Antenna or Radiating Systems: Radio Waves Radio Radio Television Wireless LAN Cell Phones Radar Spacecraft Outer Space

Antenna or Radiating systems
An antenna (or aerial) is a transducer that transmits or

receives electromagnetic waves. In other words,
antennas convert electromagnetic radiation into electrical
current, or vice versa. Antennas generally deal in the
transmission and reception of radio waves, and are a
necessary part of all radio equipment. Antennas are
used in systems such as radio and television
broadcasting, point-to-point radio communication,
wireless LAN, cell phones, radar, and spacecraft
communication. Antennas are most commonly employed
in air or outer space, but can also be operated under
water or even through soil and rock at certain
frequencies for short distances.
Physically, an antenna is an arrangement of one or more

conductors, usually called elements in this context. In
transmission, an alternating current is created in the
elements by applying a voltage at the antenna terminals,
causing the elements to radiate an electromagnetic field.
In reception, the inverse occurs: an electromagnetic field
from another source induces an alternating current in the
elements and a corresponding voltage at the antenna's
terminals. Some receiving antennas (such as parabolic
and horn types) incorporate shaped reflective surfaces to
collect the radio waves striking them and direct or focus
them onto the actual conductive elements.
Some of the first rudimentary antennas

were built in 1888 by Heinrich Hertz
(18571894) in his pioneering
experiments to prove the existence of
electromagnetic waves predicted by the
theory of James Clerk Maxwell. Hertz
placed the emitter dipole in the focal point
of a parabolic reflector
Antennas have practical uses for the transmission and reception of

radio frequency signals such as radio and television. In air, those
signals travel very quickly and with a very low transmission loss.
The signals are absorbed when moving through more conductive
materials, such as concrete walls or rock. When encountering an
interface, the waves are partially reflected and partially transmitted
through.
A common antenna is a vertical rod a quarter of a wavelength long.
Such antennas are simple in construction, usually inexpensive, and
both radiate in and receive from all horizontal directions (omni
directional). One limitation of this antenna is that it does not radiate
or receive in the direction in which the rod points. This region is
called the antenna blind cone or null.
There are two fundamental types of antenna

directional patterns, which, with reference to a
specific two dimensional plane (usually
horizontal [parallel to the ground] or vertical
[perpendicular to the ground]), are either:
Omni-directional (radiates equally in all
directions), such as a vertical rod (in the
horizontal plane) or
Directional (radiates more in one direction than
in the other).
Introduction to Antenna system

An antenna is an electrical conductor or
system of conductors
Transmission - radiates electromagnetic energy
into space
Reception - collects electromagnetic energy from
space
In two-way communication, the same antenna

can be used for transmission and reception
Types of Antennas
Isotropic antenna (idealized)
Radiates power equally in all directions
Dipole antennas
Half-wave dipole antenna (or Hertz antenna)
Quarter-wave vertical antenna (or Marconi
antenna)
Parabolic Reflective Antenna
Isotropic Antenna
The isotropic radiator is a purely theoretical
antenna that radiates equally in all directions. It
is considered to be a point in space with no
dimensions and no mass. This antenna cannot
physically exist, but is useful as a theoretical
model for comparison with all other antennas.
Most antennas' gains are measured with
reference to an isotropic radiator, and are rated
in dBi (decibels with respect to an isotropic
radiator).
Isotropic Antenna
The power density, S, due to an isotropic
radiator is a function only of the distance,
d, from the antenna and can be expressed
as the total power divided by the area
of a sphere with radius d.
Dipole Antenna
The dipole antenna is simply two wires pointed in
opposite directions arranged either horizontally or
vertically, with one end of each wire connected to the
radio and the other end hanging free in space. Since this
is the simplest practical antenna, it is also used as a
reference model for other antennas; gain with respect to
a dipole is labeled as dBd. Generally, the dipole is
considered to be omnidirectional in the plane
perpendicular to the axis of the antenna, but it has deep
nulls in the directions of the axis. Variations of the dipole
include the folded dipole, the half wave antenna, the
ground plane antenna,
Yagi Antenna Wire Antenna

The Yagi-Uda antenna is a directional variation
of the dipole with parasitic elements added
which are functionality similar to adding a
reflector and lenses (directors) to focus a
filament light bulb.
The random wire antenna is simply a very long
(at least one quarter wavelength) wire with one
end connected to the radio and the other in free
space, arranged in any way most convenient for
the space available. Folding will reduce
effectiveness and make theoretical analysis
extremely difficult
Horn,parabolic and Patch Antenna
The horn is used where high gain is needed, the wavelength is short
(microwave) and space is not an issue. Horns can be narrow band
or wide band, depending on their shape. A horn can be built for any
frequency, but horns for lower frequencies are typically impractical.
Horns are also frequently used as reference antennas.
The parabolic antenna consists of an active element at the focus of
a parabolic reflector to reflect the waves into a plane wave. Like the
horn it is used for high gain, microwave applications, such as
satellite dishes.
The patch antenna consists mainly of a square conductor mounted
over a groundplane. Another example of a planar antenna is the
tapered slot antenna (TSA), as the Vivaldi-antenna.
Antenna Gain
Antenna gain
Power output, in a particular direction, compared
to that produced in any direction by a perfect
omnidirectional antenna (isotropic antenna)
Effective area
Related to physical size and shape of antenna
effective area, or capture area, which is

defined as
where Ap is the physical area of the

antenna and h is the overall efficiency of
the antenna (generally ranging from 50%
to 80%).
Antenna Gain
Gain as a parameter measures the efficiency of a given
antenna with respect to a given direction, usually
achieved by modification of its directionality. An antenna
with a low gain emits radiation with about the same
power in all directions, whereas a high-gain antenna will
preferentially radiate in particular directions. Specifically,
the Gain, Directive gain or Power gain of an antenna is
defined as the ratio of the intensity (power per unit
surface) radiated by the antenna in a given direction at
an arbitrary distance divided by the intensity radiated at
the same distance by a hypothetical isotropic antenna.
Antenna Gain
High-gain antennas have the advantage of longer range

and better signal quality, but must be aimed carefully in a
particular direction. Low-gain antennas have shorter
range, but the orientation of the antenna is relatively
inconsequential. For example, a dish antenna on a
spacecraft is a high-gain device that must be pointed at
the planet to be effective, whereas a typical Wi-Fi
antenna in a laptop computer is low-gain, and as long as
the base station is within range, the antenna can be in
any orientation in space. It makes sense to improve
horizontal range at the expense of reception above or
below the antenna. Thus most antennas labelled
"omnidirectional" really have some gain.
Antenna Gain
Relationship between antenna gain and effective area
4Ae 4f Ae
G 2
2
c
G = antenna gain
2
Ae = effective area
f = carrier frequency
c = speed of light ( 3 108 m/s)
= carrier wavelength
Production of Electromagnetic waves
Radiation Patterns
Radiation pattern
Graphical representation of radiation properties of an
antenna
Depicted as two-dimensional cross section
Beam width (or half-power beam width)

Measure of directivity of antenna
Reception pattern
Receiving antennas equivalent to radiation pattern
Radiation Patterns
The radiation pattern of an antenna is the
geometric pattern of the relative field strengths
of the field emitted by the antenna. For the ideal
isotropic antenna, this would be a sphere. For a
typical dipole, this would be a toroid. The
radiation pattern of an antenna is typically
represented by a three dimensional graph, or
polar plots of the horizontal and vertical cross
sections. The graph should show sidelobes and
backlobes, where the antenna's gain is at a
minima or maxima.
Radiation Patterns
Transmission and reception

All of the antenna parameters are expressed in terms of
a transmission antenna, but are identically applicable to
a receiving antenna, due to reciprocity. Impedance,
however, is not applied in an obvious way; for
impedance, the impedance at the load (where the power
is consumed) is most critical. For a transmitting antenna,
this is the antenna itself. For a receiving antenna, this is
at the (radio) receiver rather than at the antenna. Tuning
is done by adjusting the length of an electrically long
linear antenna to alter the electrical resonance of the
antenna.

Antennas used for transmission have a
maximum power rating, beyond which heating,
arcing or sparking may occur in the components,
which may cause them to be damaged or
destroyed. Raising this maximum power rating
usually requires larger and heavier components,
which may require larger and heavier supporting
structures. This is a concern only for transmitting
antennas, as the power received by an antenna
rarely exceeds the microwatt range.

Antennas designed specifically for reception might be
optimized for noise rejection capabilities. An antenna shield
is a conductive or low reluctance structure (such as a wire,
plate or grid) which is adapted to be placed in the vicinity of
an antenna to reduce, as by dissipation through a resistance
or by conduction to ground, undesired electromagnetic
radiation, or electric or magnetic fields, which are directed
toward the active antenna from an external source or which
emanate from the active antenna. Other methods to
optimize for noise rejection can be done by selecting a
narrow bandwidth so that noise from other frequencies is
rejected, or selecting a specific radiation pattern to reject
noise from a specific direction, or by selecting a polarization
different from the noise polarization, or by selecting an
antenna that favors either the electric or magnetic field.
Noise Factor
An antenna to be used for reception of low
frequencies (below about ten megahertz) will be
subject to both man-made noise from motors
and other machinery, and from natural sources
such as lightning. Successfully rejecting these
forms of noise is an important antenna feature. A
small coil of wire with many turns is more able to
reject such noise than a vertical antenna.
However, the vertical will radiate much more
effectively on transmit, where extraneous signals
are not a concern

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Antenna or Radiating systems

An antenna (or aerial) is a transducer that transmits or

Physically, an antenna is an arrangement of one or more

Some of the first rudimentary antennas

Antennas have practical uses for the transmission and reception of

There are two fundamental types of antenna

Introduction to Antenna system

In two-way communication, the same antenna

Parabolic Reflective Antenna

Yagi Antenna Wire Antenna

Horn,parabolic and Patch Antenna

effective area, or capture area, which is

where Ap is the physical area of the

High-gain antennas have the advantage of longer range

Production of Electromagnetic waves

Beam width (or half-power beam width)

Transmission and reception

Transmission and reception

Transmission and reception

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