Introduction into Antenna Studies

(Definition and circuit theory description. Brief historical notes. General

review of antenna geometries and arrangements. Wireless vs. cable
communication systems. The radio-frequency spectrum.)

1. Definition and circuit theory description

The antenna (aerial, EM radiator) is a device, which radiates or

receives electromagnetic waves.

The antenna is the transition between a guiding device (transmission line,

waveguide) and free space (or another usually unbounded medium). Its main
purpose is to convert the energy of a guided wave into the energy of a free-
space wave (or vice versa) as efficiently as possible, while at the same time
the radiated power has a certain desired pattern of distribution in space.

a) transmission-line Thevenin equivalent circuit of a radiating

(transmitting) antenna
Zg Rrad
IA

Vg Zc jX A
RL
Generator
Antenna

Z in
Vg - voltage-source generator (transmitter);
Zg - impedance of the generator (transmitter);
Rrad - radiation resistance (related to the radiated power as
Prad  I A2  Rrad )
RL - loss resistance (related to conduction and dielectric losses);
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jX A - antenna reactance.

The antenna impedance is Z A  ( Rrad  RL )  jX A .

One of the most important issues in the design of high-power transmission
systems is the matching of the antenna to the transmission line (TL) and the
generator. Matching is specified most often in terms of voltage standing-
wave ratio (VSWR). Standing waves are to be avoided because they may
cause arching or discharge in the TL. The resistive/dielectric losses are
undesirable, too. They decrease the efficiency of the antenna.

b) transmission-line Thevenin equivalent circuit of a receiving antenna

ZA
IA

ZL Zc VA

Receiver Antenna

Z ou
The antenna is a critical component in a wireless communication system.
A good design of the antenna can relax system requirements and improve its
overall performance.

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2. Brief historical notes
 James Clerk Maxwell formulates the mathematical
model of electromagnetism (classical electro-
dynamics), “A Treatise on Electricity and
Magnetism”, 1873. He shows that light is an
electromagnetic (EM) wave, and that all EM waves
propagate through space with the same speed, the
speed of light.
 Heinrich Rudolph Hertz demonstrates in 1886 the
first wireless EM wave system: a  / 2 -dipole is
excited with a spark; it radiates predominantly at
  8 m; a spark appears in the gap of a receiving
loop some 20 m away. In 1890, he publishes his
memoirs on electrodynamics, replacing all
potentials by field strengths.1
 May 7, 1895, a telegraph communication link is
demonstrated by the Russian scientist, Alexander
Popov. A message is sent from a Russian Navy
ship 30 miles out in sea, all the way to his lab in St.
Petersburg, Russia. This accomplishment is little
known today.
 In 1892, Tesla delivers a presentation at the IRE of
London about “transmitting intelligence without
wires,” and, in 1895, he transmits signals detected
80 km away. His patent on wireless links precedes
that of Marconi.
 Guglielmo Marconi sends signals over large
distances and successfully commercializes wireless
communication systems. In 1901, he performs the
first transatlantic transmission from Poldhu in
Cornwall, England, to Newfoundland, Canada. He
receives the Nobel prize for his work in 1909.

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Similar work is done at about the same time by the English scientist Oliver Heaviside.
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 The beginning of 20th century (until WW2) marks the boom in wire-
antenna technology (dipoles and loops) and in wireless technology as a
whole, which is largely due to the invention of the DeForest triode tube,
used as radio-frequency generator. Radio links are possible up to UHF
(about 500 MHz) and over thousands of kilometers.
 WW2 marks a new era in wireless communications and antenna
technology. The invention of new microwave generators (magnetron and
klystron) leads to the development of the microwave antennas such as
waveguide apertures, horns, reflectors, etc.

3. General review of antenna geometries and arrangements

3.1. Single-element radiators
A. Wire radiators (single-element)

wire antenna elements

straight-wire elements
loops helices
(dipoles/monopoles)

There is a variety of shapes corresponding to each group. For example,

loops can be circular, square, rhombic, etc. Wire antennas are simple to make
but their dimensions are commensurable with the wavelength. This limits the
frequency range of their applicability (at most 1-2 GHz). At low frequencies,
these antennas become increasingly large.

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Aperture antennas (single element)

Aperture antennas were

developed before and
during the WW2 together
with the emerging
waveguide technology.
Waveguide transmission
lines were primarily
(Q-par Angus)
developed to transfer high-
(a) pyramidal horn power microwave EM
signals (centimeter
wavelengths), generated
by powerful microwave
sources such as
magnetrons and klystrons.
These types of antennas
are preferable in the
(Radiometer Physics Gmbh)
frequency range from 1 to
(b) conical horn 20 GHz.

or

(c) open rectangular waveguide

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(Quinstar Technology Inc.)
(d) double-ridge horns (TEM, linear polarization, ultra-wide band)

(TMC Design Corp.)

(e) quad-ridge horns (TEM, dual linear polarization allowing for many
types of polarization depending on feed , ultra-wide band)

(ZAX Millimeter Wave Corp.)

(f) corrugated horns (symmetric patterns, low side lobes, low cross-
polarization)
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C. Printed antennas
The patch antennas consist of a metallic patch etched on a dielectric
substrate, which has a grounded metallic plane at the opposite side. They are
developed in the beginning of 1970s. There is great variety of geometries and
ways of excitation. Modern integrated antennas often use multi-layer designs
with a feed coupled to the radiator electro-magnetically (no galvanic contact).

PRINTED PATCH RADIATORS

rectangular patch circular patch

(c)
printed dipole

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director
driver
dielectric substrate
quarter-wave
transformer
reflector top layer

bottom layer
microstrip

2.56
0.64
x2 x3
0.64

x1
1.92

x3
0.64

x1
1.92

reflector

(d)
double-layer printed Yagi with electromagnetically-coupled feed

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Classical and not so classical shapes used to form a radiating patch:

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PRINTED SLOT RADIATORS

Slot antennas were

developed in the 1980s and
there is still intensive research
related to new shapes and types
of excitation. They are suited
for integration with slot-line
circuits, which are usually
(a) (b) designed to operate at
frequencies > 10 GHz.
Popular slot antenna in the
microwave range is the Vivaldi
slot (see a).

Both patch and slot antennas

share some common features.
(c) (d) They are easy and cheap to
fabricate. They are easy to
mount; they are light and
mechanically robust. They
have low cross-polarization
radiation. Their directivity is
not very high. They have
relatively high conducting and
dielectric losses. These
(e) (f) radiators are widely used in
patch/slot arrays, which are
esp. convenient for use in
spacecraft, satellites, missiles,
cars and other mobile
applications.

(g) (h)

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D. Leaky-wave antennas

These are antennas derived from millimeter-wave (mm-wave) guides,

such as dielectric guides, microstrip lines, coplanar and slot lines. They are
developed for applications at frequencies > 30 GHz, infrared frequencies
included. Periodical discontinuities are introduced at the end of the guide that
lead to substantial radiation leakage (radiation from the dielectric surface).
These are traveling-wave antennas.

Dielectric-image guides with gratings

Printed leaky-wave antennas

The antennas in the mm-wave band are of big variety and are a subject of
intensive study.
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E. Reflector antennas
A reflector is used to concentrate the EM energy in a focal point where
the receiver/feed is located. Optical astronomers have long known that a
parabolic cylinder mirror transforms rays from a line source on its focal line
into a bundle of parallel rays. Reflectors are usually parabolic. A parabolic-
cylinder reflector was first used for radio waves by Heinrich Hertz in 1888.
Sometimes, corner reflectors are used. Reflector antennas have very high
gain and directivity. Typical applications: radio telescopes, satellite
communications. They are not easy to fabricate and, in their conventional
technology, they are rather heavy. They are not mechanically robust.
The largest radio telescopes:
 Max Plank Institüt für Radioastronomie radio telescope, Effelsberg
(Germany), 100-m paraboloidal reflector
 National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (USA) radio telescope
in Arecibo (Puerto Rico), 1000-ft (304.8-m) spherical reflector
 The Green Bank Telescope (the National Radio Astronomy
Observatory) – paraboloid of aperture 100 m

TYPICAL REFLECTORS

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The Arecibo Observatory Radio Telescope

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F. Lens antennas

Lenses play a similar role to that of reflectors in reflector antennas. They

collimate divergent energy into more or less plane EM wave. Lenses are
often preferred to reflectors at higher frequencies (f > 100 GHz). They are
classified according to their shape and the material they are made of.

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3.2. Antenna arrays
Antenna arrays consist of multiple (usually identical) radiating elements.
Arranging the radiating elements in arrays allows achieving unique radiation
characteristics, which cannot be obtained through a single element. The
careful choice and control of the phase shift and the amplitude of the signal
fed to each element allows the change of the radiation pattern electronically –
electronic scanning. Such arrays are called phased arrays. The design and the
analysis of antenna arrays is a subject of its own, which is also related to
signal processing. Intensive research goes on nowadays, concerning smart
antennas, signal-processing antennas, tracking antennas, etc. Some
commonly met arrays are shown in the figure below.

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NRAO/ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter Array): array of radio telescopes

Array of Microstrip Patches

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4. Wireless vs. cable communication systems
There are two broad categories of communication systems: those that
utilize transmission lines as interconnections (cable systems), and those that
use EM radiation with an antenna at both the transmitting and the receiving
end (wireless systems).
In areas of high density population, the cable systems are economically
preferable, especially when broadband communication is in place. Even for
narrow-band communication, such as voice telephony and low-data-rate
digital transmission, it is much simpler and cheaper to build wire networks
with twisted-pair cables, when many users are to be interconnected. Such
lines introduce very little attenuation at low frequencies, e.g., at about 10 kHz
the loss is 2-3 dB/km. At higher frequencies, however, the losses increase
and so does the signal dispersion. At 10 MHz, a twisted-pair cable has a
typical loss value of 7 dB per 100 meters.
At high-frequency carriers for broadband signals (TV transmission and
high-data-rate digital transmission), coaxial cables are commonly used. At 1
GHz, the loss of a typical high-quality coaxial cable is around 2 dB per 100
meters (power decreases about 1.6 times). In the USA, the cable loss is rated
in dB per 100 feet, so a good coaxial cable has about 0.6 dB/100ft loss.
The least distortion and losses are offered by the optical-fiber
transmission lines, which operate at three different wavelengths: 850 nm (
2.3 dB/km), 1300 nm ( 0.25 dB/km) and 1550 nm ( 0.25 dB/km). Optical
fibers are relatively expensive and the respective transmitting/receiving
equipment is also costly. Transmission lines provide a measure of security
and noise-suppression (coaxial, optical-fiber), but they are not the best option
in many cases (long distance, wide spread over large areas, less frequency
dispersion).
A fundamental feature of all transmission lines is the exponential increase
of loss power. Thus, if the loss is 5 dB/km, then a 20-km line will have 100
dB power loss (input power is reduced by a factor of 10-10), a 40-km line will
have a 200 dB power loss. This makes it obvious why wireless systems are
preferred for long-range communications, and in scarcely populated areas. In
most wireless channels, the radiated power per unit area decreases as the
inverse square of the distance r between the transmitting and the receiving
point. Doubling the distance r would decrease the received power by a factor
of 4 (or 6 dB are added to the loss). Thus, if a particular system has a 100 dB
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loss at r = 20 km, doubling the distance will result in 106 dB loss (as
compared to 200 dB loss in a cable system). The comparison between the
coaxial-line losses and free-space attenuation at f=100 MHz is given in the
figure below.

(Fig. 33 in Siwiak, Radiowave Propagation and Antennas for Personal Communications)

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Modern personal mobile communications services

 cordless telephony
 cellular telephony
 mobile data transport (3G and 4G PCS)
 computer network communications: WLANs and bluetooth
 personal satellite communications
 global positioning and navigation systems

Besides, there is a variety of special application of wireless technology in

 radar systems (navigation, collision, guidance, defense, missile, etc.)
 microwave relay links
 satellite systems (TV, telephony, military)
 radio astronomy
 biomedical engineering
 RF identification (RFID)
 animal (migration) tracking
etc.

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5. The radio-frequency spectrum

Table 1.1: General designation of frequency bands

Frequency band EM wavelength Designation Services
3-30 kHz 100-10 km Very Low Frequency Navigation, sonar, submarine
(VLF)

30-300 kHz 10-1 km Low Frequency (LF) Radio beacons, navigation

300-3000 kHz 1000-100 m Medium Frequency AM broadcast, maritime/ coast-

(MF) guard radio

3-30 MHz 100-10 m High Frequency Telephone, telegraph, fax; amateur

(HF) radio, ship-to-coast and ship-to-
aircraft communication

30-300 MHz 10-1 m Very High Frequency TV, FM broadcast, air traffic
(VHF) control, police, taxicab mobile radio

300-3000 MHz 100-10 cm Ultrahigh Frequency TV, satellite, radiosonde, radar,

(UHF) cellular (GSM, PCS)

3-30 GHz 10-1 cm Super high Frequency Airborne radar, microwave links,
(SHF) satellite, land mobile
communication

30-300 GHz 10-1 mm Extremely High Radar, experimental

Frequency (EHF)

Table 2.1: Microwave-band designation

Frequency Old New
500-1000 MHz VHF C
1-2 GHz L D
2-3 GHz S E
3-4 GHz S F
4-6 GHz C G
6-8 GHz C H
8-10 GHz X I
10-12.4 GHz X J
12.4-18 GHz Ku J
18-20 GHz K J
20-26.5 GHz K K
26.5-40 GHz Ka K


Sonar (an acronym for Sound, Navigation and Ranging) is a system for underwater detection and location of objects by
acoustical echo. The first sonars, invented during World War I by British, American and French scientists, were used to
locate submarines and icebergs. Sonar is an American term dating from World War II.
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