HARE KRISHNA

ANTENNA AND WAVE

PROPAGATION
[For B.Tech./B.E. (1st Semester),
Rajasthan
Technical
University,
As per the latest
syllabus
prescribedKota]
by

GBTU, MTU (Formerly UPTU)

For B.Tech. Students of

ECE Vth Semester
EI (Elective)

Prabhakar Sharma
Shilpa Sharma
Prabhat Sharma

Syllabus
ANTENNA AND WAVE PROPAGATION
EEC 504
UNIT-I
Antennas Basics
Introduction, Basic Antenna Parameters, Patterns, Beam Area (or Beam Solid Angle) WA, Radiation Intensity, Beam
Efficiency, Directivity D and Gain G, Directivity and Resolution, Antenna Apertures, Effective Height, The radio
Communication link, Fields from Oscillating Dipole, Single-to-Noise Ratio(SNR), Antenna Temperature, Antenna Impedance,
Retarded Potential, Far Field due to an alternating current element, Power radiated by a current element, Field variation due
to sinusoidal current distribution.

UNIT-II
Points Sources and Their Arrays
Introduction, Point Source, Power Theorem and its Application to an Isotropic Source, Radiation Intensity, Arrays of Two
Isotropic Point Sources, Non-isotropic but Similar Point Sources and the Principle of Pattern Multiplication, Pattern
Synthesis by Pattern Multiplication, Linear Arrays of n Isotropic Point Sources of Equal Amplitude and Spacing, Linear
Broadside Arrays with Non-uniform Amplitude Distributio. General Considerations.
Electric Dipoles, Thin Liner Antennas and Arrays of Dipoles and Apertures
The Short Electric Dipole, The Fields of a Short Dipole, Radiation Resistane of Short Electric Dipole, Thin Linear Antenna,
Radiation Resistance of /2 Antenna. Array of Two Driven /2 Elements: Broadside Case and End-Fire Case, Horizontal
Antennas Above a Plane Ground, Vertical Antennas Above a Plane Ground, Vertical Antennas Above a Plane Ground, YagiUda Antenna Design, Long-Wire Antennas, Folded Dipole Antennas.

UNIT-III
The Loop Antenna. Design and its Characteristics Properties, Application of Loop Antenna, Far Field Patterns of Circular
Loop Antennas with Uniform Current, Slot Antennas, Horn Antennas, Helical Antennas, The Log-Periodic Antenna, Micro
strip Antennas.

UNIT-IV
Reflector Antennas
Flat sheet Reflectors, Corner Reflector, The Parabola-General Properties, A comparison Between Parabolic and Corner
Reflectors, The Paraboloidal Reflector, Patterns of Large Circular Apertures with Uniform Illumination, Reflector Types
(summarized), Feed Methods for Parabolic Reflectors,
Antenna Measurements
Introduction, Antenna Measurement ranges, Radiation pattern Measurements, Gain and Directivity Measurements, Spectrum
Analyzer.

UNIT-V
Ground Wave Propagation
Plane Earth Reflection, Space Wave and Surface Wave
Space Wave Propagation
Introduction, Field Strength Relation, Effects of Imperfect Earth, Effects of Curvature of Earth
Sky Wave Propagation
Introduction, Structural Details of the Ionosphere, Wave Propagation Mechanism, Refraction and Reflection of Sky Wave
by Ionosphere, Ray path, Critical frequency, MUF, LUF, OF, Virtual Height and Skip distance Relation Between MUF and
the Skip distance, Multi-hop Propagation, Wave Characteristics.

ANTENNA AND WAVE

PROPAGATION

Prabhakar Sharma

Shilpa Sharma

B.Tech, M.Tech (CDAC-Mohali)

Assistant Professer
Anand Engineering College, Agra

B.Tech, M.Tech.
(Banasthali Jaipur)

Prabhat Sharma
B.Tech(Hons.) M.Tech (NIT Jaipur)
Assistant Professor
Anand Engineering College, Agra

Nandani Prakashan Pvt. Ltd.

7/22 1st Floor, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, Delhi-110002.
E-mail: nandaniprakashan@gmail.com
Ph. 011-43522135, 011-43512467

ANTENNA AND WAVE PROPAGATION

Prabhakar Sharma
Shilpa Sharma
Prabhat Sharma

Published by:
NANDANI PRAKASHAN PVT. LTD.
7/22, 1st Floor, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002
E-mail: nandaniprakashan@gmail.com
Phone : 011-43522135, 011-43512467

Publisher

First Edition : 2011

All rights reserved, No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated or

transmitted (except for review or criticism), without the written permission of the
publishers.

ISBN: 978-93-81126-22-6

Printed at:
Durga Offset Printers, Haryana.

Dedicated in the Lotus feet of

My Parents
Er. B. N. Sharma
Mrs. Sumitra Sharma
&
My Loving Son Master Lakshya

PREFACE
This book is a gradual development of our lecture notes on Antenna and wave propagation used for last five plus years or
so. Our teaching experience tells us that a text book, which is meant for leading a student, who is trying to understand the
subject for the first time, must clarify all the basic features of the subject in a most lucid and systematic manner. This book
is written with the same central idea, so that students can be benifitted from this book with a greater sense of ease.
Illustrative examples along with the previous year university questions are interspersed throughout the book at their
natural locations. These have been selected so that apart from illustrating the concepts involved, they help to take the reader
to a upper level of applications. For the basics, some appendices are given at the end of book which cover the mathematical
expressions used in the book.
All comments and criticism regarding this book would be acknowledged by the authors at prabhakar.sh@gmail.com.

Prabhakar Sharma
Shilpa Sharma
Prabhat Sharma

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am obliged to my parents Er. B.N. Sharma and Mrs. Sumitra Sharma for everything that I have. How can I acknowlege my
teachers who made me what I am today, still my great regards will forever be there in their lotus feet.
I wish to express my profound thanks to all those who helped in making this book a reality. I thank to my colleagues
Mr. Sumit Tripathi, Mr. R.S. Parmar, Ms. Pooja Japra and Mr. Ravi Singh for extending their cooperation while writing this
book.
I would like to my sincere thanks to the entire management of SGI, Mr. P.K. Gupta (Chairman) and Mr. Y.K. Gupta
(Vice-Chairman) specially. I forward my regards to Dr. B.D Gupta (Director, AEC Agra), Dr. Jai Prakash Aggarwal (VC,
GLA University), Rahul Aggrawal (Head, ECE, AEC), Prof. R. Kumar (DG, VGI, Gr. Noida), Dr. Sanjay Sood (Head, R &
D Deptt. CDAC Mohali) and to all my colleegues for their support throughout the work.
I am greatly thankful of Mrs Shimsa Verma, Mr Ishwar Mishra and all other staff members of Nandani Prakashan Pvt
Ltd for making this book a great reality.
Thanks to you my students, enjoy learning Antenna and Wave Propagation.

Prabhakar Sharma

We are Thankful to
Mr. V.K. Deolia
Dr. Sanjay Jain
Dr. Himanshu Vijay
Dr. Vandana Thakrey
Mr. Nagesh Sharma
Mr. Abhay Chaturvedi
Mr. A.N. Mishra
Mr. Ayub Khan
Mr. Manoj Garg
Mr. Ravindra Sharma
Mr. K.K. Upadhyay
Mr. R. Sharma
Mr. R.S. Tomar
Mr. Vikas Raina
Mr. Kapil Kumawat
Mr. Akhilesh Gupta
Mr. Manish Sharma
Mr. K.K. Singh
Mr. Manish Gupta
Mr. Rishi Sikka
Mr. M.K. Agarwal
Mr. V.K Tomar
Mr. Chandra Shankar Porwal
Mr. A.S. Katiyar
Mr. Abhay Gupta

GLA University, Mathura

HCST, Mathura
AEC, Agra
AEC, Agra
JPS Group, Gurgaon
GLA University, Mathura
BITS, Ghaziabad
AEC, Agra
GL Bajaj, Mathura
BSACET, Mathura
IVS, Mathura
AEC, Agra
AEC, Agra
AEC, Agra
JNU, Jaipur
VIET, Gr. Noida
AEC, Agra
BMAS, Agra
BMAS, Agra
Sanjay Institute, Mathura
GLA University, Mathura
GLNA, Mathura
JSS, Noida
Galgotias University
VIET, Gr. Noida

xii
Mr. Harish Saraswat
VIET, Gr. Noida
Mr. R.K. Pachauri
RKGIT, Ghaziabad
Mr. Ravi Kumar
Fairwealth Security Ltd.
Mr. Manish Saraswat
ABES, Ghaziabad
Mr. Devendra Gautam
Vodafone, Gurgaon
Mrs. Reena Rani
BSACET, Mathura
And all others who taught us, suggested us and helped us directly or indirectly.

Acknowledgments

Prabhakar Sharma
Shilpa Sharma
Prabhat Sharma

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Mr. Prabhakar Sharma
Received his M.Tech. (VLSI Design) from CDAC Mohali, and B.Tech. in ECE from UPTU, Lucknow. At present
he is working as an Assistant Professor with the department of ECE at Anand Engineering College, Agra. He has the
teaching experience of more than six years. In past he has taught at GLA institute of Technology and Management,
Mathura and VIT Gr. Noida.
He has published several research papers in national and international conferences and journals. Areas of his
interest include Microwave Engineering, Antennas and Electromagnetic Fields.
Mrs. Shilpa Sharma
Received her M.Tech. (VLSI Design) from Banasthali University, Banasthali and B.Tech. in ECE from UPTU,Lucknow.
She has worked as an Assistant Professor with the department of ECE at VIT, Gr. Noida. She has the teaching
experience of more than five years.
Areas of her interest include Microwave Engineering, Electronics circuits and Electromagnetic Fields.
Mr. Prabhat Sharma
Received his M.Tech. (VLSI Design) from National Institute of Technology, Jaipur and B.Tech. (Hons.) in ECE from
UPTU, Lucknow. At present he is working as an Assistant Professor with the department of ECE at Anand Engineering
College, Agra. Previously He was with the Department of Computer Science and Electronics at Banasthali University,
Banasthali. He has taught various courses at UG and PG level and published several research papers of national and
international repute. Areas of his interest include Signal Processing, Digital Design and communication Systems.
The Salient Feature of the book.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

The book is strictly as per the latest syllabus prescribed by the GBTU, MTU (Formerly UPTU).
Unnecessary text matter, questions and explanations have been avoided in an attempt to make this book precise
and concise. This makes the book student friendly and apt for slef study.
The text has been presented in simple and easy language and in the form of lecture notes.
Every topic is followed by large number of illstrative solved examples.
Previous years university questions are given at the end of each chapter.
Set of unsolved problems do appear in each chapter, whenever necessary hints and solutions are also given.
Important formule and tips in the end of each unit helps to memorise the unit quickly.

CONTENTS
1.

ANTENNA BASICS
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4

1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
1.10
1.11
1.12
1.13
1.14
1.15
1.16
1.17

2.

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 1
Classification of Antennas ......................................................................................................................... 2
Antenna in Operation ................................................................................................................................ 4
Basic antenna parameters ............................................................................................................................. 5
1.4.1
Radiation Patterns ........................................................................................................................ 5
1.4.2
Beam Area (or Beam Solid Angle) BA ....................................................................................... 6
1.4.3
Radiation Intensity ..................................................................................................................... 10
1.4.4
Beam Efficiency .......................................................................................................................... 11
1.4.5
Directivity (D) and Gain (G) .................................................................................................... 12
1.4.6
Directivity and Resolution ......................................................................................................... 15
1.4.7
Antenna Apertures ..................................................................................................................... 16
1.4.8
Effective Height .......................................................................................................................... 18
The radio Communication Link ................................................................................................................. 20
Fields from oscillating dipole .................................................................................................................... 22
Antenna Temperature ................................................................................................................................. 24
Signal to Noise ratio (SNR) ...................................................................................................................... 25
Antenna Impedance .................................................................................................................................... 26
Retarded Potential ...................................................................................................................................... 29
Far field due to an alternating current element ........................................................................................ 31
Induction (Near) Field and Radiation (Far) Field .................................................................................... 37
Power Radiated by a Current Element ..................................................................................................... 38
Field Variation due to sinusoidal current distribution ............................................................................. 42
Important formulae and Tips .................................................................................................................... 47
University Questions ................................................................................................................................. 50
Solved Problems ......................................................................................................................................... 51

(I) POINT SOURCES AND THEIR ARRAYS

2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9

162

63131

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 63
Classification of Antenna Arrays .............................................................................................................. 65
Point Source ................................................................................................................................................ 65
A Power Theorem and its Application to an Isotropic Source ............................................................. 66
Radiation Intensity ..................................................................................................................................... 66
Advantages of Antenna Arrays ................................................................................................................. 67
Various Forms of Antenna Arrays ............................................................................................................ 67
Arrays of Two Isotropic Point Sources ................................................................................................... 70
Non-isotropic but Similar Point Sources and the Principle of Pattern Multiplication ......................... 78

xvi

Contents
2.10 Linear arrays of n-Isotropic Point Sources of Equal Amplitude and Spacing ...................................... 82
2.10.1
Directivity ................................................................................................................................... 91
2.11 Linear Broadside Arrays with Non-Uniform Amplitude Distribution
General Considration .................................................................................................................................. 92

(II)

ELECTRIC DIPOLES, THIN LINEAR ANTEENAS AND ARRAYS OF DIPOLES AND

APERTURES
2.12
2.13
2.14
2.15
2.16
2.17
2.18
2.19
2.20
2.21
2.22
2.23
2.24
2.25

3.

The Short Electric Dipole .......................................................................................................................... 94

The Fields of a Short Dipole .................................................................................................................... 94
Radiation Resistance of short Electric Dipole ....................................................................................... 100
The Thin Linear Antenna ........................................................................................................................ 102
Radiation Resistance of /2 Antenna ...................................................................................................... 104
Array to Two driven /2 Elements: Broad-Side Case and End-Fire Case .......................................... 105
Horizontal Antennas above a Plane Ground .......................................................................................... 110
Vertical Antennas above a Plane Ground ............................................................................................... 111
Yagi-Uda Antenna Design ........................................................................................................................ 112
Long Wire Antennas ................................................................................................................................. 114
Folded Dipole Antennas .......................................................................................................................... 119
Important Formulae and Tips ................................................................................................................. 121
University Questions ............................................................................................................................... 122
Solved Problems ....................................................................................................................................... 125

PRACTICAL ANTENNAS
3.1
3.2

132168

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 132

The Loop Antenna ................................................................................................................................. 133
3.2.1
EMF Equation of Loop Antenna ............................................................................................ 135
3.2.2
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 137
3.2.3
As a Direction Finder .............................................................................................................. 137
3.2.4
The Loop antenna, in General (Far Field of loop Antenna) ................................................ 138
3.2.5
Far Field Pattern of Circular Loop Antennas with Uniform Current .................................. 141
3.2.6
Application of Loop Antenna ................................................................................................. 142
3.3 Slot Antenna ........................................................................................................................................... 144
3.4 The Log Periodic Antenna ....................................................................................................................... 147
3.4.1
Geometry of Log-periodic Antennas ....................................................................................... 147
3.4.2
Operation of Log Periodic Antenna ........................................................................................ 148
3.4.3
Impedance ................................................................................................................................. 148
3.4.4
Radiation Pattern ...................................................................................................................... 149
3.4.5
Design of Log Periodic Antenna ............................................................................................. 149
3.5 Helical Antenna ......................................................................................................................................... 151
3.5.1
Radiation Pattern ...................................................................................................................... 152
3.5.2
Two Modes of Operation ....................................................................................................... 152
3.5.3
Applications .............................................................................................................................. 153
3.5.4
Advantages ................................................................................................................................ 153
3.6 Horn Antenna ......................................................................................................................................... 154
3.6.1
The Principle of Equality of Path Length (Fermats Principle) ........................................... 156
3.6.2
Rectangular Horn Antenna ....................................................................................................... 157
3.6.3
Directivity ................................................................................................................................. 159

Contents

xvii

3.7 Microstrip Antenna (Patch Antenna) .................................................................................................... 160

3.7.1
Impedance ................................................................................................................................. 161
3.7.2
Patch Directivity ...................................................................................................................... 162
3.7.3
Effective Height ........................................................................................................................ 162
3.7.4
Limitations (Bandwidth) .......................................................................................................... 162
3.8 Important Formulae and Tips ................................................................................................................. 163
3.9 University Questions ............................................................................................................................... 163
3.10 Solved Problems ..................................................................................................................................... 166

4.

(I) REFLECTOR ANTENNAS

4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.8
4.9

169210

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 169

Flat Sheet Reflectors ................................................................................................................................ 170
Corner Reflector ....................................................................................................................................... 173
4.3.1 Spacing vs Field Pattern of Corner Reflector ............................................................................ 174
The ParabolaGeneral Properties ............................................................................................................ 176
The Paraboloidal Reflector ....................................................................................................................... 177
4.5.1
Designing of Paraboloid Reflector ........................................................................................... 179
4.5.2
Field-distribution Across the Aperture of a Parabolic Reflector .......................................... 180
Patterns of Large Circular Apertures with Uniform .............................................................................. 181
Comparison of Parabolic Reflectors with Corner .................................................................................. 183
Reflector Types (Summarized) ................................................................................................................ 183
Feed Methods for Parabolic Reflectors .................................................................................................. 186

(II) ANTENNA MEASUREMENTS

4.10
4.11
4.12
4.13
4.14
4.15
4.16
4.17
4.18
4.19

5.

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 187

Near-field and Far-field ............................................................................................................................ 187
Measurement Ranges ................................................................................................................................ 188
Differences Between Indoor and Outdoor Ranges ................................................................................. 191
Radiation Pattern Measurements ............................................................................................................. 192
Gain and Directivity Measurements ....................................................................................................... 193
4.15.1
Direct Comparison Method ..................................................................................................... 194
4.15.2
Absolute Gain Method ............................................................................................................ 196
Spectrum Analyzer ................................................................................................................................... 197
Important Formulae and Tips ................................................................................................................. 199
University Questions ............................................................................................................................... 201
Solved Examples ....................................................................................................................................... 202

GROUND, SPACE AND SKY WAVE PROPAGATION

5.1

5.2
5.3

211269

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 211

5.1.1 Propagation Characteristics of EM Waves .................................................................................... 212
5.1.2 Propagation of Radio Waves ......................................................................................................... 212
5.1.3 Factor Influencing the Propagation of Radio Wave ....................................................................... 213
5.1.4 Important Terminology About the Wave Propagation .................................................................. 214
Fundamental Equation for free space propagation .................................................................................... 216
Modes of Propagation ............................................................................................................................... 217

xviii

Contents
5.4

5.5

5.6

5.7
5.8
5.9

Ground wave or surface wave (30-3000 KHz) ......................................................................................... 218

5.4.1
Wave Tilting of the Ground Wave ............................................................................................. 219
5.4.2
Field Strength of Ground Wave ................................................................................................. 220
5.4.3
Plane Earth Reflection ............................................................................................................... 220
5.4.4
Space Wave and Surface Wave ................................................................................................... 224
5.4.4.1 Transition Between Surface and Space Wave ............................................................. 225
Space wave or tropospheric wave propagation ........................................................................................ 225
5.5.1
Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 225
5.5.2
Field Strength Due to Space Wave ............................................................................................ 226
5.5.3
Nature of Space Wave Communication ..................................................................................... 226
5.5.4
Importance of Space Wave Communication .............................................................................. 227
5.5.5
Field Strength Relation of Space Wave ...................................................................................... 228
5.5.6
Effects of Imperfect Earth ......................................................................................................... 231
5.5.7
Effects of Curvature of Earth .................................................................................................... 231
Sky wave or Ionospheric wave propagation ............................................................................................. 233
5.6.1
Structural Details of the Ionosphere ......................................................................................... 234
5.6.2
Wave Propagation Mechanism .................................................................................................. 235
5.6.2.1 Refraction in the Absence of Earths Magnetic Field ................................................. 235
5.6.2.2 Refraction in the Presence of the Earths Magnetic Field .......................................... 236
5.6.3
Refraction and Reflection of Sky Waves by Ionosphere ........................................................... 237
5.6.4
Mechanism of Radio Wave Bending by the Ionosphere ........................................................... 240
5.6.5
Ray Path .................................................................................................................................... 242
5.6.6
Critical Frequency ..................................................................................................................... 243
5.6.7
Maximum Usable Frequency .................................................................................................... 244
5.6.8
Lowest Usable Frequency (LUF) ............................................................................................. 244
5.6.9
Optimum Frequency ................................................................................................................. 244
5.6.10
Virtual Height ............................................................................................................................ 245
5.6.11
Skip Distance ............................................................................................................................ 245
5.6.12
Wave Characteristics ................................................................................................................. 246
5.6.13
Relation Between MUF and the Skip Distance ........................................................................ 248
5.6.14
Multihop Propagation ............................................................................................................... 252
Important Formulae and Tips ................................................................................................................... 254
University Questions ................................................................................................................................ 256
Solved Problems ........................................................................................................................................ 257

Appendix ..................................................................................................................................................... 270-271

Previous Years University Papers ................................................................................................................. 272-277
Index ............................................................................................................................................................ 278-280

NOTATIONS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

HPBW
FNBW

En
Emax

Pr

Pn (, )

U av

U(, )max
Uiso

15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.

G
GP
Gd
Ae
S
ap
he
hp
Zo
Pt
TA
K
SNR
Te
RA
XA
G
[J ]
[I]
Az
G
B
H
PTR
c
Rr
Im

Half power beamwidth

First Null Beamwidth
Normalised field pattern
Maximum field pattern value
Steradian (Solid angle)
Directivity
Beam Area (Beam Solid Angle)
Radiation Intensity
Radiated power
Normalised power pattern
Efficiency
Average radiatio intensity
Maximum radiation intensity
Radiation intensity of isotropic
Antenna
Gain
Power gain
Directive gain
Antenna aperture
Power density
Aperture efficiency
Effective height
Physical height
Intrinsic impedance of free space ()
Transmitting power
Noise temperature
Boltzmans constant
Signal to Noise ratio
Effective noise temperature
Antenna resistance
Antenna reactance
Permeability of free space
Retarded current density
Retarded current
Vector potential along Z direction
Magnetic flux density
Magnetic field intensity
Total radiated power
Velocity of light/e.m wave
Radiation resistance
Maximum current value

41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.

G
P
Sav

ET
HPPD

`
Ao
df
AUT
HAUT
Go

FSPL
LOS
PTant
P iso
WT
A ER
GR
GT
Gr
Eflat

RH

67. RV

68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.

fg
B

Em

N
fc
fMUF
i
r
Nm
e
emf

Phase constant
Poynting vector
Average poynting vector
Phase difference
Total electric field value
Half power-point direction
Retarded charge density
Phase difference
Capture area
Far-field distance
Antenna under test
Height of antenna under test
Gain with respect to isotropic antenna
Effectiveness ratio
Free space path loss
Line of sight
Test antenna power density
Isotropic antenna power density
Transmitted power
Effective aperture of antenna
Maximum directional gain of receiver
Transmitter gain
Receiver gain
Electric field of flat earth
Standard deviation
Reflection coefficient for horizontal
polarization
Reflection coefficient for vertical po
larization
Gyro frequency
Earth's magnetic flux density
Angular velocity
Maximum amplitude of electric field
Refractive index
Electron density
Critical frequency
Maximum usable frequency
Incident angle
Reflected angle
Maximum electron density.
Charge of an electron
Electro magnetic field.