thegainofarealantennacanbeashighas4050dBforverylargedishantennas(althoughthisis
rare).Directivitycanbeaslowas1.76dBforarealantenna(example:shortdipoleantenna),butcan
nevertheoreticallybelessthan0dB.However,thepeakgainofanantennacanbearbitrarilylow
becauseoflossesorlowefficiency.Electricallysmallantennas(smallrelativetothewavelengthof
thefrequencythattheantennaoperatesat)canbeveryinefficient,withantennagainslowerthan10
dB(evenwithoutaccountingforimpedancemismatchloss).

High Speed Internet 19.99/mo

Find Best High Speed Internet Plans From $19.99/mo. Go to
nanceweb.org/Deals/High-Speed

IsaHighGainAntennaAdvantageous?
Often manufacturers of antennas (be they wifi antennas, gps antennas, or tv antennas) specify the
antennagain.Forinstance,manufacturersofwifiantennasmaymarketthewifiantennaasa"high
gainantenna",whichismoreexpensivethanasimilarlowgainantenna.Thequestionis:dowewant
highgain?
Theansweris:itdepends.Ifyouknowexactlywhereyourdesiredsignaliscomingfrom,youwould
liketohavemaximumgain(towardsthedesired)direction.However,ifyoudon'tknowwherethe
desiredsignalwillbecomingfrom,itisbettertohavealowgainantenna.Acoupleexampleswill
makethisclear.
{Example#1}TVAntennas.IfyoumountaTVantennaonyourroof,andknowthetvbroadcast
antennasaretothesouth(forexample,onsomehillsouthofthecity),thenitispreferredtohavea
highgainantenna.Antennaswithgainofatleast1215dBarepreferred.
{ Example #2 } GPS (Global Positioning System). GPS antennas for mobile devices are receive
only.Thejobofthegpsantennaistotriangulateyourpositionbymeasuringthereceivedsignalfrom
multiple gps satellites, which are all in different directions relative to the receive antenna. For this
case,averyhighlydirectionalantennawouldnotbepreferred.
{Example#3}MobileCellularAntennas.Thecellularantennaonyoursmartphonecommunicates
withasinglecellularnetworktower.However,thecellularantennacanbeheldinanyorientation,
and can be in any position relative to the network tower. Hence, for your mobile device, it is
preferredtohavealowgainantenna.

AnoteonUnitsforAntennaGain
If you look at the specification sheet for an antenna, you will typically see units for antenna gain
listedindB,dBiordBd.Idefinethesetermsbelow:
dBdecibels,aswehavebeendiscussing.10dBmeans10timestheenergyrelativetoanisotropic
antennainthepeakdirectionofradiation.
dBi"decibelsrelativetoanisotropicantenna".ThisisthesameasdBaswehavebeenusingit.3
dBimeanstwice(2x)thepowerrelativetoanisotropicantennainthepeakdirection.
dBd"decibelsrelativetoadipoleantenna".Notethatahalfwavelengthdipoleantennahasagain
of2.15dBi.Hence,7.85dBdmeansthepeakgainis7.85dBhigherthanadipoleantennathisis10
dBhigherthananisotropicantenna.

High Speed Internet 19.99/mo

Find Best High Speed Internet Plans From $19.99/mo. Go to
nanceweb.org/Deals/High-Speed

NextTopic:BeamwidthsandSidelobes
AntennaBasics
AntennaTutorial(Home)
Thispageonantennagainiscopyrighted.Noportioncanbereproducedwithoutpermissionfromthe
author.Copyrightantennatheory.com,20092016.