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RR Institute of Technology Chikkabanavara, Bangalore-90 Department of Electronics and Communication Engg.

SUBJECT CODE: 06ES64 SUBJECT NAME: Antennas and propagation

Prepared by, Rajesh.N (Lect/ECE)

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UNIT I Antenna Basics

1. Define an Antenna. Antenna is a transition device or a transducer between a guided wave and a free space wave or vice versa. Antenna is also said to be an impedance transforming device. 2. What is meant by radiation pattern? Radiation pattern is the relative distribution of radiated power as a function of distance in space .It is a graph which shows the variation in actual field strength of the EM wave at all points which are at equal distance from the antenna. The energy radiated in a particular direction by an antenna is measured in terms of FIELD STRENGTH.(E Volts/m) 3. Define Radiation intensity? The power radiated from an antenna per unit solid angle is called the radiation intensity U (watts per steradian or per square degree). The radiation intensity is independent of distance. 4. Define Beam efficiency? The total beam area ( A) consists of the main beam area ( M ) plus the minor lobe area ( m) . Thus A = M+ m . The ratio of the main beam area to the total beam area is called beam efficiency. Beam efficiency = M = M / A. 5. Define Directivity? The directivity of an antenna is equal to the ratio of the maximum power density P(,)max to its average value over a sphere as observed in the far field of an antenna. D = P(,)max / P(,)av. Directivity from Pattern. 6. Define Effective aperture(Ae). It is the area over which the power is extrated from the incident wave and delivered to the load is called effective aperture.

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7. Define Aperture efficiency? The ratio of the effective aperture to the physical aperture is the aperture efficiency. i.e Aperture efficiency = ap = Ae / Ap (dimensionless). 8. What is meant by effective height? The effective height h of an antenna is the parameter related to the aperture. It may be defined as the ratio of the induced voltage to the incident field. i.e H= V / E. 9. What are the field zones? The fields around an antenna ay be divided into two principal regions. i. Near field zone (Fresnel zone) ii. Far field zone (Fraunhofer zone) 10. What is meant by front to back ratio? It is defined as the ratio of the power radiated in desired direction to the power radiated in the opposite direction. i.e FBR = Power radiated in desired direction / power radiated in the opposite direction. 11. Define antenna efficiency? The efficiency of an antenna is defined as the ratio of power radiated to the total input power supplied to the antenna. Antenna efficiency = Power radiated / Total input power 12. What is radiation resistance? The antenna is a radiating device in which power is radiated into space in the form of electromagnetic wave. W = I2 R Rr = W/ I2 Where Rr is a fictitious resistance called as radiation resistance. 13. What is meant by antenna beam width? Antenna beam width is a measure of directivity of an antenna. Antenna beam width is an angular width in degrees, measured on the radiation pattern (major lobe) between points where the radiated power has fallen to half its maximum value .This is called as beam width between half power points or half power beam width (HPBW).

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14. What is meant by isotropic radiator? An isotropic radiator is a fictitious radiator and is defined as a radiator which radiates fields uniformly in all directions. It is also called as isotropic source or Omni directional radiator or simply unipole. 15. Define gain The ratio of maximum radiation intensity in given direction to the maximum radiation intensity from a reference antenna produced in the same direction with same input power. i.e Maximum radiation intensity from test antenna. 16. What is meant by Beam Area? The beam area or beam solid angle or A of an antenna is given by the normalized power pattern over a sphere. A = 4Pn (,) d Where d= Sin d .d 17. Explain the following terms, (i) Beam width (ii) Omni directional pattern (iii)Side lobe level (iv)Field pattern of antenna (i) Beam Width It is used to measure the directivity of an antenna. In general antenna beam width is defined as the angular width of the major lobe between the two directions at which maximum power is twice the radiated or received power. Beam width = (HPBW) Vertical x (HPBW) Horizontal There are two factors affecting the beam width. They are, 1. Wavelength 2. Radiation pattern shape. (ii) Omni directional Pattern The radiation pattern which is distributed equally well in all directions is called as omnidirectional patterns. The antenna which exhibits such a property is known as omnidirectional antenna or nondirectional antenna (since it does not favour any particular direction). Figure 1 shows omnidirectional pattern with and without minor lobes. The omnidirectional pattern can be approximated by,

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U = |sin d d | ; 0, 02 Where, n = either integer or non integer value. This type of pattern is commonly associated with verticals, ground planes and other antenna types in which the radiator element is vertical with respect to the earth's surface. (iii) Side Lobe Level The ratio (in dB) of the amplitude at the peak of the main lobe to the amplitude at the peak of a side lobe is known as side lobe level. Where the side lobe is a radiation lobe in any direction other than the intended lobe. Normally a side lobe is adjacent to the main lobe and occupies the hemisphere in direction of main lobe. Usually, the side lobes are the largest of the minor lobes; figure 2 shows the linear plot of power patterns. The side lobe level can be reduced by tapering the edges of the aperture distribution at the expense of reduced directivity. The null between side lobes occur when the radiation pattern passes through the origin in the complex plane. Hence, adjacent side lobes are generally 1800 out of phase to each other. (iv) Field Pattern of Antenna There are two different types of field patterns of antenna namely. Far field and near-field patterns. The near-field pattern is most commonly defined over a plane placed in front of the source or over a cylindrical or spherical surface enclosing it. The far-field pattern of an antenna may be determined experimentally at an antenna range. The near-field pattern may be found using a near-field scanner and the radiation pattern deduced from it by computation. The far-field pattern may be represented graphically as a plot of one of a number of related variables including, the field strength at a constant radius, the power per unit solid angle and the directive gain. The plotted quantity may be taken on a linear scale or in dB.

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Fig 1

Fig 2

18. Write short note on Normalized field pattern. Normalized field pattern is the field pattern, which is obtained by dividing a field component by its maximum value. It is a dimensionless number and whose maximum value is one. Normalized field pattern for an electric field is expressed as, Normalized Field Pattern, En(,) = E(,)/ E(,)max Where, E(,) = Electric field component E(,)max = Maximum value of electric field component. Figure 3 shows the normalized field pattern for the

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electric field E. For En(,)n = 1/2 = 0.707, the half power levels occurs at those angles and . The shape normalized field pattern is independent of distance for, 1. The distance that is large compared to the size of the antenna. 2. The distance that is large compared to the wavelength. 19. Explain Beam area In polar two-dimensional coordinates an incremental area dA on the surface of sphere is the product of the length r d in the direction and r sin d in the direction as shown in figure 4. Thus, dA = (rd) (r sin d) = r2 d Where, d = solid angle expressed in steradians.

Fig 3

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Fig 4 The area of the strip of width r d extending around the sphere at a constant angle is given by (2r sin ) (r d). Integrating this for values from 0 to yields the area of the sphere. Thus, Area of sphere = 2r2 0sin d = 2r2 [-cos]0 = 4r2. Where, 4 = Solid angle subtended by a sphere The beam area or beam solid angle or A of an antenna is given by the integral of the normalized power pattern over a sphere. Beam area, A =P( , ) d (sr) Where, d = sin d d.

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