Antenna-Radiation mechanism

Introduction:

An antenna is a device for radiating and receiving radio waves. The antenna is the
transitional structure between free-space and a guiding device.

Radiation mechanism in antenna:

An antenna may be thought of as a short length of a transmission line. When high

frequency alternating source is applied at its one end, the resulting forward and reverse
travelling waves combine to form a standing wave pattern on the line.

The electromagnetic radiation from the transmitting antenna has two

components- a magnetic field associated with current in the antenna and electric field
associated with the potential. The two fields are perpendicular to each other in space
and both are perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the wave.

The amount of energy that is radiated in space by a transmission line antenna is

extremely small.
If the two wires are spread out as shown below, the probability of the radiation from the
tips of the two wires cancelling out is reduced. Further the open end of the line is better
coupled with the surrounding space. The radiation from the open circuited end of the
transmission line increases.

The radiation efficiency of the system can be further improved if the two wires are bent
at right angles so that they come along the same line as shown in figure below

The electric field is now completely coupled with the surrounding space. The maximum
possible radiation takes place now. This type of radiator is called a diploe.

Non-Resonant Antenna
Antenna Types by Physical Structure
A good antenna would radiate almost all the power delivered to it from the transmitter in a
desired direction or directions. A receiver antenna does the reciprocal process, and delivers
power received from a desired direction or directions.

1. Wire antennas

2. Aperture antennas

3. Microstrip antennas

4. Antenna arrays

5. Reflector antennas

6. Lens antennas
Antenna Types based on Radiation:

1. Isotropic antenna

2. Non Isotropic antenna

Isotropic antenna

An isotropic antenna is an ideal antenna that radiates its power uniformly in all directions. There
is no actual physical isotropic antenna. However, an isotropic antenna is often used as a
reference antenna for the antenna gain. The antenna gain is often specified in dBi, or decibels
over isotropic

Non Isotropic antenna

A Non- isotropic antenna is an antenna that radiates its power non uniformly. All practical
antennas are Non—isotropic in nature

Antennas are also classified as

1. Resonant Antenna

2. Non resonant Antenna

Resonant Antenna:

A resonant antenna is a transmission line whose length is an exact multiple of

wavelengths. An opened out transmission line is a resonant antenna. It consists of standing
waves. The radiation pattern of a resonant antenna depends on its length relative to the
wavelength. Resonant antennas are terminated properly.

Radiation pattern and current distribution for different lengths:

Non resonant Antenna:

A non-resonant antenna is one in which there are no standing waves. In this antenna,
there is only forward wave. Non-resonant antenna is terminated by a terminating resistance.
When the antenna is terminated about 2/3rd of the forward power is radiated, the remaining
1/3rd is dissipated in the antenna.

Antenna Terminologies
Terms related to Antenna:

Radiation Intensity:

The power radiated per unit area in any direction is called as radiation intensity.
Radiation intensity in a given direction is defined as the power per unit solid angle in that
direction

Directive gain:

The ratio of the power density radiated in the chosen direction to the power density that
would have been radiated by an isotropic antenna.

The directive gain of all practical antennas is more than 1. it is represented in dB.

Directivity:

Maximum directive gain is called as directivity. It is represented by ‘D’

Power gain:

It is the ratio of the power that must be radiated by an isotropic antenna (Pi) to develop
certain field strength at a certain given distance to the power fed to the given antenna
(Pg) to develop the same field strength at the same distance in the direction of its
maximum radiation

Bandwidth:

Bandwidth is a fundamental antenna parameter. Bandwidth describes the range of

frequencies over which the antenna can properly radiate or receive energy.

The bandwidth of a resonant antenna element can be characterized according to its Q(

Quality factor) value, However it is often assumed that there is an advantage in an
antenna having a high Q-factor, a low Q-factor typically signifies excessive loss. The
Q-factor of a narrowband antenna can be as high as 15. On the other hand for a thick
element antenna it can be as low as 5.

Beam width:

Beam width is a measurement of the area over which the antenna receives signal. It is
described as the angles created by comparing the half-power points (-3dB) on the main
radiation lobe to its maximum power point.

It can also be defined as the angle measured on the radiation pattern between the
points where the radiated power has fallen to half of its maximum value or the radiated
voltage has fallen to 0.707 times (-3dB) its maximum value.
Generally, the higher the gain, the smaller will be the beam width. An antenna with high
gain and low beam width receives signals over a smaller area, but received signals will
have strong strength (longer distance); whereas, an antenna with low gain and high
beam width receives signals over a larger area, but received signals will have weaker
strengths (shorter distance).

The beam width measurement for an antenna comes in two planes, the vertical and
horizontal plane.

Polarization:

Polarization of an antenna refers to the direction in space of the E field (Electric vector)
portion of the electromagnetic wave being radiated by the transmitting system.

Low-frequency antennas are usually vertically polarized because of ground effect

(reflected waves etc.) and physical construction methods.

High –frequency antennas are generally horizontally polarized. Horizontal polarization is

the more desired of the two because of its rejection to noise made by people, which is
vertically polarized.

Efficiency

Efficiency of a transmitting antenna is the ratio of power actually radiated (in all
directions) to the power absorbed by the antenna terminals. The power supplied to the
antenna terminals which is not radiated is converted into heat. This is usually through
loss resistance in the antenna's conductors, but can also be due to dielectric or
magnetic core losses in antennas (or antenna systems) using such components. Such
loss effectively robs power from the transmitter, requiring a stronger transmitter in order
to transmit a signal of a given strength

Antenna resistance:

The resistance of an antenna has two components

1. Radiation resistance

2. Antenna losses

1. Radiation resistance (Rr)

It is defined as the ratio of the power radiated by an antenna to the square of the current
at the input point.

It is also defined as the equivalent resistance which dissipates the same amount of
power as that radiated from the antenna when same current flows through them.

2. Antenna Losses ( Rd)

Losses occur in antenna due to various causes such as

1. Antenna to ground resistance

2. Discharge effects

3. imperfect dielectrics near the antenna

4. Eddy currents
The effective resistance due to all these causes is denoted by “Rd”

Radiation Resistance -Derivation

Derivation for the expression for radiation resistance and power radiated by antenna:

Consider a current element of length’dl’ at the center of a large sphere. Let r, θ, ϕ be the
spherical coordinates.

It is assumed that the dipole is radiating uniformly in all directions. Hence radio waves
are radiated by dipoles in the form of spherical waves.

At large distances from the conductor, a small part of the wave can be considered as
the plane wave.

The wave front is a plane which contains electric (E) and magnetic (H) vectors at right
angles and perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the wave.

The total power radiated from the dipole is given by the surface integral of the pointing
vector over surrounding surface.
Ungrounded and grounded Antenna
Ungrounded antennas:

When a source of radiation (antenna) is placed near a reflecting surface (earth), the
signal received at a distant point is the vector sum of the direct wave from the source
and the reflected wave. An explanation of the situation can be simplified if we visualize
an image antenna just below the earth’s surface. The image antenna is a true mirror
image of the actual antenna.
When a wave gets reflected its polarity changes by 1800. Suppose the direct and
reflected waves are of equal magnitude and phase angle. If they are at the same point
and at the same time they will cancel each other out. Their vector sum will be zero.

If the signals are put of phase, the reception may fade. If the signals are in phase the
reception may increase. The resulting effect is thus vector sum of two input signals.

Grounded Antennas:

If an antenna is grounded, the earth acts as a mirror. It becomes part of the

radiating system. The ungrounded antenna and its image together form a dipole array.
However the bottom of the grounded antenna is joined to the top of the image.

Suppose the grounded antenna is a quarter wave vertical radiator, the image is also
quarter wave in length. As a result the distribution of current and voltage of the system
is same as that of a half wave dipole in space.

Note: A λ/4 grounded antenna is called a Marconi antenna; A λ/4 ungrounded antenna is
called a hertz antenna. A Marconi antenna is advantageous over hertz antenna because
to produce any given radiation pattern a Marconi antenna need to be only half as high as
a Hertz antenna.

Effects of antenna height:

At low and medium frequencies, where wavelength is long, it often becomes

impracticable to use an antenna of resonant length. The vertical antennas used at those
frequencies are too short electrically. This creates situations which will be discussed
now.
Top loading: the actual antenna height should be at least a λ/4, but if the height of an
antenna is much less than this, the antenna will not be an efficient radiator. The input
impedance will be poor with low resistance and a large capacitive reactance.

As the radiation resistance decreases, the efficiency of the antenna decreases.

As the capacitive component is large it will be difficult to match the transmission line.

We can partially overcome the 2nd problem by placing an inductance in series with the
antenna. This will not result in an increase of the resistive component of the impedance.

The radiation resistance of an antenna can be effectively increased by adding a

horizontal portion to it at the top. This top loading is as shown in the figure (a). The
effect of this top loading is to increase the current at the base of the antenna. Also the
current distribution becomes more uniform. The top loading may consist of a single
horizontal piece. This may result in an inverted L antenna as shown in fig (b) or an T
antenna as shown in fib (c).

The top loading may also take the form of a top hat which consists of a number of
radical wires. The current distribution of a top loaded antenna is almost the same as
that of a basic Marconi.

Helical & Loop antenna

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.

Helix antenna is travelling wave antenna which means the current travels along the
antenna and the phase varies continuously.

Helical antennas can operate in one of two principal modes:

· Normal mode

· 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 polarized 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 polarized radio waves.

The benefits of this helix antenna are it has a wide bandwidth, is easily constructed, has
real input impedance, and can produce circularly polarized fields.

Loop antenna:

A loop antenna is a radio antenna consisting of a loop (or loops) of wire or other
electrical conductor with its ends connected to a balanced transmission line.

There are two very distinct antenna designs:

· Small loop (magnetic loop)

· Large loop (Resonant loop)

A small loop antenna, also known as a magnetic loop, generally has a circumference of
less than one tenth of a wavelength, in which case there will be a relatively constant
current distribution along the conductor. Loop antennas have poor efficiency and are
mainly used as receiving antennas at low frequencies. Loop antennas are relatively easy
to build.

Except for car radios, almost every AM broadcast receiver sold has such an antenna
built inside it or directly attached to it. These antennas are also used for radio direction
finding.
A large loop antenna, also known as resonant loop, generally has circumference
approximately equal to the wavelength. Resonant loop antennas are relatively large,
governed by the intended wavelength of operation. Thus they are typically used at
higher frequencies, especially VHF and UHF, where their size is manageable. They can
be viewed as a folded dipole deformed into a different shape, and have high radiation
efficiency.