Antennas for Wireless

Communications
Lecturer Prof. Boris Kapilevich
Semester A, 2012-13

Ariel University Center of Samaria

Dept. of Electrical and Electronics Eng.
1

Course Outline
Introduction Antennas basics Point sources Array of point sources Electric dipole and linear wire antennas Loop antennas Yagi-Uda array and helical antennas Slot, patch and horn antennas Corner and parabolic reflector antennas UWB and frequency independent antennas Mutual impedances and arrays of dipoles and apertures Lens antennas Antenna temperature, remote sensing and radar cross section (RCS) Antennas for special applications, smart and small antennas
2

Recommended Readings
1. C.A.Balanis, Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design, Wiley, 1997

2. W.L.Shutzman and G.A.Thiele, Antenna Theory and Design, Wiley, 1998

3. R.E.Collin, Antennas and Radiowave Propagation, McGraw-Hill, 1985 4. T.S.Rappaport, Wireless Communications: Principles and Practice, Prentice Hall, 1996 5. J.D.Kraus and R.J.Marhefka, Antennas for All applications, McGraw, 2003
3

Lecture 1
1.1 Introduction
Radio Systems and Antennas
Basics of Electromagnetics

1.2 Overview of Antennas

Resonant antennas Broadband antennas

Aperture antennas
Electrically small antennas Reflector Antennas Lens antennas
4

(CONT.)

1.3 RADIATION MECHANISM

Single Wire Twin-Wires Dipole

1.4 Current Distribution on a Thin Wire Antenna 1.5 Some Future Challenges

1.1 Introduction
Brief history: 1.1842 Joseph Henry has detected lighting flash with a vertical wire on the roof of his house; 2.1885 Thomas Edison patented a communication system that employed top-loaded vertical antennas; 3. 1887 Heinrich Hertz has constructed small dipole called Hertzian dipole, single resonant loop and reflector antenna.
6

Experimental set-up of Hertzs apparatus

Brief history (cont.) 4. 1872 Mahlon Loomis received US patent in which has described an aerial 5. 1897 Alexander Popov is sometimes credited with using first antenna in his first radio system by sending a signal over 3-mile ship-to-shore path.
6. In beginning 20s century Marconi suggested monopole transmitting antenna for transatlantic radio communication at 70 KHz
8

Brief history (cont.) 7. Just before World War II microwave klystron and magnetron were developed leading to development horn, reflector, lens, waveguide slot and other types of antennas that will be subject of this course.
Applications: Mobile communications involving aircraft, spacecraft, ships, or land vehicles; TV and broadcasting; Non-broadcast applications such as municipal radio (police, fire, rescue) and amateur radio; Personal communication such as cellular phones; Non communication applications such as remote sensing, 9 medical and industrial.

Most fundamentally, an antenna is a way of converting the guided waves in a waveguide, microstrip or other transmission line into radiating waves traveling in free space or vice versa.

10

 Radio Systems and Antennas

A radio system is generally considered to be an electronic system which employs radio waves, a type of electromagnetic wave up to GHz frequencies. An antenna, as an essential part of a radio system, is defined as a device which can radiate and receive electromagnetic energy in an efficient and desired manner. It is normally made of metal, but other materials may also be used. For example, ceramic or plastic materials have been employed to make dielectric rod antennas. Since radio systems possess some unique and attractive advantages over wired systems, numerous radio systems have been developed. TV, radar and mobile radio communication systems are just some examples. The advantages include: mobility: this is essential for mobile communications; good coverage: the radiation from an antenna can cover a very large area, which is good for TV and radio broadcasting and mobile communications;
11

CONT. low path loss: this is frequency dependent. Since the loss of a transmission line is an exponential function of the distance (the loss in dB = distance per unit loss in dB) and the loss of a radio wave is proportional to the distance squared, the path loss of radio waves can be much smaller than that of a cable link. Details will be considered in the Wave Propagation course. The antenna radiates the information in the form of an electromagnetic wave in an efficient and desired manner to the destination, where the information is picked up by the receive antenna and passed on to the receiver via another transmission line. The signals is demodulated and the original message is then recovered at the receiver.

12

Now it is clear that the antenna is actually a transformer of voltage/current to electric/ magnetic fields, it can also be considered a bridge to link the radio wave and transmission line. An antenna system is defined as the combination of the antenna and its feed line. As an antenna is usually connected to a transmission line, how to best make this connection is a subject of interest, since the signal from the feed line should be radiated into the space in an efficient and desired way. In some applications where space is very limited (such as hand-portable devices and aircraft), it is desirable to integrate the antenna and its feed line. In other applications (such as the reception of TV broadcasting), the antenna is far away from the receiver and a long transmission line has to be used. For different applications, the requirements on the antenna may be very different, even for the same frequency band. In conclusion, the subject of antennas is about how to design a suitable device which will be well matched with its feed line and radiate/receive the radio waves in an efficient and desired manner.
13

 Basics of Electromagnetics

The Electric Field The electric field (in V/m) is defined as the force (in Newtons) per unit charge (in Coulombs). From this definition and Coulombs law, the electric field, E, created by a single point charge Q at a distance r is

The product of the permittivity and the electric field is called the electric flux density, D, which is a measure of how much electric flux passes through a unit area, i.e.
14

 is the electric permittivity (it is also called the dielectric constant, but is normally a function of frequency and not really a constant, thus permittivity is preferred in this course) of the material. r = /0 is called the relative permittivity or relative dielectric constant. The relative permittivities of some common materials can be found in the referenced books (Google, Wikipedia, etc.) or from the manufacturer data sheets. In free space, it is a constant:

The electric flux density is also called the electric displacement, hence the symbol D. It is also a vector. In an isotropic material (properties independent of direction), D and E are in the same direction and is a scalar quantity. In an anisotropic material, D and E may be in different directions if is a tensor.
15

If the permittivity is a complex number, it means that the material has some loss. The complex permittivity can be written as

The ratio of the imaginary part to the real part is called the loss tangent, that is It has no unit and is also a function of frequency and temperature. The electric field E is related to the current density J (in A/m2), another important parameter, by Ohms law. The relationship between them at a point can be expressed as where is the conductivity, which is the reciprocal of resistivity. It is a measure of a materials ability to conduct an electrical current and is expressed in Siemens per 16 meter (S/m).

The Magnetic Field Whilst charges can generate an electric field, currents can generate a magnetic field. The magnetic field, H (in A/m), is the vector field which forms closed loops around electric currents or magnets. The magnetic field from a current vector I is given by the BiotSavart law as

where r is the unit displacement vector from the current element to the field point and r is the distance from the current element to the field point. I, r and H follow the right-hand rule; that is, H is orthogonal to both I and r , as illustrated by Figure
17

The product of H is called the magnetic flux density B (in Tesla), the counterpart of the electric flux density. is the magnetic permeability of the material. Its unit is Henries per meter (H/m). In free space, the permeability is

Thus

Again, in an isotropic material (properties independent of direction), B and H are in the same direction and is a scalar quantity. In an anisotropic material, B and H may be in different directions and is a tensor. Like the relative permittivity, the relative permeability is given as

18

Maxwells Equations Maxwells equations are a set of equations first presented as a distinct group in the latter half of the nineteenth century by James Clerk Maxwell (1831 1879), pictured in Figure. Mathematically they can be expressed in the following differential form:

19

Most importantly, he introduced an extra term to Amperes Circuital Law, the second equation of the system (previous slide). This extra term is the time derivative of the electric field and is known as Maxwells displacement current
For a time-harmonic electromagnetic field (which means a field linked to time by factor ejt where is the angular frequency and t is the time), we can use the constitutive relations

to write Maxwells equations in the following form where B and D are replaced by the electric field E and magnetic field H to simplify the equations and they will not appear again unless necessary. 20

It should be pointed out that the expressing (1 j / ) can be viewed as a complex permittivity defined above. In this case, the loss tangent is

Boundary Conditions: Maxwells equations can also be written in the integral form as

If we apply the first equation of Maxwells equations in integral form to the boundary between Medium 1 and Medium 2,
21

Similarly, we can apply the other three Maxwell equations to this boundary to obtain: where Js is the surface current density and s is the surface charge density. These results can be interpreted: 1. the change in tangential component of the magnetic field across a boundary is equal to the surface current density on the boundary; 2. the change in the normal component of the electric flux density across a boundary is equal to the surface charge density on the boundary; 3. the normal component of the magnetic flux density is continuous across the boundary between two media, whilst the normal component of the magnetic field is not continuous unless 1= 2. Applying these boundary conditions on a perfect conductor (which means no electric and magnetic field inside and the conductivity =) in the air, we have
22

A transmission-line Thevenin equivalent of the antenna system in transmitting mode is shown in Figure where the source is represented by an ideal generator, the transmission line is represented by a line with characteristic impedance Zc, and the antenna is represented by a load ZA = (RL + Rr ) + jXA connected to the transmission line.

RL real part of the load impedance; XA - imaginary part of the load impedance;

French telegraph engineer Lon Charles Thvenin (1857-1926)

Rr radiation resistance (Rr =2Pr /I2 ).

The load resistance RL is used to represent the conduction and dielectric losses associated with the antenna structure while Rr , referred to as the radiation resistance, is used to represent radiation by the antenna. The reactance XA is used to represent the imaginary part of the impedance associated with radiation by the antenna. If the antenna system is not properly designed then: 1. The transmission line could act to a large degree as an energy storage element instead of as a wave guiding and energy transporting device. 2. If the maximum field intensities of the standing wave are sufficiently large, they can cause electric discharge inside the transmission lines. 3. The losses due to the line, antenna, and the standing waves are undesirable. 4. The losses due to the line can be minimized by selecting low-loss lines while those of the antenna can be decreased by reducing the loss resistance represented by RL 5. The standing waves can be reduced, and the energy storage capacity of the line minimized, by matching the impedance of the antenna (load) to the characteristic impedance of the line. 24

EXAMPLE. A lossless quarter-wave monopole antenna is suited above

conducting roof of the car and is driven by a 100V, source that has internal impedance of 50 . Calculate the average power radiated by the antenna, given Xin = 21.25 . SOLUTION: Following the equivalent circuit of the antenna we can find the current:

25

In addition to receiving or transmitting energy, an antenna in an advanced wireless system is usually required to optimize or accentuate the radiation energy in some directions and suppress it in others. Thus the antenna must also serve as a directional device in addition to a probing device.

It must then take various forms to meet the particular need at hand, and it may be a piece of conducting wire, an aperture, a patch, an assembly of elements (array), a reflector, a lens, and so forth. For wireless communication systems, the antenna is one of the most critical components. A good design of the antenna can relax system requirements and improve overall system performance.

The antenna serves to a communication system the same purpose that eyes and eyeglasses serve to a human.

26

1.2 OVERVIEWS OF ANTENNAS Antenna performance parameters:

Radiation Pattern F(,) Angular variation of radiation around the antenna, including: - Directive, single or multiple beams -Omnidirectional (uniform radiation in one plane) - Shaped main beam Directivity D Ratio of power density in the direction of pattern maximum to the average density at the same distance from antenna. Gain G - Directivity reduced by the losses on the antenna. Polarization - The figure traced out with time by the instantaneous electric field associated with the radiation from an antenna when transmitting. Antenna polarizations: Linear, Circular, Elliptical. Impedance ZA - Input impedance at the antenna terminals. Bandwidth Range of frequency over which important performance parameters are acceptable.
27

 Scanning Movement of the radiation pattern in space. Scanning is

accomplished by mechanical movement or by electronic means such as adjustment of antenna current phase. System considerations Size, weight, power handling, radar cross section, environmental operating conditions, etc.

There are trade-offs between parameters values. Usually, performance cannot be improved significantly for one parameter without scarifying one or more of other parameter level. This is the antenna design challenge (art).
28

Basic antennas types:

Antennas can be subdivided into several basic types by their performance as a function of frequency: Electrically small antennas (VHF and below). The extent of the antenna structure is much less than wavelength . - Properties: low directivity, low input resistance, high input reactance, low radiation efficiency. Vertical monopole used for AM reception on cars is a good example. It is about 0.003 long and has nearly omnidirectional pattern in the horizontal plane. This is often desirable property, but its low input resistance and high input reactance are serious disadvantages.

29

 Resonant antennas: The antennas operate well at a single or selected narrow bands: - Properties: low to moderate gain, real input impedance, narrow bandwidth. It has broad main beam and gain about a few dB. The half-wavelength long dipole is a prominent example.

30

 Broadband antennas: The pattern, gain, and impedance are nearly constant over a wide range. Properties: low to moderate gain, constant gain, real input impedance, wide bandwidth typically 2:1 or sometimes 20:1. It has broad main beam and gain about a few dB. For example,WiMAX (worldwide interoperability for microwave access) is one of the latest systems aimed at providing high-speed wireless data communications (>10 Mb/s) over long distances from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular-type access over a wide frequency band.

LOG-PERIODIC ANTENNA bandwidth from 250MHz to 2500MHz

31

1.2.1 Wire Antennas

Wire antennas are familiar to the layman because they are seen virtually everywhere on automobiles, buildings, ships, aircraft, spacecraft, and so on.
There are various shapes of wire antennas such as a straight wire (dipole), loop, and helix which are shown in Figure. Loop antennas need not only be circular. They may take the form of a rectangle, square, ellipse, or any other configuration. The circular loop is the most common because of its simplicity in 32 construction.

1.2.2 Aperture Antennas

Has a physical aperture(opening) trough which waves flow. -Properties: high gain, gain increase with frequency, moderate bandwidth. A horn antenna is a good example. It acts as a funnel, directing the waves into the connecting waveguide. -The aperture is usually several wavelengths long in one or two dimensions. The pattern usually has a narrow main beam leading to high gain, typically 20 40 dB
33

1.2.3 Microstrip Antennas

These antennas consist of a metallic patch on a grounded substrate. The metallic patch can take many different configurations, as shown in Figure . However, the rectangular and circular patches, are the most popular because of: 1. ease of analysis and fabrication using modern printed-circuit technology ; 2. their attractive radiation characteristics, especially low cross-polarization radiation; 3. low profile, comformable to planar and nonplanar surfaces; 4. compatibility with MMIC designs, and very versatile in terms of resonant frequency, polarization, pattern, and 34 impedance.

1.2.4 Array Antennas

Many applications require radiation characteristics that may not be achievable by a single element. It may, however, be possible that an aggregate of radiating elements in an electrical and geometrical arrangement (an array) will result in the desired radiation characteristics.

35

1.2.5 Reflector Antennas

Because of the need to communicate over great distances, sophisticated forms of antennas had to be used in order to transmit and receive signals that had to travel millions of miles. A very common antenna form for such an application is a parabolic reflectors shown in Figures (a) (b). Antennas of this type have been built with diameters as large as 305 m! Such large dimensions are needed to achieve the high gain required to transmit or receive signals after millions of miles of travel. Another form of a reflector, although not as common as the parabolic, is the corner reflector shown in Figure (c).
36

1.2.6 Lens Antennas

Lenses are primarily used to collimate incident divergent energy to prevent it from spreading in undesired directions. By properly shaping the geometrical configuration and choosing the appropriate material of the lenses, they can transform various forms of divergent energy into plane waves. They can be used in most of the same applications as are the parabolic reflectors, especially at higher frequencies.

Their dimensions and weight become exceedingly large at lower frequencies. Lens antennas are classified according to the material from which they are constructed, or according to their geometrical shape. 37

As a summary, an ideal antenna is one that will

radiate all the power delivered to it from the transmitter in a desired direction or directions. In practice, however, such ideal performances cannot be achieved but may be closely approached.
Various types of antennas are available and each type can take different forms in order to achieve the desired radiation characteristics for the particular application. Throughout the course, the radiation characteristics of most of these antennas are discussed in detail.
38

1.3 RADIATION MECHANISM

One of the first questions that may be asked concerning antennas would be how is radiation accomplished? In other words, how are the electromagnetic fields generated by the source, contained and guided within the transmission line, and finally detached from the antenna to form a free-space wave? However, let us first examine some basic sources of radiation.

39

1.3.1 Single Wire

We will primarily concentrate on the very thin wire. If the current is time varying, then the derivative of the current be written as

where ql (coulombs/m) is the charge per unit length; dvz /dt = az (meters/sec2) is the acceleration. If the wire is of length l, then we can write

This equation is the basic relation between current and charge, and it also serves as the fundamental relation of electromagnetic radiation.It simply states that to create radiation, there must be a time-varying current or an 40 acceleration (or deceleration) of charge.

To create charge acceleration (or deceleration) the wire must be curved, bent, discontinuous, or terminated. Periodic charge acceleration (or deceleration) or time-varying current is also created when charge is oscillating in a time-harmonic motion.

Therefore: 1. If a charge is not moving, current is not created and there is no radiation. 2. If charge is moving with a uniform velocity: a. There is no radiation if the wire is straight, and infinite in extent. b. There is radiation if the wire is curved, bent, discontinuous, terminated, or truncated. 3. If charge is oscillating in a time-motion, it radiates even if the wire is straight. 41

The acceleration of the charges is accomplished by the external source in which forces set the charges in motion and produce the associated field radiated. The deceleration of the charges at the end of the wire is accomplished by the internal (self) forces associated with the induced field due to the build up of charge concentration at the ends of the wire. 42

1.3.2 Twin-Wires

Applying a voltage across the two-conductor transmission line creates an electric field between the conductors resulting in: 1.The electric field has associated with it electric lines of force which are tangent to the electric field at each point and their strength is proportional to the electric field intensity. 2.The movement of the charges creates a current that in turn creates a magnetic field intensity. Associated with the magnetic field intensity are magnetic lines of force which are tangent to the magnetic field. 3.We have accepted that electric field lines can form closed loops neither starting or ending on any charge. Magnetic field lines always form closed loops encircling current-carrying conductors because physically there are no 43 magnetic charges.

Electric field lines of free-space wave for biconical antenna and short dipole
However, when the waves are radiated, they form closed loops and there are no charges to sustain their existence. This leads us to conclude that electric charges are required to excite the fields but are not needed to sustain them and may exist in their absence.

t = 3T/4
44

Electric field lines of free-space wave for a /2 antenna at t = 0, T /8, T /4, and 3T /8

45

1.4 CURRENT DISTRIBUTION ON A THIN WIRE ANTENNA

46

Because of its cyclical spatial variations, the current standing wave pattern of a dipole longer than (l > ) undergoes 180o phase reversals between adjoining half-cycles. Therefore the current in all parts of the dipole does not have the same phase. This is demonstrated graphically in Figure for < l < 3/2. In turn , the fields radiated by some parts of the dipole will not reinforce those of the others. As a result, significant

interference and cancelling effects will be noted in the formation of the total radiation pattern .
http://www.rfglobalnet.com/download.mvc/Retrieve/Antenna-Design-And-Real-World-Analysis-With-X0002/443a0abf-b087-47bc-a3e6-2f399bb45cdb?user=1456575&source=nl%3A27165 47

1.5 Some Future Challenges

Although a certain level of maturity has been attained, there are many challenging opportunities and problems to be solved. 1. Phased array architecture integrating monolithic MIC technology is still a most challenging problem. 2. Integration of new materials, such as metamaterials, artificial magnetic conductors and soft/hard surfaces, into antenna technology offers many opportunities, and asymptotic methods will play key roles in their incorporation and system performance. 3. Computational electromagnetics using supercomputing and parallel computing capabilities will model complex electromagnetic wave interactions, in both the frequency and time domains. 4. Innovative antenna designs, such as those using smart antennas and multifunction, reconfigurable antennas and antenna systems to perform complex and demanding system functions remain a challenge. New basic elements are always welcome and offer refreshing opportunities.
48

cont.
New applications include, but are not limited to:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Wireless communications; Direct broadcast satellite systems; Global positioning satellites (GPS); High-accuracy airborne navigation; Global weather, earth resource systems, and others.

Because of the many new applications, the lower portion of the EM spectrum has been saturated and the designs have been pushed to higher frequencies, including the millimeter wave frequency THz bands.
49

cont.
The role of antennas is becoming increasingly important. In some systems, the antenna is now no longer just a simple transmitting/receiving device, but a device which is integrated with other parts of the system to achieve better performance. For example, the MIMO (multiple-in, multiple-out) antenna system has recently been introduced as an effective means to combat multipath effects in the radio propagation channel and increase the channel capacity, where several coordinated antennas are required.
50

cont.
Once an antenna is designed and made, it must be tested. How well it works is not just determined by the antenna itself, it also depends on the other parts of the system and the environment. The stand-alone antenna performance can be very different from that of an installed antenna. For example, when a mobile phone antenna is designed, we must take the case, other parts of the phone and even our hands into account to ensure that it will work well in the real world. The antenna is an essential device of a radio system, but not an isolated device! This makes it an interesting and challenging subject! 51