1

2
EC 602
Antennas & Wave Propagation

BHAVIN V KAKANI
ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING, IT-NU
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Try to follow this….. 8

 Be on time (25% discount available on watches)

 Attend your classes regularly (Don’t get BIMAAR- Use lifebuoy/Dettol
at home)
 Enter the classroom quietly (Even if India wins last night)
 Pay your attention (atleast for 20 mins)
 If I am writing something, you’d better be too. 
 No side conversation during instruction ( I will give extra time for this)
 Participate
 Don’t take away the right of learning of other person
 Be present here Physically and Mentally
 If possible, Give some respect to your teacher too.
 9

Learn to Inspire:
Barometer Story
 10

Some time ago I received a call from a colleague

who asked if I would be the referee on the grading
of an examination question.
 11

“Show how it is possible to determine the

height of a tall building with the
aid of a barometer”
 12

He was about to given a student a zero for his

answer, to a physics question,
 13

while the student claimed he should receive

a perfect score and would
if the system were not set up against the student.
 14

I went to my colleague’s office and read

the examination question,
“Show how it is possible to determine the
height of a tall building with the
aid of a barometer.”
 15

The student had answered,

” Take a barometer to the top of the building,

attach long rope to it, lower the barometer to
the street and then bring it up, measuring the
length of the rope.

The length of the rope is the height of

the building.”
 16
I pointed out that the student really had
a strong case for full credit since he had
answered the question completely and correctly.
On the other hand, if full credit was given,
it could well contribute to a high grade for the
student in his physics course.
A high grade is supposed to certify competence
in physics, but the answer did not confirm this.
I suggested that the student have another try at
answering the question.
I was not surprised that my colleague agreed,
but I was surprised that the student did.
 17

I gave the student six minutes to answer the

question with the warning that the answer should
show some knowledge of physics.
At the end of five minutes, he had not
written anything.
I asked if he wished to gave up,
but he said no, he had many answer to this
problem; he was just thinking of the best one.
 18

I excused myself for interrupting him and

asked him to please go on.
 19
In the next minute he dashed off his answer
which read.

Take the barometer to the top of the building

and lean over the edge of the roof.
Drop that barometer,
timing its fall with a stopwatch.
Then using the formula s =(att)/2,
calculate the height of the building.
 20

At this I asked my colleague if he would give up.

He conceded, and gave the student almost full
credit.
 21
While leaving my colleague's office, I recalled
that the student had said that he had other
answers to the problem, so I asked him what
they were. "Well," said the student, "there are
many ways of getting the height of a tall
building with the aid of a barometer.
For example, you could take the barometer
out on a sunny day and measure the height
of the barometer, the length of its shadow,
and the length of the shadow of the building,
and by the use of simple proportion,
determine the height of the building."
 22

“Fine," I said, "and others?"

 23

"Yes," said the student, "there is a very basic

measurement method you will like.
In this method, you take the barometer and
begin to walk up the stairs. As you climb the
stairs, you mark off the length of the barometer
along the wall. You then count the number of
marks, and this will give you the height of the
building in barometer units.
A very direct method."
 24

"Of course. If you want a more sophisticated

method, you can tie the barometer to the end of
a string, swing it as a pendulum, and determine
the value of g [gravity] at the street level and at
the top of the building. From the difference
between the two values of g, the height of the
building, in principle, can be calculated."
 25

"On this same tack, you could take the barometer

to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it,
lower it to just above the street, and then swing
it as a pendulum. You could then calculate the
height of the building by the period of
the precession".
 26

"Finally," he concluded, "there are many other

ways of solving the problem. Probably the best,“
he said, "is to take the barometer to the basement
and knock on the superintendent's door.
When the superintendent answers, you speak
to him as follows: 'Mr. Superintendent, here is
a fine barometer. If you will tell me the height
of the building, I will give you this barometer."
 27

At this point, I asked the student if he really did

not know the conventional answer to this question.
He admitted that he did, but said that he was
fed up with high school and college instructors
trying to teach him how to think.
 It is said that this is a true story. 28
Nonetheless it is still great. The story goes as:
Sir Ernest Rutherford, President of the Royal
Academy, and recipient of the Nobel Prize in
Physics, related the above story
The name of the student was Niels Bohr (1885-1962)
Danish Physicist; Nobel Prize 1922; best known for
proposing the first 'model' of the atom with protons
& neutrons, and various energy state of the
surrounding electrons .. the familiar icon of the
small nucleus circled by three elliptical orbits
but more significantly, an innovator in
Quantum Theory.
Course Instructors (Senior Learner) 29

Dr. Dhaval Pujara Prof. Rutul Patel Prof. Bhavin Kakani

 Expected Course outcomes: 30

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. To understand and apply the basic concepts of antennas like

gain, beamwidth, directivity, radiation pattern etc.

2. To understand the principle of operation of various antennas

and their design.

3. Design antennas for various practical applications to meet

given specifications.
Course evaluation:
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Course Syllabus 32

 Basic antenna concepts: Various definitions, antenna parameters,

transmission formula, sources of radiation, comparison between
antennas & transmission lines.
 Point sources: Power patterns of various sources, radiation intensity,
directivity, beam width, sources with pattern of arbitrary shape, gain,
field & phase patterns.
 Arrays of point sources: Arrays of 2 isotropic point sources, non-
isotropic point sources, principles of pattern multiplication, linear arrays
of non-isotropic point sources of equal amplitude & spacing, broad
side, end fire arrays, radiation pattern determination of linear arrays
 Electric dipole and thin layer antennas: Short electric dipole radiation
of short dipole, various field components radiation patterns, radiation
resistance of linear antenna, radiation resistance of half wave dipole,
quarter wave dipole.
 33
 Loop Antenna: EMF equation of loop antenna, directivity,
Small loop short magnetic dipole, comparison of far field
of small loop and short dipole loop antennas, field pattern
of circular loop antenna & its radiation resistance.
 Helical antenna: Helical geometry, transmission radiation
modes.
 Arrays of dipoles & apertures: Arrays with parasitic
elements, long wire antennas, location methods of
feeding antennas, folded dipole antennas.
 Reflector antennas & feed systems: Plane sheet reflectors &
diffraction, corner reflectors, Parabola, paraboloid
reflector, aperture distribution & efficiencies, off axis
operation of parabolic reflectors, Cassegrain feed of other
reflector antennas.
 34

 Slot horn & complementary antennas: Slot antenna, its

pattern, principle & complementary antennas, horn
antennas.
 Antennas for special applications: Sleeve, Micro-strip
antennas, antennas design consideration for satellite
Communication.
 Antennas measurement: Measurement of pattern gain, 3db
Beam width, Side lobe and back lobe measurement phase
polarization, impedance, Antenna noise measurement.
 Radio wave propagation: Modes of propagation, Définitions,
Multi hop propagation.
List of Books / Reference books 35

J. D. Krauss - Antennas, K.D. Prasad - Antennas & Wave

McGraw Hill Propagation, S P Publications
Reference books contd. 36

Jordan & Balmain -

Electromagnetic wave &
radiating systems, PHI
Publication
TEXT BOOK: 37

 Antenna Theory – Analysis

and Design, C. A. Balanis,
3rd Edition.
Course Website: 38
 Antenna Blog:
https://2ec311akg.wordpress.com/ 39
Piazza: 40
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Virtual Lab Experimentation: 44
Self learning – assessing material 45

Sr. No Material /Resource Location

1 Assignments ( 8 Nos.) Course Site
2 Course PPTs Course Site + Blog
3 Interactive Java applet Blog
4 Videos Blog
5 MCQs + Quizzes + Question bank Course site
6 Handouts Course site

7 Research Articles + Papers Course site

8 Leading industries + Scientists + Researchers Course site
9 Virtual Lab Experiments Course Site
NPTEL COURSE: Antennas 46
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Assessment : Moodle 49
Antenna Fabricated by Students: 50
 51

Introduction to
Antenna
Contents : 52

 Antenna Definitions
 History of Antenna Technology
 Radiation Mechanism/ Sources of radiation
 Various Terminologies related to antennas
 Antenna Parameters
 Transmission Formula
 Comparison between Transmission line and antenna
 Examples and exercises
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Wireless system connections
54
Transmission lines & antennas 55

A transmission line is the device used to guide radio frequency

(RF) energy from one point to another (for example a coaxial
cable).
Bifilar transmission lines are formed by two conductor wires
separated by a dielectric. There can be an alternating
current even in an open ended transmission line.

RF signal source I

I
 56
‣ If we now bend the open ends of the transmission line in opposite
directions, the currents there will now generate electric fields that are in
phase and will reinforce each other and will therefore radiate and
propagate at a distance.

‣ We now have a an antenna at the end of the transmission line.

I

RF signal source I

I
 What is An “ANTENNA”? 57

 “Antenna” in Zoology is feeler

 Part of insect with which they feel

(organ of touch)

 Plural of ‘Insect Antenna’ is Antennae

Definitions of Antenna: 58

 The IEEE Standard Definitions of Terms (IEEE Std. 145-1983): A

means for radiating or receiving radio waves.

 “An antenna is any device that converts electronic signals

to electromagnetic waves (and vice versa)” effectively
with minimum loss of signals

 It is a connecting link between the transmitter and free

space or free space and the receiver.
 59

 An antenna is basically a transforming device that will

convert impedance of transmitter output (50/75 Ohm)
into free space impedance (120pi or 377 Ohm).

 Region of transition between guided and free space

propagation
Principle of Antenna radiation 61

 Regardless of antenna type the basic principle of

radiation from antenna is the time-varying current and
varying charges.

 Goes through phase reversal (acceleration/

deceleration) and reaches a separation length of a
wavelength or fraction of that releases the energy to
free space.
62
 63

 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
Conclusion 64

 If a charge is not moving, current is not created and

there is no radiation.
 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.
 If charge is oscillating in a time-motion, it radiates even
if the wire is straight.
RADIATION MECHANISM 65

HOW IS RADIATION ACCOMPLISHED?

Single Wire
 Its prominent characteristics is the motion of electric
charges and creation of current flow.
 Consider a electric volume charge density 𝒒𝒗 (c/m3) is
distributed uniformly in a circular wire of cross-sectional
area A and volume V.
 The total charge Q within volume V is moving in the z
direction with a uniform velocity 𝒗𝒛 (m/s).
 66

 It can be shown that the

current density 𝐽𝑧 (amp/m2)
over the cross section of the
wire is
𝐽𝑧 = 𝑞𝑣 𝑣𝑧
 For ideal electric conductor,
the current resides on the
surface, so
𝐽𝑠 = 𝑞𝑠 𝑣𝑧
𝒒𝒔 is surface charge density
 67

 If the wire is very thin (ideally zero

radius), then the current in the wire
𝐼𝑧 = 𝑞𝑙 𝑣𝑧
𝒒𝒍 (C/m) is the charge per unit length
 If the current is time varying, then
the derivative of the current is
given by
 68

 If the wire is of length l, then

Equation of radiation

 “It serves as the fundamental relation of electromagnetic

radiation.”
 It simply states that to create radiation, there must be a time-varying
current or an acceleration (or deceleration) of charge.
 We usually refer to currents in time-harmonic applications while
charge is most often mentioned in transients.
 Two Wire 69

 Applying a voltage across the two-

conductor transmission line creates an
electric field between the conductors.
 The electric lines of force have a tendency
to act on the free electrons (easily
detachable from the atoms) associated with
each conductor and force them to be
displaced. 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.
 70

 Electric field lines start on positive charges

and end on negative charges. They also
can start on a positive charge and end at
infinity, start at infinity and end on a
negative charge, or form closed loops
neither starting or ending on any charge.
 Magnetic field lines always form closed
loops encircling current-carrying
conductors.
 If voltage source between the 2
conductors are sinusoidal, the electric field
will also be sinusoidal.
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Fields around the antenna 75
Antenna Characteristics: 76

Antenna characteristics can broadly

be classified into four categories of
study:
 Physical Parameter
 Circuit Parameter
 Transition Parameter
 Space Parameter
Antenna Characteristics 77

Physical Parameter: Circuit Parameter:

 Antenna Size  Input Impedance
 Material Used  Bandwidth
 Temperature  Radiation resistance
 Wind pressure  Self and Mutual Inductance
 Supporting structure  Gain
 Weather protecting
coating
Antenna Characteristics 78

Transition Parameter: Space Parameter:

 Loss  Shape of radiation pattern
 Attenuation  Beamwidth
 Mismatch  Directivity
 Radiation Intensity
 Lobes
 polarization
Classification of Antennas: 79

Antenna can be classified on the basis of:

 Frequency/Wavelength
 Frequency range of operation
 Shape of Antenna/Aperture
 Pattern produced by antenna/Radiation
 Polarization
Wavelength/ Frequency 80

 Very Low Frequency (VLF)

 Low Frequency (LF)
 Medium Frequency (MF)
 High Frequency (HF)
 Very High Frequency (VHF)
 Ultra High Frequency (UHF)
 Microwave Frequency
 Millimeter wave
Frequency range of operation: 81

 Narrow band Antennas

 Broadband/wideband antennas
 Ultra wide band antennas
 Octave band antennas
Shape Classification: 82

 Wire antenna
 Loop antenna
 Helical antenna
 Chimney antenna
 Aperture antenna
 Reflector antenna
 Lens antenna
 Planar/micro-strip antenna
Pattern Classification: 83

 Omni-directional
 Isotropic
 Directional
 Pencil-beam
 Broadside
 End-fire
Polarization Classification: 84

 Linearly polarized
 Circularly polarized
 Elliptically polarized
 Dual Polarized
85
Applications of Antenna: 86
 History of Antenna 87

The first antennas were built in 1888 by

German physicist Heinrich Hertz in his
pioneering experiments to prove the
existence of electromagnetic waves
predicted by the theory of James Clerk
Maxwell.

He published his work in Annalen der

Physik und Chemie (vol. 36, 1889).
 88

Hertz's first radio transmitter: a dipole resonator consisting of a pair of One of Hertz's radio wave
one meter copper wires ending in 30 cm zinc spheres. When receivers: a loop antenna with
an induction coil applied a high voltage between the two sides, sparks an adjustable micrometer
across the center spark gap created standing waves of radio frequency spark gap
current in the wires, which radiated radio waves. The frequency of the
waves was roughly 100 MHz, about that used in modern television
transmitters.
 89

 Hertz Invention remained a laboratory

curiosity until 20 year old Guglielmo
Marconi adds tuning circuitry for long
distance radio communication

 Developed Marconi’s law and a radio

telegraph system.

 Known by a name “Inventor of Radio”.

 90

His radio apparatus is widely considered to be the reason that over 700
people survived the Titanic disaster in 1912— instead of dying as they likely
would have if ships at sea were still using carrier pigeons to communicate
over great distances.
 91

First Antenna which transmits

electromagnetic signal from Europe
to America.

The Marconi antenna radiation

resistance is equal to 36.5 Ω and its
directivity gain is 3.3.
This type of antenna is used in the
radio broadcasting transmitters of
high power.
 92

In 1906, Columbia University had an

Experimental Wireless Station where
they used a transmitting aerial cage.
This was a cage made up of wires and
suspended in the air, resembling a cage
 93
A rough outline of some major antennas and their discovery /
fabrication dates are listed:
• Yagi-Uda Antenna, 1920s

• Horn antennas, 1939. Interesting, the early antenna literature

discussed waveguides as "hollow metal pipes".

• Antenna Arrays, 1940s

• Parabolic Reflectors, late 1940s, early 1950s? Just a guess.
• Patch Antennas, 1970s.
• PIFA, 1980s.
More on Radio invention: 94
 Current Research on Antenna 95

 Current research on antennas involves metamaterials (materials that have

engineered dielectric and magnetic constants, that can be
simultaneously negative, allowing for interesting properties like a negative
index of refraction).

 Other research focuses on making antennas smaller, particularly in

communications for personal wireless communication devices (e.g. cell
phones)

 A lot of work is being performed on numerical modeling of antennas, so

that their properties can be predicted before they are built and tested.
 96

END OF LECTURE
THANK YOU
 97

Fundamental Antenna
Parameters and
Concepts
LECTURE – 2
 98

Various parameters are used to describe the

performance of an antenna. The most relevant are

 Radiation pattern (radiated fields, near and far fields)

 Power (especially at receiver, but also near the
transmitter)
 Directivity and gain
 Radiation resistance (circuit model)
Contents: 99

1. Radiation pattern
2. Radiation power density, radiation intensity
3. Directivity
4. Gain and efficiency
5. Polarization
6. Reciprocity
 100

7. Input impedance
8. Bandwidth
9. Effective length & area, aperture efficiency
10. Antenna temperature
11. Friis transmission equation
 101

LECTURE -3
Antenna Fundamentals
DATE : 13/01/2016
WEDNESDAY
Isotropic Source 102

 Isotropic source is a hypothetical/fictitious radiator

 It is defined as a radiator which radiates energy uniformly in all
direction
 Also known as Isotropic source/Omnidirectional radiator /unipole
/uniradiator.
 It’s a lossless ideal radiator with which the practical antennas are
compared.
 It is used as REFRENCE antenna.
 Practically all antenna shows directional property.
NOTE : In acoustic, we have a point isotropic source.
 103

 Let Isotropic source is placed at the center of

sphere of radius ‘r’.
 Then, Energy/power radiated from it, must
pass over the surface area of the sphere
𝟒𝝅𝒓𝟐 .
 The Poynting vector/power density ‘P’ at any
point on the surface gives the ‘power
radiated per unit area in any direction’.
 Since, Power radiated flows in radial direction
only so magnitude of Poynting vector in
𝜽 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝝋 is zero.
𝑷 = 𝑷𝒓 𝑷 𝜽 = 𝑷𝝋 = 𝟎
If Poynting vector is known at all points on a sphere of radius ‘r’, then,
the total power radiated is given by
104
Radiation Pattern (Pre-requisiste) 105
Radiation Pattern(Antenna Pattern) 106

 Mathematical function or graphical representation of the

radiation properties of an antenna as a function of space
coordinates. Or in other words,
The graph which shows the variation in actual field strength of
EM field at all points which are at equal distance from the
atenna.
 It is determined in far-field region i.e., a function of θ and ɸ.
 The RP are different for different antennas and are affected
by the location of antenna w.r.t ground.
 Can represent field strength or radiation intensity.
107
Basic Radiation Pattern 108

 If the radiation from the antenna is expressed in terms of field strength

E(volt/meter), the radiation pattern is called as the ‘Field Strength
Pattern’.
 If the radiation pattern in a given direction is expressed in terms of
power per unit solid angle, then the resulting pattern is ‘Power Pattern’.
 A power pattern is proportional to the square of the field strength
pattern.
 Often the field and power patterns are normalized with respect to their
maximum value, yielding normalized field and normalized power
patterns.
 the power pattern is usually plotted on a logarithmic scale or more
commonly in decibels (dB).
109
Radiation Pattern of a half wave 110

dipole antenna:
111
Types of Radiation Pattern 112

 Onmidirectional or Broadcast-type pattern

 Pencil Beam pattern
 Fan-beam pattern
 Limacon/cardoid
Summary: 113

a. field pattern( in linear scale) typically

represents a plot of the magnitude of the
electric or magnetic field as a function of
the angular space.
b. power pattern( in linear scale)
typically represents a plot of the square of
the magnitude of the electric or magnetic
field as a function of the angular space.
c. power pattern( in dB) represents the
magnitude of the electric or magnetic
field, in decibels, as a function of the
angular space.
Summary: 114

“A graphical representation of radiation

properties of an antenna as a function of
space co-ordinates. In most cases, the
radiation pattern is determined in the far
field region and is represented as a function
of the directional coordinates. Radiation
properties include radiation intensity field
strength, phase or polarization.”
115
Fresnel and Fraunhofer Zone 116
Field Regions 117
Reactive Near Field Region 118

 That portion of the near field region immediately

surrounding the antenna wherein the reactive field
predominates.
 The field gets to and fro from the metallic surface to the
surrounding.
 For a very short dipole, or equivalent radiator, the outer
boundary is commonly to exist at a distance λ/2π from
the antenna surface.
Radiative Near Field Region 119

 It is that region of the field of an antenna between the reactive near field
region and far field region wherein radiation fields predominates and
wherein the angular field distribution is dependent upon the distance from
the antenna.
 If the antenna has a maximum dimension that is not large compared to
the wavelength, this region may not exist.
 For an antenna focused at infinity, the radiating near-field region is
sometimes referred to as the Fresnel region.
 The outer boundary is the distance R < 2D2/λ where D is the largest
dimension of the antenna.
 In this region the field pattern is, in general, a function of the radial distance
and the radial field component may be appreciable
Far Field Region 120

 That region of the field of an antenna where the angular field

distribution is essentially independent of the distance from the
antenna.
 If the antenna has a maximum overall dimension D, the far-
field region is commonly taken to exist at distances greater
than 2D2/λ from the antenna.
 For an antenna focused at infinity, the far-field region is
sometimes referred to as the Fraunhofer region.
 In this region, the field components are essentially transverse
and the angular distribution is independent of the radial
distance where the measurements are made.
Change of Antenna amplitude pattern shape from near field towards far field.

121
Radian and Steradian 122

 The measure of a plane angle is a radian.

 One radian is defined as the plane angle with its vertex at the center of a circle of
radius r that is subtended by an arc whose length is r.
 The measure of a solid angle is a steradian.
 One steradian is defined as the solid angle with its vertex
at the center of a sphere of radius r that is subtended by
a spherical surface area equal to that of a square with
each side of length r.
 123

 Since the area of a sphere of radius r is A = 4πr2,

there are 4π sr (4πr2/r2) in a closed sphere.
124
Radiation Intensity 125

 Radiation intensity in a given direction is defined as “the power radiated

from an antenna per unit solid angle.”
 The radiation intensity is a far-field parameter, and it can be obtained
by simply multiplying the radiation density by the square of the distance.
 In mathematical form it is expressed as
U(θ,ϕ) = r2Pd(θ,ϕ)
Where,
U(θ,ϕ) = radiation intensity (W/unit solid angle)
Pd(θ,ϕ) = radiation density (W/m2)
126
 127

END OF LECTURE -3