Antenna-Design Lecture 2009-04-23

Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel
Institute of Electrical and Information Engineering

Antennas Design

Summer term 2010
Draft Version: 08 April 2010

Institute of Electrical and Information Engineering
Wireless Communications
Kaiserstrae 2 (Gebude D)
D - 24143 Kiel

Tel.: +49 (0) 431 880 6154
Fax: +49 (0) 431 880 6152
Email: manteuffel@tf.uni-kiel.de
www.cwc.tf.uni-kiel.de
ii

Antenna Design SS 2010 (draft version 08 April 2010)

Table of Content
SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................................................... 1
1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 4
2 ANTENNAS FOR MODERN COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT ............................................... 5
2.1 RADIO BROADCASTING ............................................................................................................................. 7
2.2 MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS ...................................................................................................................... 8
2.3 SHORT RANGE COMMUNICATION: BLUETOOTH, RF ID, WIRELESS USB .................................................... 11
2.4 RADIO ASTRONOMY ................................................................................................................................ 12
2.5 ANTENNAS FOR EXTREME LOW FREQUENCIES .......................................................................................... 14
2.5.1 SUBMARINE COMMUNICATION................................................................................................................. 14
3 FUNDAMENTALS OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION ................................................... 16
3.1 A SHORT REVIEW OF FIELDS AND WAVES ................................................................................................ 16
3.1.1 MAXWELLS EQUATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 16
3.1.2 FIELDS AT MATERIAL BOUNDARIES ......................................................................................................... 19
3.1.3 WAVE EQUATION .................................................................................................................................... 20
3.1.3.1 Spherical Wave........................................................................................................................................... 21
3.1.3.2 Plane Wave ................................................................................................................................................. 22
3.1.3.3 Waves in lossy/lossless media .................................................................................................................... 22
3.1.4 ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES ..................................................................................................................... 23
3.1.5 POLARIZATION ....................................................................................................................................... 25
3.2 RADIATION FROM CURRENT SOURCES ...................................................................................................... 26
3.3 THE HERTZIAN DIPOLE AN ELEMENTARY SOURCE OF RADIATION ........................................................... 30
4 CHARACTERISTIC ANTENNA MEASURES .............................................................................. 34
4.1 NEAR FIELD AND FAR FIELD OF AN ANTENNA ........................................................................................... 34
4.1.1 FAR FIELD APPROXIMATION .................................................................................................................... 35
4.1.2 FAR FIELD DISTANCE .............................................................................................................................. 37
4.2 POINTING VECTOR .................................................................................................................................. 38
4.3 RADIATION CHARACTERISTIC .................................................................................................................. 39
4.3.1 DIRECTIVITY, EFFICIENCY AND GAIN ....................................................................................................... 42
4.3.2 EFFECTIVE ANTENNA AREA ..................................................................................................................... 44
iii


4.4 RADIATION RESISTANCE .......................................................................................................................... 45
4.5 TRANSMISSION BETWEEN ANTENNAS ........................................................................................................ 46
5 ELEMENTARY ANTENNAS ........................................................................................................... 47
5.1 ELECTRIC DIPOLE ANTENNA .................................................................................................................... 47
5.1.1 THE TRANSMISSION LINE MODEL ............................................................................................................. 47
5.1.2 RADIATION PATTERN OF A DIPOLE ANTENNA ............................................................................................ 49
5.1.3 THE INPUT IMPEDANCE CHARACTERISTIC ................................................................................................ 51
5.1.4 MONOPOLE ANTENNAS ........................................................................................................................... 54
5.1.5 INDUCTIVE AND CAPACITIVE LOADING .................................................................................................... 54
5.1.6 INFLUENCE OF THE WIRE THICKNESS ...................................................................................................... 55
5.2 MAGNETIC DIPOLE ANTENNA - LOOP ANTENNA ........................................................................................ 57
5.2.1 THE PRINCIPLE OF DUALITY .................................................................................................................... 57
5.2.2 THE FITZGERALD (MAGNETIC) DIPOLE .................................................................................................... 58
5.2.3 LOOP ANTENNAS ..................................................................................................................................... 59
6 NUMERICAL METHODS FOR ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF ANTENNAS .......................... 61
6.1 GENERAL ASPECTS OF NUMERICAL MODELING SOFTWARE........................................................................ 61
6.2 METHOD OF MOMENTS (MOM) .............................................................................................................. 63
6.2.1 FUNDAMENTALS ..................................................................................................................................... 64
6.2.2 THIN WIRE APPROXIMATION .................................................................................................................... 65
6.2.3 METAL SURFACES ................................................................................................................................... 67
6.2.4 TREATMENT OF DIELECTRIC MATERIAL .................................................................................................... 68
6.3 FINITE DIFFERENCE TIME DOMAIN (FDTD) ........................................................................................... 69
6.3.1 FUNDAMENTALS ..................................................................................................................................... 69
6.3.2 DISCRETIZATION IN SPACE AND TIME ....................................................................................................... 70
6.3.3 NUMERICAL STABILITY AND DISPERSION .................................................................................................. 75
6.3.4 BOUNDARY CONDITIONS ......................................................................................................................... 77
7 PRACTICAL SINGLE ELEMENT ANTENNAS AND THEIR INTEGRATION IN
COMMUNICATION DEVICES ............................................................................................................................. 78
7.1 THE FOLDED DIPOLE ANTENNA ............................................................................................................... 78
7.2 HELIX ANTENNAS .................................................................................................................................... 79
7.2.1 AXIAL MODE HELICAL ANTENNA .............................................................................................................. 83
iv


7.3 THE INVERTED-F ANTENNA ..................................................................................................................... 84
7.4 THE SLOT ANTENNA ................................................................................................................................ 89
7.5 THE MICROSTRIP PATCH ANTENNA .......................................................................................................... 92
7.5.1 PLANAR INVERTED-F ANTENNA (PIFA) ................................................................................................... 96
7.5.1.1 Example design procedure of a PIFA ......................................................................................................... 98
7.5.2 MODIFIED PIFAS ................................................................................................................................. 102
7.6 APPLICATION TO MOBILE PHONES ......................................................................................................... 103
7.6.1 TECHNICAL AND NON-TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................. 104
7.6.2 ANTENNA CONCEPTS............................................................................................................................. 105
7.6.3 DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE FUNCTIONAL PRINCIPLE OF MOBILE PHONE ANTENNAS ............................ 107
7.6.4 INTERACTION BETWEEN MOBILE PHONE AND USER ................................................................................ 110
8 ANTENNA ARRAYS ....................................................................................................................... 113
8.1 BASICS ................................................................................................................................................. 114
8.2 CHARACTERISTIC MEASURES OF A DIRECTIVE RADIATION PATTERN ......................................................... 118
8.3 PHASED ARRAYS AND BEAM STEERING ................................................................................................... 119
8.4 AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION, SHAPING THE RADIATION PATTERN .............................................................. 120
8.5 BASE STATION ANTENNA ARRAY ............................................................................................................. 123
APPENDIX 125
8.6 SPHERICAL COORDINATES ..................................................................................................................... 125
FIGURES 126
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................................ 131

Symbols and Abbreviations 1


Symbols and Abbreviations
The notation used in these notes does not distinguish between real and complex measures. For
vectors and matrices bold fonds are used, scalar variables use italic fonds.

Greek letters
t time difference [s]
x spatial difference in x-direction [m]
y spatial difference in y-direction [m]
z spatial difference in z-direction [m]
Dirac delta function
r
relative permittity [1]

, r eff
effective relative permittity [1]
efficiency [%]
electric conductivity [S/m]
wavelength [m]
r
relative permeability [1]
scalar electric potential [V/m], angle in spherical coordinates []
phase of an harmonic signal []
mass density [kg/m
3
], electric charge density [C/m]
angle in spherical coordinates []
angular frequency [1/s]

Latin letters
magnetic vector potential [Tm]
B magnetic flux density [Vs/m
2
]
c velocity of light [m/s]
C capacity [F]
D electric flux density [As/m
2
]
r
e radial unit vector in spherical coordinates [1]
E electric field strength [V/m]
f frequency [Hz]
magnetic field strength [A/m]
I current [A]
i, j, k subscriopts or superscriots [1]
k wave number [1/m]
j imaginary number [1]
J electric current density [A/m
2
]
J
S
electric surface current density [A/m]
m mass [kg]
M magnetic current density [V/m
2
]


M
S
magnetic current density [V/m]
n number [1]
n outwards directed unit vector of a surface element [1]
P power [W]
ant
P accepted antenna power [W]
in
P incoming power [W]
rad
P radiated power [W]
ref
P reflected power [W]
loss
P power absorbed due to losses [W]
r radius [m]
r distance vector in spherical coordinates [m]
SAR specific absorption rate [W/kg]
t time [s]
S Pointing vector [W/m]
T temperature [K]
U voltage [V]
x, y, z kartesian coordinated [m]
F
Z characteristic wave impedance of medium []
0 F
Z characteristic wave impedance of free space []
L
Z characteristic impedance of the system []

Constants
0
= 8.854 10
12
As/(Vm) permittivity of free space
0
= 4 10
7
Vs/(Am) permeability of free space
0
c = 2.9979 10
8
m/s velocity of light in free space
0 F
Z =120 377 charcteristic wave impedance of free space

Abbreviations and names
ANSI American National Standards Institute
CENELEC Comit Europen de Normalisation Electrotechnique
DIN Deutsches Institut fr Normung
EMPIRE Electro-magnetic field simulator for the analysis of
packages, interconnects, radiators and waveguide elements
FCC Federal Communication Commission
FDD Frequency Division Duplex
FDTD Finite Difference Time Domain
FEM Finite Element Method
GSM Global System for Mobile Communication
ICNIRP International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection
IMST IMST GmbH, D-47475 Kamp-Lintfort
IRPA International Radiation Protection Association


LoS Line of Sight
NLoS None Line of Sight
MoM Method of Moments
PML Perfectly Matched Layer
SAM Specific Antropomorphic Mannequin
TDD Time Division Duplex
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication Standard
UWB Ultra WideBand
VDE Verband der Elektrotechnik Elektronik Informationstechnik e. V.
WHO World Health Organization
WiMedia WiMedia Alliance - www.wimedia.org

Introduction 4


1 Introduction
These lecture notes are written for the students of the lecture Antennas Design held as an
elective lecture during the summer term at the University of Kiel. It is intended to be a useful
substitude to repeat the topics of the lecture. It is not intended to replace participation to the
lecture itself.
Credit is given to material used from other authors in terms of classic literature references or
citation of the web sites in case of figures captured from the internet. The remaining material is
under the copyright of the author (Copyright 2009 Dirk Manteuffel, all right reserved). This
material may be used freely for individual studies, research and education in not-for-profit
applications. In this case, please cite the author.
These notes are continiously revised and updated in order to optimize the quality of the lecture.
Please use only the chapter to date of the lecture and report any mistake or bug you find to the
author (email: manteuffel@tf.uni-kiel.de). At the end of the term an updated version of the
complete lecture notes will be available. Beware of misprints using different versions of the
manuscript.

Antennas for Modern Communication Equipment 5


2 Antennas for Modern Communication Equipment
The radio frequency spectrum that is used for various wireless communication systems ranges
from the very low frequencies at some kHz up to the optical spectrum at several hundred GHz.

Fig. 2-1: Radio frequency allocation.
While lower frequencies are used for systems that have to cover large distances but carry only a
small amount of information, higher frequencies are used in systems where antenna dimensions
have to be small and the amount of information to be carried is larger.
Meanwhile frequency bandwidth is a rare good as so many standards are spread all over this
frequency range. It is a subject of regulation by national and international commissions to ensure


that each application works only in its desired frequency range and does not interfere with other
applications.
With respect to the antenna we typically distinguish between omnidirectional antennas that
radiate uniformly into nearly all directions and directive antennas that are designed to spot into a
specific direction. There is a fundamental relation between the frequency used and the directivity
of the antenna versus the size of the antenna. With this regard the antenna size of a single
antenna element is proportional to the wavelength of the frequency of operation. This means the
higher the frequency of operation is the smaller the antenna becomes. When we include the
directivity into consideration the size of an antenna increases with the directivity desired for the
antenna. That means directive antennas are typically larger than omnidirectional antennas when
we start from the same basic antenna element.
This relation is visualized in Fig. 2-2:

a
n
t
e
n
n
a
s
i
z
e
frequency f
wavelength
d
i
r
e
c
t
i
v
i
t
y

Fig. 2-2: Antennas for different applications and their relation between size, directivity and
frequency.
Upon these demands, frequency and directivity, a large variety of different antenna concepts
exists for a large range of applications.
In the following subsection we will briefly discuss some examples with respect to well known
applications. The description will be based on our general electromagnetic understanding. A
more detailed physical description of the antenna functionality will be discussed in later chapters
of this lecture.


2.1 Radio Broadcasting
When we think of antennas we have typically these tall antenna masts used for radio broadcast-
ing in mind. As the well known example of the Eifel tower shows such antennas can be several
hundred meters tall.
The size of the antenna is related to the wavelength of the operating frequency. Broadcast
antennas transmit at various RFs (Radio Frequency), depending on the channel, ranging from
about 550 kHz for AM (Amplitude Modulation) radio up to 800 MHz for some UHF (Ultra High
Frequency) television stations. Frequencies for FM (Frequency Modulation) radio and VHF
(Very High Frequency) television lie between these two extremes.
Fig. 2-3 shows two tall antennas used for radio and TV broadcasting. The prominent example of
the Eifel tower in Paris is not only an architectural monument; it was initially intended as an
antenna mast and is still equipped with various types of antennas. The height of the mast allows
to use its entire length as an antenna for lower frequencies e.g. for AM radio (Fig. 2-3a). On the
other hand antennas for large distance communication can be mounted high above the earth in
order to allow a line of sight (LoS) to distant receiving antennas without the perturbation caused
by buildings.

a) The Eifel tower. b) AM broadcast antenna.
Fig. 2-3: Radio and TV broadcasting antennas.


Low frequency waves can be transmitted over large distances regardless the curvature of the
earth because of the fact that these waves are reflected at the ionosphere. By applying this
phanonemon radio amateurs are able to transmit messages all around the earth.
On the other hand antennas on the receiver side often cannot be as large for radio reception due
to practical reason. Antennas that we find on roofs of private houses are typicall directive wire
antennas that are oriented to spot in the direction of the broadcasting antenna as shown in Fig.
2-4a. For FM radio receivers typically retractable wire antennas are used as shown in Fig. 2-4b.
For AM radio, which works at lower frequencies, a good antenna would be far too large to be
used in a radio receiver. Therefore instead wire coils wound around a ferrite core are used. These
antennas are not very efficient, but are an acceptable compromise for certain applications.

a) TV antenna on roof top. b) FM radio antenna. c) AM radio ferrite antenna.
Fig. 2-4: TV and radio receiving antennas.
2.2 Mobile Communications
Mobile communication using cellular phones has become very popular since the millennium.
Although starting approximately 40 years ago mobile telephony was privileged only to few
people mainly using it for business purposes quite long time. Nevertheless only the acceptance
and the extensive use by the general public justified the effort to build and maintain a cellular
wireless network. The principle topology of such a cellular network is shown in Fig. 2-5 (Note:
Detailed information about the structure of cellular networks is given in other lectures). A mobile
communication network based on e.g. GSM or UMTS is divided into cells in which the mobile
terminals (mobile phones) communicate with the base station of the cell the mobile is actually in.
The base-station then directs the information to the control center that transfers the information
via another base station to another mobile or to a wired network. This means there are at least
three different types of tranceivers involved: mobile phone, bases station, control center (relay
station).


http://www.swisscom-mobile.ch/scm/mce_mobilkommunikation-kurz-en.aspx

Fig. 2-5: Structure of a cellular mobile communication system, e.g. GSM or UMTS.
Due to their different demands different antennas are used for these transceivers. When we look
around near the place we live we find the base stations typically on the roofs of buildings to give
the antennas a certain line of sight. The base station antennas that cover the cell, which can range
from some hundred meters up to some kilometres, are typically of the bar-type shape shown in
Fig. 2-6. They typically illuminate one sector of 120 of the cell. Therefore often three of these
antennas are mounted around the mast. These antennas communicate with the mobile phones in
the cell. In order to transfer the information from one cell to the relay station typically longer
distances have to be covered. In addition the direction where the information has to be carried is
fixed as both the relay station and the base station have fixed positions. Therefore directive dish
antennas as shown in Fig. 2-6 are typically used for this link.
On the other hand we need antennas for the mobile handsets. It was a great challenge to design
the first antennas for mobile handsets especially due to the limited space available in a mobile
handsets. First approaches were based on extractable wire antennas similar to the retractable
antennas used on FM radio transmitters. Later on these antennas have been replaced by stubby
helical antennas. This roughly means that the wire of the antenna is wound in turns in order to
result in smaller mechanical dimensions. Finally antenna engineers managed to integrate the
antenna fully into the mobile phone. In this case the integrated antenna element is used to excite
the entire metal parts of the mobile phone to work as an antenna. As this has become such an
important topic we will discuss the functional principle of mobile phone antennas more in detail
in later chapters of this lecture.


http://www.cryptophone.alliancemobile.ru/graphics/antenna-en.jpg
GSM/UMTS
vertical dipole array
used to illuminte a
sector of 120
within a cell
Dish antennas
used for long
distance
communication with
the control center

Fig. 2-6: Base station sector antennas for the illumination of a sector of the cell and directive
dish antennas to enable communication between the base station and the control center.

External single band antenna used
in mobile phones around 1996
Integrated multi band antenna used
in nowadays mobile phones.

Fig. 2-7: External and internal mobile phone antennas.


2.3 Short range communication: Bluetooth, RF ID, wireless USB
In addition to mobile telephony using the GSM or UMTS standard today nearly every electronic
device possesses a wireless interface to communicate with other devices. E.g. a Bluetooth
module is nowadays integrated into nearly every mobile phone, PDA, etc. to provide short range
connectivity in order to exchange information wireless between these applications.

Fig. 2-8: Antennas for short range wireless connections are integrated in nearly every
electronic product.
Bluetooth as an accepted standard allows universal connectivity between various devices
incorporating the standard Bluetooth module without the need of an additional cable, like it is
needed e.g. for USB. However the present Bluetooth modules are only designed for low data rate
transfers and it is inconvenient to exchange large files via Bluetooth. This shall be made possible
by a wireless technology using large (ultrawide) bandwidth in the future. This technology will
allow e.g. something what can be called wireless USB. Also in later stepts it is planned to replace
any cabel connection in short range networks by this technology, even high data rate video
streaming between e.g. a DVD player and a flat screen. As this technology uses large bandwidth
it sets also some special demands for the antenna design and integration. We will also discuss
this upcoming topic in detail in later chapters of this lecture.


http://www.ovislink.ca/wls/wusb15.htm
antenna
http://www.avaana.com/images/left_img.jpg
a) Printed Bluetooth antenna b) Wireless USB stick
a) RF ID tag for warehouse
items
antenna
antenna

Fig. 2-9: Antennas for short range low and high data rate applications integrated into mass-
market low-cost products.
Finally there is a huge market for so called RF ID (Radio Frequency Identification) applications.
This includes e.g. tags on goods in a warehouse that include a transceiver module and can
therefore be localized. This helps a lot in arranging the logistics, because one can easily find
specific goods and access any information on what is in the shelfs. The transceivers including the
antennas used here must be extremly cheap, because the tag can be just a sticker that will be
discarded after use.
2.4 Radio Astronomy
In contrast to the small and low cost antennas for consumer products there are some very specific
large and expensive antennas e.g. for radio astronomy.
In radio astronomy we capture the electromagnetic radiation emitted, reflected or refracted by
celestial objects. As shown in Fig. 2-10 the optical spectrum is only a small part of the entire
electromagnetic spectrum that can propagate through the atmosphere. A much larger band passes
in the microwave range and can be received by ground based radio telescopes (antennas). In
order to receive also waves at those frequencies that are reflected or absorbed in the athmosphere
optical and radio telescopes can be positioned in the orbit, e.g. the Hubble telescope.
The signal received from celestial objects is typically very small. Therefore antennas with
extreme high directivity are required that are able to spot and concentrate on a very specific
region to be investigated. This can be compared to an optical telescope where we need a strong
zoom to resolve very distant objects. Therefore radio telescopes typically consist of huge dish-
type antennas. The dish is of parabolic shape in order to collect all incident waves and to direct
them to the focal centrum of the dish where they are received by an antenna. Later on, the signal
is amplified by an extreme low noise amplifier and processed.


web.njit.edu/~dgary/728/Lecture1.html: credit NASA/IPAC

Fig. 2-10: Radio frequency spectrum and atmospheric opacity.
www.ras.ucalgary.ca/svlbiimages/100m_dish.jpg www.narrabri.atnf.csiro.au/.../skasim/
a) 100 m single dish antenna. b) The square kilometer array: Antenna array
planned to be build in Australia.

Fig. 2-11: Single 100 m dish antenna and the planned configuration of the Square kilometer
array with antennas distributed thoughout Australia.


In order to see also very distant or weak radiating objects even the directivity of large dish
antennas with more than 100 m diameter can be too small. In this case several of such antennas
can be combined to form an array. Such arrays can consist of very distributed antennas. E.g. the
Square Kilometer Array is a current project that is intended to set up an array of antennas over
a huge area such as the Australian continent.
2.5 Antennas for extreme low frequencies
There are other huge antennas for extreme low frequency operation that are as huge that we
typically even do not recognize them as antennas.
The following section in based on: www.oldradio.com/archives/jurassic/ELF.doc:
Very low frequency or VLF refers to radio frequencies (RF) in the range of 3 kHz to 30 kHz.
Extreme low frequencies ELF even refer to only some Hz. Since there is not much bandwidth in
this band of the radio spectrum, only the very simplest signals are used, such as for radionaviga-
tion.
2.5.1 Submarine communication
As a result of the high electric conductivity of sea water, signals are attenuated rapidly as they
propagate downward through it. In effect, sea water "hides" the submarine from detection while
simultaneously preventing it from communicating with the outside world through conventional
high-frequency radio transmissions. In order to receive these, a submarine must travel at slow
speed and be near the surface. Unfortunately, both of these situations make a submarine more
susceptible to enemy detection. Lower frequencies, such as those in the ELF range, however, can
be received considerably deeper in the ocean.
First made public by the US Navy in 1968 as Project Sanguine, the Extremely Low Frequency
communications projectProject ELFis designed to communicate with deeply-submerged
submarines. Project ELF uses low-frequency waves to signal one-way coded messages to US
and British Trident and Fast Attack submarines. The system alerts them to surface to receive a
more detailed communication.
Project Sanguine would have made use of some two-fifths of Wisconsin in the construction of a
giant ELF transmitter capable of being heard all over the world. A committee set up to
investigate possible biological effects vetoed the concept. A new variant, Project Seafarer, was
next proposed. Again, the system was halted. Finally, Project ELF was approved and can now
broadcast at frequencies between 30 Hz to 300 Hz.
Project ELF, which became operational in 1989, consists of two transmitters, one near Clam
Lake in Northern Wisconsin, and the other at Republic, in Michigans Upper Peninsula.
(Actually, Michigans antenna intersection is located east of Republic, while the transmitter site
is in the Gwinn area nearby, with no settlements of any size between the two towns.) The
Michigan and Wisconsin sites, separated by 145 miles as the crow flies, must operate
simultaneously to meet worldwide coverage requirements.
One of the great difficulties associated with the use of ELF for communication purposes, is the
problem of generating a useful signal. The physical size of an antenna that can produce a useable


signal with reasonable efficiency is inversely proportional to the frequency. The Wisconsin
antenna consists of two lines, each about 14 miles long. The Michigan antenna uses three lines,
two about 14 miles long and one roughly 28 miles long.
Originally, the antennas were to be buried 6 feet underground, but reasons of economy dictated
otherwise. The antennas that were actually built look like a power line, mounted on 40-foot
wooden poles with a transmitter building near each antenna system. The transmitter facility in
Michigan uses about six acres of land and the one in Wisconsin, deep in the Chequamegon
National Forest, about two acres. A 165-mile underground cable connects the two sites which
have a typical operating frequency of 76 Hz. Due to its low frequency, the antenna system is
huge: a directly-generated electromagnetic wave at 76 Hz has a wavelength of 2,452 miles.
The very first ELF transmission from Clam Lake (an old Navy facility built years before
Michigans site) took place in May 1982, when a message was successfully received by a
submarine submerged at a depth of 400 feet in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast.
According to Paul Brodeur (Currents of Death), that experiment so impressed a newspaper
publisher that he promptly endorsed Project ELF.
USA
submarine
receiving
antenna
transmitting
antenna

Fig. 2-12: Overhead antennas.
Project ELFs signal of 76 Hz is capable of forming strong wavefronts and penetrate well below
the oceans surface. (Very Low frequency (VLF) signals, those between 3 kHz to 30 kHz were
used by the Navy before but they can barely penetrate the waters surface.) Millions of watts are
transformed into a 2,500-mile long wave that turns the Laurentian granite bedrock of Lake
Superior into a massive antenna for deep sea contact with the submarine fleet. The efficiency of
these transmitters is very poor, however, and a large amount of energy is wasted as heat.

Fundamentals of Electromagnetic Radiation 16


3 Fundamentals of Electromagnetic Radiation
This chapter reviews briefly Maxwells theory as far as it is needed to understand the later
radation aspects and antenna parameters. The chapter does not contain a complete desrcription
but is meant to be a repetition to what is more completely treated in lectures about Electrodynam-
ics or Microwave Theory. The reader interested into a more detailed treatment of Maxwells
theory is refered to other literature, e.g. [1, 2, 3].
3.1 A Short Review of Fields and Waves
3.1.1 Maxwells Equations
Maxwells four equations offer a complete mathematical description of any macroscopic
electromagnetic phaenonemon.
Time Domain
Integral Notation

Time Domain
Differential
Notation

Frequency
Domain
Differential
Notation

( )
d d
C A A
t
| |
= +
|
\

D
H s J A

Stokes
curl
t
= +
D
H J

F F
1

j = + H J E
(3.1)

( )
d d
C A A
t
| |
=
|
\

B
E s A

Stokes
curl
t
E B
F F
1

j = E H
(3.2)

( )
d d
A V V
V =

D A

Gauss
div = D
F F
1

= E
(3.3)

( )
d 0
A V
=
B A

Gauss
div 0 = B F F
1

0 = H
(3.4)

Summary 1: Maxwells equations.
They describe the relation between the electric field strength E and the magnetic field strength H
in a given material distribution defined by the permittivity , permeability and conductivity
and spatial distribution of sources consisting of charge density and current density J.
J, - Sources
, , - Material
E, H - Field Strength
Summary 2: Sources, media and field.
The electric flux density D and the magnetic flux density B are additional measures that directly
relate the field strengths to a specific material.


0 r
= = D E E (3.5)
0 r
= = B H H (3.6)
= J E (3.7)
Maxwells equations can be written in integral and differential notations in the frequency domain
or the time domain. The integral time domain notation is most suited to visualize the meaning of
the equations.
Equations (3.2) and (3.2) are Amperes and Faradays law of induction.
Fig. 3-1: Visualization of the integral notation of (a) Amperes and (b) Faradays law in the time
domain.
In Fig. 3-1 is A an arbritary surface with its normal unit vector n ( , with A A = A n n ). C(A)
denotes the closed contour line of the surface A. The visualization of Amperes law of induction
in Fig. 3-1a shows that integrating the magnetic field strength along the contour line C(A) yields
in the total current through the area A.
Total current density = conduction current density J + displacement current density
t
D

The total current density can also be expressed in the following form:
( )
( )
0
0
0
' ''
0

=
r
r
r r
j j
j j
j j

+ = +
| |
=
|
\
J D E
E
E
(3.8)
This notation displays especially the similarity between conduction and displacement currents
and leads to a definition of the complex permittivity which is especially suited to characterize
lossy dielectric materials by their loss tangent:

Loss Tangent:
ds
A
C(A)
E
B/t
ds
A
C(A)
H
J+D/t
(a)
(b)
ds
A
C(A)
E
B/t
ds
A A
C(A)
H
J+D/t
(a)
(b)


''
'
0
tan
r
r r

= =
(3.9)

Similar to Amperes law, the visualization of Faradays law of induction shows that integrating
the electric field strength along the countour line C(A) yields the time derivative of the magnetic
flux density integrated over the area A.

Fig. 3-2: Visualization of the integral notation of Gauss law for the electric field (a) the
magnetic field (b).
Gauss law for the electric field is visualized in Fig. 3-2a. It shows that the integration of the
displacement current density D over the closed surface A(V) yields the charge density inside the
enclosure. From the visualization of Gauss law for the magnetic field we can simply learn that
magnetic field lines are always closed.

Maxwells equations can be converted from their integral notation to their differential notation
by applying Stokes and Gauss theorem:
V Volume
containing
charge density
A(V) Enclosure
Q
in,1
Q
in,2
Q
out,1
Q
out,2
Q
out,3
Q
out,4
Q
out,5
D
D
D
D
D
A(V) Enclosure
B
(a)
(b)
V Volume
containing
charge density
A(V) Enclosure A(V) Enclosure
Q
in,1
Q
in,2
Q
out,1
Q
out,2
Q
out,3
Q
out,4
Q
out,5
D
D
D
D
D
A(V) Enclosure A(V) Enclosure
B
(a)
(b)


Stokes theorem:
( )
d curl d A
C A A
=

F s F

(3.10)
Gauss theorem:
d div d
A V
V =

F A F

(3.11)
Additional the differential notation can make use of the Nabla operator if we assume harmonic
time-dependency:
curl = F F (3.12)
div = F F (3.13)
Conversion between time domain and frequency domain can be obtained by Fourier transforma-
tion.
3.1.2 Fields at Material Boundaries
At material boundaries, special conditions for the electric and magnetic field strength can be
derived from Maxwells equations.
D
1
D
2
D
1n
= D
2n
1
<
2
2
D
1t
D
2t
=
2
/
1
D
1t
E
1
E
2
E
1t
= E
2t
1
<
2
2
E
1n
E
2n
=
1
/
2
E
1n

Fig. 3-3: Visualtization of the source-free boundary conditions.
In absence of surface charges
s
and surface current density J
S
on the interface, the tangential
components of the electric and magnetic field strength are constant at the interface. Furthermore
the normal components of the electric and magnetic flux density are constant. In the more general
case, including charges and surface current densities we can summarize:
Material Boundary Conditions:
1 2
1 2
S
1 2
S
1 2
0
0 without surface charge density
with charge density on interface
0 without surface current density
with current density on interface
0
t t
n n
t t
n n
E E
D D
H H
B B
=
J

(3.14)
These boundary conditions are especially important when we talk about antennas. With this
respect they e.g. explain the relation between the current density on the antenna and the field
generated nearby.


3.1.3 Wave Equation
While the integral time domain notation is best suited to visualize the phenomena treated in
Maxwells equations, general calculations are often more convenient in the differential notation,
because we can make use of several mathematical relations for the - calculus.
If we assume a source-free region and write down e.g. Faradays law

B
t
E , (3.15)
we can apply the curl-Operator again on both sides and replace the curl-operator with the
temporal derivative on the right side.
| |
= =
|

\
t t
E H H. (3.16)
This leads to the substitution of Amperes law on the right side. On the left side we can make use
of the mathematical identity ( ) = F F F:
0(no sources) =
| | | |
= + = +
| |

\ \
t t t t
E E J D E E , (3.17)
where 0 = E , because of the source-free region. Re-aranging the expression leads to the
following partial differential equation, known as a wave equation:

Wave Equation (Time Domain):
2
2
0
t t

=

E E E (3.18)
Assuming harmonic time-dependency we can apply the Fourier transformation:
2
0 j + = E E E , (3.19)
where we define
2 2 f
k
c

= = = (3.20)
as the wave number. Assuming a sinusoidal wave, the wave number can be related to the
wavelength and the phase velocity c of the wave by using the well known physical expressions:
1
c
= (3.21)
and
c
f
= , (3.22)
we can summarize:


Wave Equation (Frequency Domain):
2
0 j k + = E E E where (3.23)
2
= = = k
c

is the wave
number
(3.24)
Based on the general case solutions the wave equation can be divided into different special kinds
of waves which are of great importance for wave propagation and antenna theory.
3.1.3.1 Spherical Wave
If we assume a point source of excitation, spherical waves can travel from the origin outwards.
Fig. 3-4a illustrates the excitation and propagation of spherical waves originated in a point
source. As a two dimensional analogy Fig. 3-4b shows circular waves on the surface of water
excited by falling rain drops.
wave front
source
direction
of
propagation

a) Spherical wave propagation from a point
source.
b) 2-dimensional analogy.
Fig. 3-4: Propagation of spherical waves and 2-dimensional analogy of surface waves on the
water excited by raindrops.
Mathematically spherical waves can be expressed by:
( , )
4
jkr
F0 Source
Z P e
k
r
= E r , (3.25)
where Z
F0
is is the characteristic impedance of free space and P
source
is the source power.
Eq. (3.25) also accounts for a linear decay of the amplitude as it is the case for the field strength
of spherical electromagnetic waves.
Spherical waves are important for antenna radiation, because from a certain distance any antenna
seems to be a point source radiating spherical waves. We can again make use of the water


analogy to explain this: If a rectangular stone hits the water surface the waves excited convert to
circular waves in some distance.
3.1.3.2 Plane Wave
When we observe an incoming wave which is originated of a source at large distance, the
wavefront seems constant in perpendicular direction to the propagation. In this case the
wavefront is essentially a plane. A plane wave e.g. travelling in x-direction can be described by
the following mathematical expression:
( , )
jkx
k x e
=
0
E E . (3.26)
Incident waves from distant antennas are often considered as plane waves. In this case E
0
is the
field strength where the wave is observed and we often do not introduce a dissipation factor that
accounts for the decay of the amplitude while the wave is travelling over a certain distance as we
did for the spherical wave.
spherical wave
locally plane wave
spherical wave
locally plane wave

~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
k
wavefront

a) Locally plane section of a spherical wave. b) Incident plane wave.
Fig. 3-5: Plane wave propagation.
3.1.3.3 Waves in lossy/lossless media
Equation
2
0 j k + = E E E (3.27)
is the partial differential equation to describe wave propagation in lossy media. The losses are
defined by the conductivity. If the medium is lossless the middle term vanishes and we result in
the wave equation
2
0 for lossless media. k + = E E (3.28)
A time-domain solution can be e.g. a plane wave propagating in z-direction:
( ) ( )
0
, cos z t E t kz =
x
E e (3.29)
If we consider lossy media, we have to use all terms of eq. (3.27). In order to result in the same
notation for the differential equation we can substitude


( ) j j = + , (3.30)
which is called the propagation constant. The propagation constant can be written as
j = + , (3.31)
consisting of a real part which is called the attenuation constant and an imaginary part which is
called the phase constant :
2
1 1
2

| |

= +
|
\

, (3.32)

2
1 1
2

| |

= + +
|
\

. (3.33)
In addition to the attenuation due to increased distance from the source the field strength can
decay due to losses in the medium the wave propagates in.
A time-domain solution of eq. (3.27) could be e.g. a plane wave propagating in z-direction
through lossy media:
( ) ( )
0
, cos
z
z t E e t kz
=
x
E e . (3.34)
Fig. 3-6 illustrates the exponential decay in lossy media.
z
E(z, t = const.)
~ e
-z
E
0
z
E(z, t = const.)
~ e
-z
E
0

Fig. 3-6: Plane wave in lossy media.

3.1.4 Electromagnetic waves
An electromagnetic wave consists of an electric and a magnetic field component. They form a
transversal electromagnetic wave. Transversal means that the field vectors oscilate perpendicular
to the direction of propagation. This also is a difference to material waves e.g. sound or waves on


water. These mechnical waves are longitudinal waves and consist only of one component that
interacts with the material (e.g. air pressure variation), i.e. they cannot propagate in vacuum.
Electromagntic waves are transversal waves consisting of an electric and magnetic
field component which oscilate orthogonal to each other and perpendicular to the
direction of propagation. The energy is transported in the electromagnetic field. An
electromagnetic wave is affected by the medium it propagates in, but does not
necessary require a medium to propagate, i.e. can propagate in vacuum.
The ratio between the amplitude of the electric and the magnetic field strength is called the
characteristic impedance and is also a ratio of the material properties:
0
0
F
E
Z
H
= = (3.35)
If the medium is free space the characteristic impedance is:
0
0
0
377
F
Z

= . (3.36)
y
x
z
y
x
z
S = EH
wavefront
E
H
y
x
z
y
x
z
S = EH
wavefront
E
H

Fig. 3-7: Electromagnetic wave consisting of the orthogonal electric and magnetic components
oscilating perpendicular to the direction of propagation.
With this regard the Pointing vector S describes the power density transported through an unit
area by the wave in Fig. 3-7:


2
2 0
0 0
0
F
F
E
H Z
Z
= = =
z z
S E H e e . (3.37)
3.1.5 Polarization
By convention, the direction of the electric field vector determines the polarization of the plane
wave. In Fig. 3-7 the plane wave is lineary polarized along the x-direction. If we superimpose
two plane waves with the same angular frequency, but different amplitudes and phase angles
0
, we get elliptical or circular polarization.
In order to understand technically relevant polarizations, the superposition of the following two
uniform plane waves in free space is investigated. The vector of the electric field E
1
of the first
plane wave is oriented in x-direction and the vector of the second plane wave is oriented in y-
direction. Both waves propagate in positive z-direction.
( ) ( )
1 1,0 1,0
, cos z t E t kz = +
x
E e , (3.38)
( ) ( )
2 2,0 2,0
, cos
y
z t E t kz = + E e . (3.39)
If we look at the polarization of the resulting wave E=E
1
+E
2
we can define the following
different polarizations:
y
x
z
E
y
x
z
E

y
x
z E
y
x
z
E

a) b)
c) d)
y
x
z
E
y
x
z
E

y
x
z E
y
x
z
E

y
x
z
E
y
x
z
E

y
x
z E
y
x
z
E

a) b)
c) d)

Fig. 3-8: Polarization of waves propagating in positive z-direction: a) linear polarization, b)
right-handed circular polarization (RHCP), c) and d) right-handed elliptical polarization (RHEP).
Linear Polarization: If the phase angles are equal (
1,0
=
2,0
) the direction of the vector of the
resulting electric field E is independent of time (see Fig. 3-8a).


Circular Polarization: If the amplitudes are equal (E
1,0
= E
2,0
) and the phase angles differ by /2
(
1,0
=
2,0
/2) the resulting electric field vector rotates on a circular curve in the xy-plane.
The angular frequency of rotation is . Depending on the sign of the phase difference the vector
rotates clockwise or counterclockwise. The wave is said to be right-handed circularly polarized
(RHCP) or left-handed circularly polarized (LHCP) (see Fig. 3-8b).
Elliptical Polarization: If the amplitudes of the waves are not equal (E
1,0
E
2,0
) and the phase
difference is still /2 (
1,0
=
2,0
/2) the resulting electric field vector rotates again with the
angular frequency . In the xy-plane the tip of the vector follows an ellipse with the main axes
directed into the x- and y-direction. If the amplitudes of the wave differs (E
1,0
E
2,0
) and the
phase angle difference is neither 0 or /2 (
1,0
=
2,0
+ with arbitrary ) the resulting electric
field vector follows an elliptical curve in the xy-plane but now the main axes of the ellipse are
rotated with respect to the x- and y-direction. Depending on the sign of the phase difference the
vector rotates clockwise or counterclockwise. The wave is said to be right-handed elliptically
polarized (RHEP) or left-handed elliptically polarized (LHEP) (see Fig. 3-8c,d).
Depending on the application a certain polarization can provide some advantages. With this
regard positioning systems like GPS and Galileo use right-handed circular polarization in order
to be able to distinguish between direct Satellite signals and their reflections on the surface of the
earth and the atmosphere, that change the rotation.
There are different strategies to design antennas that radiate waves with the desired kind of
polarization that will be discussed in other chapters of this lecture.
3.2 Radiation from current sources
An antenna is intended to act as the transition between guided waves on transmission lines to
waves that propagate in free space. In order to derive how this transition works, we apply again
Maxwells theory:
As explained earlier, charge densities and current densities can be seen as sources of the
electromagnetic field. In order to derive a direct relation between the sources and the fields it has
been proven to be useful to define additional measures, the scalar electric and the magnetic
vector potential A.
We know the electric potential already from the basic lectures in electrostatic theory. In this
case we found a simple relation between the charge density and the electric field by the Poisson
equation:
The electric potential and the Poisson equation in electrostatics:
( )
( ) 1
d
4
V
V

=
= =
'
'
E
r
r
r r
(3.40)
It is now our aim to derive a similar relation for the electrodynamic case that includes also the
other type of sources, the current density J.
As a first step, we can define a magnetic vector potential :


= A B. (3.41)
Eq. (3.41) makes use of the fact that Gauss law for the magnetic flux (eq. (3.4)) shows that the
divergence of the magnetic flux is zero. In this case the magnetic flux can be given by the curl of
another vector which we define as the magnetic vector potential A.
If we introduce the magnetic vector potential in Amperes law (eq. (3.2))
( ) B
t t t

= = =

E A A, (3.42)
we can derive
0
t
| |
+ =
|
\
E A . (3.43)
Similar to the electrostatic case, we can now substitute:
t
+ =
E A (3.44)
and derive an electrodynamic expression for the electric field strength that makes use of the
scalar electric and the magnetic vector potential:
t
E A . (3.45)
If we use again Ampers law (eq. (3.2)):
t
= +
H J D (3.46)
We can substitute H with our definition of the magnetic vector potential
1
t
= +
A J E. (3.47)
Applying the identity ( ) = F F F yields
( )
1 1
t
= +
A A J E. (3.48)
If we now replace E by the expression in eq. (3.45)
( )
2
2
1 1
t t t t

| |
= + =
|

\
A A J A J A (3.49)
we can rearrange the terms to
( ) ( )
2
2
1 1 1
t t t

| |
= + + = + +
|

\
A A J A J A . (3.50)
Up to now we defined the magnetic vector potential only by its curl ( = A B). However, a
vector field is fully defined only by its curls and sources. If we define


t

A , (3.51)
the term on the right side of eq. (3.50) vanishes and the equation is reduced to the
Helmholtz equation:
2
2
t

A A J (3.52)
Eq. (3.51) is called the Lorentz condition.
Helmholtz equation is an inhomogeneous partial differential equation that can again be
interpreted as a wave equation. It makes a relation between the sources, the current density e.g.
on an antenna and the vector potential, and thereby the field, in a distant point from the antenna.
The calcultation of a general solution for this partial differential equation can be a tough
mathematical exercise. However based on our knowledge on the physics of fields and waves we
can try to derive a solution using less the pure mathematical methods:
If we compare the Helmholtz equation with the Poisson equation for the electrostatic field
(eq. (3.40)), we notice that both are inhomogeneous differential equations that relate the sources
to the potentials.
x
y
r
r
|r- r|=R
J
0
A,
z
(sources)
(waves)
(observation point)
x
y
r
r
|r- r|=R
J
0
A,
z
(sources)
(waves)
(observation point)

Fig. 3-9: Radiation from a source volume.
In contrast to the scalar electric potential the Helmholtz equation uses the magnetic vector
potential, but if we split the Helmholtz equation into the different Cartesian vector components
of the magnetic vector potential, we result again in three scalar equations:
2
2
x x x
y y y
z z z
A A J
A A J
t
A A J

| | | | | |
| | |
=
| | |
| | |
\ \ \
. (3.53)


If we just focus on the x-component we have
2
2
x x x
time dependence
A A J
t

, (3.54)
where the middle term acounts for the time dependence.
If we assume (only in an intermediate step) the middle term zero we result Helmholtz equation
for quasistatic fields which provides a similar notation as the Poisson equation:
x x
A J = . (3.55)
As we know already the solution of the poisson equation we can easily derive the solution for the
quasistatic Helmholtz equation just by assuming duality between the electric and magnetic
measures:
( )
( )
1
d
4
V
V

= =
'
'
r
r
r r

(3.56)

( )
( )
d
4
x
x x x
V
J
A J A V
= =
'
'
r
r
r r

(3.57)
If we base on this quasistatic solution and want to re-introduce wave propagation in terms of fast
time-varying fields we have to extend the quasistatic solution by using retarded vector potentials
by defining:
( )
( )
'
'
,
, d , with
4
x
x
V
J t
A t V t t
c
= =
' '
'
r r r
r
r r
(3.58)
where c is the phase velocity of the wave.
Splitting the complex phasors into amplitude and phase term leads to
d
4
j t
c
j t x
x
V
J e
A e V
| |
|
|
\
=
'
r r
'
r r
, (3.59)
where we can cancel the phase term on both sides and introduce the wave number k:

j t
x
A e

4
j t
x
J e

=

1
d d d
4 4
c
k j
j jk
c
x x
V V V
e J e J e
V V V

=
=

= =

'
' '
r r
r r r r
' ' '
r r r r r r
(3.60)
Collecting again all components in vector notation we result finally in the desired solution of the
Helmholtz equation for fast time-varying fields


Solution of Helmholtz equation:
( ) d
4
jk
V
e
V
'
r r
'
J
A r
r r
,
(3.61)
that describes how a source distribution consisting of current density generates a magnetic vector
potential at a distant point.
The relation to the magnetic field strength is directly given by the definition of the magnetic
vector potential:
1
= H A (3.62)
The electric field strength can be calculated using eq. (3.2) and assuming that current density
exists only in the antenna and there is no additional current density in the observation point:
H = J
0 in P
1
j
j
=
+
=
E
E H
(3.63)
We sum up these important relations between the source current density and the fields in the
following box:
2
2
t

A A J
x
y
r
r
|r- r|=R
J
0
A,
z
(sources)
(waves)
(observation point)
x
y
r
r
|r- r|=R
J
0
A,
z
(sources)
(waves)
(observation point)

( ) d
4
jk
V
e
V
'
r r
'
J
A r
r r

1
= H A,
with J=0 in P.
1
j
= E H
Summary 3: Relation between source current density and field at a distant point from the
antenna.

3.3 The Hertzian dipole an elementary source of radiation
Let us assume that we have an artificial infinitesimal current element located in the origin of our
coordinate system. Fig. 3-10 shows the configuration and the definitions to calculate the vector
potential in spherical coordinates at the observation point P.


x
y
r
I
0
A(r, , )
z
observation point
P
Hertzian dipole
Q
+
Q
-
z 0

Fig. 3-10: Hertzian dipole at the origin of a spherical coordinate system.
In order to calculate the magnetic vector potential by using eq. (3.61) we face first of all a minor
problem in defininig the current density because the Hertzian dipole consists of an infinitesimal
current element. If we define the Hertzian dipole infinitesimal small (z 0), we have to
enforce the current element infinitly high (I
0
) in order not to result in a vanishing product
I
0
z. We can overcome this problem by defining
( ) ( ) ( )
'
' ' '
0
'
0 for 0
with =
for 0
z
I z

=

=
r
J r r e r
r
(3.64)
with the normalization
( )
'
V
d 1 v
r r (3.65)
As the current density element is infinitesimal and z-directed we result in
( ) ( )
0
4
jk
z z z
e
A I z
= =
r
A r r e e
r
(3.66)
for the vector potential in the observation point P.
In spherical coordinates this is
( )
( )
( )
0
cos
, , 0
4
sin
jk
e
r I z
| |
|
=
|
|

\
r
A
r
. (3.67)
The magnetic field strength can be calculated from the vector potential using eq. (3.62)


( )
1
sin
1 1
A
r

= = H A
( )
0
sin
A
=
| |

|

\
( )
( )
0
1 1
1
sin
r
r
A
rA
r r r
A
r
=

0
1
r A
r r
=
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
0
0 0
0
0
1 1 1
1 1 1
sin cos
4 4
1
sin sin
4
1 1
sin
4
r
jkr jkr
jkr
jkr
jkr
A
rA
r r r
e e
r I z I z
r r r r r
e
I z jke
r r
e
I z jk
r r
| |
|
|
|
| | |
=
|
|

\
|
|
| |
|
|
|
\
\
| | | | | |
=
| | |

\ \ \
| |
= +
|
\
| |
= +
|
\
e
e
e
( )

e
(3.68)
If we process the calculation again using spherical coordinates, we result in:
( )
( ) ( )
1
1
sin
sin
1
j
H
H
r
j

=
E H
0
1
r H
r r
=
0
1
r
H
r
=
| |
|
\
( )
0
1
sin
r
H
r
=
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
0
0 2 3
2
2
0 2 3
2
0
2
1
2 1
cos
4
0
1 1
sin
4
1
2 cos
0
4
1
1 sin
jkr
jkr
jkr
rH
r r
jk
I z e
r r
j
jk k
I z e
r r r
j
kr
kr
e
j I z
r
j
kr
kr
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

|

|
\
| |
| |
+ |
|
\
|
|
=
|
| | |
+
| |
\ \
| | |
+ |
|
=
| |
+ |
|
\
\
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(3.69)
We sum up again the field of a z-directed Hertzian dipole located in the centre of a spherical
coordinate system:


( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( )
( )
2 3
0
2 3
1
2 cos
0
4
1 1
sin
jkr
j
kr kr
r
e
j I zk
j
kr
kr kr
| | | |
| + |
|
|
| | \
|
|
=
|
|
| |
| |
\
|
+ |
|
|
\
\
E

(3.70)
( )
( )
2
0 2
0
1
sin
4
0
jkr
r
e j
k I z
kr
kr
| |
|
| |
| |
|
|
= + |
|
|
|
|
\ |
\
|
\
H

(3.71)
Summary 4: Electromagnetic field of a z-directed Hertzian dipole located in the centre of a
spherical coordinate system
The formulation of the field in Summary 4 shows that the field strength consists of different
terms having 1
st
, 2
nd
and 3
rd
order relation to the coordinate r, the distance of P from the dipole.
If r is small (kr < 1) the higher order terms are dominant. Since (kr > 1) the lower order terms
provide more contribution. If P is located in large distance from the dipole (kr >> 1) only the 1
st

order terms add significant contribution to the field strength. This means that the radial
component of E vanishes completely and the remaining components simplify to:
( ) ( )
0
1
, , sin
4
jkr
kr
e
r j I z
r
E e
, (3.72)
( ) ( )
0
1
, , sin
4
jkr
kr
e
r jkI z
r
H e
. (3.73)
The factor
4
jkr
e
r
describes a spherical wave propagating outward from the origin of the

coordinate system.
Characteristic Antenna Measures 34


4 Characteristic Antenna Measures
After we derived the physical phaenonema of antenna radiation directly on the basis of
Maxwells equations we are now prepared to define some characteristic measures that we will
need quite frequent later on. These definitions should be simple to apply without the use of heavy
mathematics but nevertheless must be sufficient to characterize the most interesting behaviour of
the antenna under investigation.
4.1 Near field and far field of an antenna
At the end of the previous chapter we have learned that the field generated by an antenna can be
very complicated near the antenna structure itself, but seems to be simpler at far distance. In case
of the Hertzian dipole we have derived that the radial component of the electric field strength
vanishes in some distance from the antenna. Additionally, the higher order terms of the magnetic
and electric field strength disappear.
As we will see in later chapters the design of antennas requires knowledge on and the ability to
design the field region near around the antenna. On the other hand, when we work with antennas
we are more interested in how the antenna radiates energy into large distance.
Importance of near field and far field:
The design of antennas requires knowledge on and the ability to design the field
region near around the antenna. When we work with antennas we are often more
interested in how the antenna radiates energy into far distance.
This leads to the idea to separate the space around an antenna into different regions, as there are
the near field and the far field of the antenna.

Fig. 4-1: Electric field strength around a dipole antenna.


The far field of the antenna starts where the higher order terms disappear and the 1
st
order term
becomes most significant. With reference to a small antenna like the Hertzian dipole this is the
case if
1
2
kr r

. (4.1)
From a far observation point the antenna seems to radiate spherical waves outward. This also
means that the electric and the magntic field strength contain only transversal components and no
radial components. Additionally the electric and the magnetic field vector are orthogonal to each
other and are oriented into the radial direction of wave propagation. The amplitude ratio of the
electric and the magnetic field strength is fix and can be expressed in terms of the free space
wave impedance:
0
0 0
0
, with 377 Z Z

= =
r
E H e . (4.2)
The near field is the region directly around the antenna where the higher order terms are most
significant. This region is actually the entire antenna, rather than only the mechanical structure
what we usually call antenna. The near field is the region where the antenna breaths and where
the field is developed that is later on radiated into the far field. In the near field a simple relation
between the components of electric and magnetic field does not nessesarily exist. The
distribution can be quite complicated. It makes a transition from the current density on the
antenna to the field directly around the antenna and the field distribution in terms of spherical
waves.
The entire antenna: Phyiscal structure + Near field:
The entire antenna is not a capsulated component. It consists of the physical
antenna structure itself and part of the near field region around.This region can be
understood as the region necessary for the antenna to breath.
Fig. 4-1 illustrates the separation of near field and far field by a visualization of the electric field
around a dipole antenna. Near the metal rods of the dipole the field shows a complicated
distribution. At some distance waves seem to propagate outwards.
The border drawn in Fig. 4-1 is positioned only by visual interpretation of the field distribution.
For practical reasons it can be useful to have a certain definition where the near field ends and
where the far field starts. We will derive such a definition in the following chapter.
4.1.1 Far field approximation
If we are only interested in the far field of an antenna we can directly apply some simplifications
to eq. (3.61):
( ) d
4
jk
V
e
V
'
r r
'
J
A r
r r
. (4.3)
The calculation is mostly complicated by the fact that the observation point coordinate r occurs
in the integral. We can overcome this problem by an assumption that can be made if the


observation point is far away from the antenna. The assumption is known as the concept of
parallel rays and is illustrated in Fig. 4-2.
The regular configuration between source point and observation point is given in solid lines. If
we assume that the observation point is very far away from the antenna, we can tilt the vectors of
r and r-r sligtly in order to arrange them parallel to each other. In this case they do not longer
point at the same point P, but if P is very far away the difference is only small. The new
orientation of the parallel vectors allows to derive some useful relations. First we introduce an
additional vector a in order to define the same length for the parallel vectors.
( ) = - with = =
r r
r r' r a r a a r' e e (4.4)
Due to the fact that r and a point into the same direction we can substract their absolute values
separately. This expression is used in the phase term of eq. (4.3).
The denominator in eq. (4.3) accounts only for the absolute distance. Therefore we can simply
assume that
in the denominator. r r' r (4.5)
Note: We cannot use this rough approximation in the phase term, because the relative phase
oscilates between 0 and 2. Therefore we have to be some more accurate and use eq. (4.4) for the
phase term.
x
y
r
r
r- r
J(r)
A
far
z
antenna
far observation
point
.
a

Fig. 4-2: Farfield approximation: Concept of parallel rays.
Using the approximations eq. (4.4) and eq. (4.5) in eq. (4.3) leads to:


( ) d
4
d
4
d
4
jk
V
jk jk
V
jk
jk
V
e
V
e e
V
e
e V
'
'
r
'
r
r r
'
r r e
r
r e
J
A r
r r
J
r
J
r
(4.6)
With this regard each current element on an antenna can be seen as a source of a spherical wave.
The field at a far observation point is the superimposition of the waves from all current elements.
Far field approximation:
( ) d
4
jk
jk
V
e
e V
'
r
r
r e
A r J
r

(4.7)
4.1.2 Far field distance
The assumption of parallel rays is only accurate for infinite distance. If we use them at a certain
finite distance the results become incorrect by a ceratin amount that is a function of antenna size
versus distance to the observation point. Fig. 4-3 shows an antenna that is centered in the origin
of the coordinate system. Let us assume that the antenna consists of distributed current elements
that radiate spherical waves. If we choose an observation point on the y-axis, the propagation
paths from the current elements on the antenna to the observartion point have different length
depending on their position on the antenna.
r
R
P
y
z
antenna
L

Fig. 4-3: Far field distance: Phase error due to different length of the propagation paths from
the current elements on the antenna.
The maximum difference occurs between propagation path of the center element r and the
propagation path of the outer element R:


2 2
2
1 1
2 2
| |
| | | |
|
= = + = +
| |
|
\ \
\
L L
d R r r r r
r
. (4.8)
We can develop the square root in a Taylor series and result in
2 2
2
1 1
8 8
L L
d r
r r
| |
+ =
|
\
. (4.9)
The different length of the propagation paths mainly affects the phase of the field in the
observation point. Therefore we are now free to decide what error we accept when we define the
far field distance. The most common definition is a maximum phase error of 22.5 which is /8:
0
22.5
8 16
d

= = . (4.10)
Using this value in eq. (4.9) the far field distance as a function of the antenna size yields:
2
far field
2L
r
= . (4.11)
In eq. (4.11) L is the largest diameter of the antenna.
The formulation in eq. (4.11) is mainly used for large antennas. If the antenna is smaller than one
wavelength we can use:
far field
2 , if L r > . (4.12)
These definitions have great practical performance. E.g. when we measure the radiation
characteristic of an antenna we need to position the probe antenna in the far field.
Minimum far field distance (phase error < 22.5):
Electrically small antennas: L Electrically large antennas: L >
far field
2 r > (4.13)
2
far field
2
2
L
r

= (4.14)
Summary 5: Minimum far field distance.
4.2 Pointing vector
The Pointing vector denotes the power flux density and is defined as the vector product of E and
H:
( ) ( ) ( ) , , , t t t = S r E r H r (4.15)
For time-harmonic dependencies S can be expressed as a complex measure:
( )
1
2
=
*
S E H (4.16)
where


( ) ( ) Re t = S s (4.17)
is the average power density.
In case of a plane wave or spherical wave (e.g. in the far field of an antenna) E and H are
orthogonal to each other and their amplitudes are related to the free space wave impedance. In
this case eq. (4.16) can be simplified:
( )

( )
2
2
0
0
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
*
E
EH H Z
Z
= = = =
E H
*
r r r
S E H e e e . (4.18)
The Pointing vector describes the power flux through an infinitesimal surface element. If we
imagine an enclosing surface around an antenna the integration of the pointing vector over the
entire surface gives the total power radiated by the antenna. As we have learned in the previous
chapter an antenna can be seen to radiate spherical waves into the far field it is most convenient
to use a large sphere to calculate the power:
( )
( ) ( )
Sphere in
far field
2
2
0 0
Re d Re sin d d
= =
= =

rad
Enclosure
P A r S

S n . (4.19)
4.3 Radiation characteristic
The radiation characteristic describes how an antenna radiatess into different directions in the far
field. It is defined as a function of the electric field strength in the far field over the angles and
normalized to its maximum value:
( )
( )
( ) { }
far field
const
,
,
max ,
r
C
=

=

E
E
. (4.20)
Because of the normalization in eq. (4.20) the radiation characteristic becomes independent of r
because it appears in the nominator and the denominator of eq. (4.20). We just have to make sure
that r is in the far field of the antenna.

Fig. 4-4: Radiation characteristic of a Hertzian dipole [8].


Typically the radiation characteristic is defined by the electric field strength. However we could
define it by the magnetic field strength in a similar way or just convert form E to H by the simple
proportional relation in the far field.
Fig. 4-4 shows the radiation characteristic of a hertzian dipole in a 3D coordinate system.
Due to the rotational symmetry of the antenna, the radiation characteristic shows also rotational
symmetry. The donut shape is the typical dipole characteristic. The 3D pattern gives a good
impression of the overall radiation characteristic of an antenna. In order to reduce the complexity
the 3D pattern can be divided into 2D cuts. If we use the main coordinate planes, we call these
2D patterns cardinal cuts. In general 3 cardinal cuts exist:
xy-plane horizontal pattern
xz-plane vertical pattern
yz-plane vertical pattern.
The description horizontal/vertical reminds of antennas that are positioned on or above the earth
using the convention that the surface of the earth is in the (horizontal) xy-plane.
Fig. 4-5 shows the cardinal cuts for the Hertzian dipole related to Fig. 4-4. Due to the rotational
symmetry both vertical patterns an identical. The sine and cosine functions in eq. (3.70) generate
the circles in the polar diagrams.
x
y
a) xz-plane
yz-plane
b) xz-plane: horizontal pattern.
x
z
1
C(,)
vertical pattern.

Fig. 4-5: Cardinal cuts through the radiation characteristic: xy-plane horizontal pattern; xz-
plane and yz-plane vertical pattern.
Fig. 4-4 and Fig. 4-5 use a linear scale. It is also very common to use a logarithmic scale instead.
This allows to visualize a broader range of values which is important when we come to directive
antennas. Also the radiation pattern can be plotted in a cartesian diagram. This gives less the
impression of the spherical coordinate system but it is easier to measure the absolute values.
Fig. 4-4 and Fig. 4-5 show the radiation characteristic as it is defined in eq. (4.20) as a field
measure. Sometimes it makes sense to display the characteristic as a power measure in stead. In


this case we can just use the square of the field values in eq. (4.20). When we convert from linear
to logarithmic scale we have to take this into account:
( ) ( )
( )
log lin
, 20log , C C = , (4.21)
( ) ( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
2
power
lin lin log
, 10log , 20log , C C C = = . (4.22)
The definition of the radiation characteristic in eq. (4.20) is simple and useful for some cases, but
contains also some drawbacks: 1. The use of the absolute value for the field strength makes it
impossible to distinguish between different polarizations. 2. The radiation pattern defined by
eq. (4.20) does not account for the phase. The latter is not very often necessary, but in some cases
it is necessary to distinguish between different polarizations.
The following definition of the radiation characteristic takes into account the complete
polarimetric complex information:

( )
( )
( )
{ }
( ) ( )
( )
( )
{ }
0
0
far field
0
0
far field
const
,
,
,
const
, ,
, , , ,
max , ,
, ,
where
max , ,
jk r
jk r
r
jk r
jk r
r
r e
C C C
r e
r e
C
r e

=

=

= = +

=

E
e e
E
E
E
. (4.23)
If the phase information is not required, the absolute value of the components is used.

Fig. 4-6: Cardinal cuts of the radiation characteristic.


The radiation pattern is identical for the transmit and the receive case of an antenna in most
cases. We call this phaenonemon reciprocity. Antennas can be seen as reciprocal two-ports if no
non-reciprocal materials, such as ferrites, are used.
4.3.1 Directivity, efficiency and gain
The radiation characteristic as defined in eq. (4.20) allows to analyse how an antenna radiates
into different directions. Often it is also useful to have a comparative measure that allows to
compare the radiation of a certain antenna with a reference antenna. Such a reference can be e.g.
an isotropic radiator. The isotropic radiator is a radiating point source that radiates spherical
waves isotropically into all directions. Such an antenna does not exist in nature, but nevertheless
we will see that it can be very useful and therefore is used quite frequently.
Due to the isotropic radiation the radiation characteristic is a sphere and the power density is
constant on the surface of the sphere:
2
4
ant
P
r
=
i r
S e , (4.24)
where the index i referres to isotropic and P
ant
is the feed power of the isotropic radiator.
We can use this simple relation perfectly for comparative measurements:
If we measure the power density pattern of our antenna under test we can normalize that in stead
to its maximum value to the value we obtain if we would measure an isotropic radiator with the
same feed power at the same distance r.
( )
( )
( )
( )
, ,
, , where is the radian sphere.
, ,
4
ant
i
P
S r
D
P
S r
= =

(4.25)
We call D(r,,) the directivity pattern of the antenna. It gives information on how the antenna
radiates power into different directions compared to an isotropic radiator.
Usually the directivity is given in logarithmic scale:
( )[ ] ( )[ ] ( )
, dBi 10log , lin D D = . (4.26)
The pseudo unit dBi points out that an isotropic radiator has been used for comparison. Of course
the same definition could be used for any other reference antenna. However, in most practical
cases an isotropic radiator is used.
Fig. 4-7 shows the directivity pattern of a half wavelength dipole as horizontal and vertical cuts
in a typical polar diagram using a logarithmic scale:


0
30
60
90
120
150
180
-30
-20
-20
-10
-10
-30
-60
-90
-120
-150
xy-plane:
xz-plane:
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
270
300
330
360
-30
-20
-20
-10
-10
0
D [dBi]
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
270
300
330
360
-30
-20
-20
-10
-10
0
D [dBi]
D [dBi]
3D radiation
characteristic:

Fig. 4-7: Horizontal and vertical cut of the directivity pattern of a half wavelength dipole.
Although the directivity depends on the spherical angles around the antenna it is also common to
talk of a single value of the directivity of an antenna. In this case the directivity of an antenna
means the maximum directivity of all the angles, i.e. in main beam direction of the antenna. E.g.
we can read from Fig. 4-7 that the maximum directivity of the half wavelength dipole is
max
2.15 dBi D = . (4.27)
It is obvious form eq. (4.25) that the integration of the directivity over the whole sphere must
give:
( ) ( )
2
0 0
, sin d d 4 D

=

(4.28)
Real antennas are not ideal. They are made out of real materials and therefore can contain a
certain amount of losses. Therefore not all the power accepted P
ant
by the antenna is radiated.
This is expressed by the antenna efficiency

rad
ant
P
P
= , (4.29)
that is defined as the ratio of accepted power and radiated power.
Using this definition we can derive the antenna gain
G D = , (4.30)
that weights the directivity by the efficiency of the antenna. With this respect it displays what we
gain at a certain angle using our real antenna compared to an isotropic radiator.


4.3.2 Effective antenna area
In receive mode an antenna captures part of the energy from incoming plane waves. Fig. 4-8
illustrates this phanomena:
antenna
propagation profile
affected by the antenna
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
plane
wave
plane
wave
field captured
by the antenna
effective area of
the antenna where
the field is captured
A
eff

Fig. 4-8: Effective antenna area.
The propagation profile of the plane wave is disturbed near the antenna. Within a certain area
field lines no longer propagate through space, but end on the antenna, we call the cut plane where
all field lines end on the antenna the effective antenna area A
eff
.
The power density of the incoming plane wave can be seen to be constant near the antenna.
Therefore the power received by the antenna is
receive antenna eff
P S A = (4.31)
The effective antenna area is, as the directivity, a measure for the power that the antenna can
capture from (or transmit into) a plane wave. Keeping in mind the reciprocity of antennas we can
express the relation between effective antenna area and directivity by the following equation:
2
4
=
eff
A D
. (4.32)
Note: The effective antenna area is not necessarily equal to the physical area of the antenna. E.g.
a thin dipole antenna with no physical area possesses a certain effective antenna area because it
captures enengy from an incoming plane wave. We call the ratio between the effective antenna
area and the physical area of the antenna the area efficiency of the antenna:


eff
A
physical
A
A
= . (4.33)
4.4 Radiation resistance
An antenna is a two port network, where the second port is the transition to free space.
Sometimes it makes sense to consider the antenna as a concentrated component, that can be
treated simply by network theory. In this case an antenna can be divided the impedance in a real
and imaginary part:
ant ant ant
Z R jX = + . (4.34)
The real parts can also be divided into the radiation resistance and the loss resistance.
ant rad loss
R R R = + . (4.35)
The radiation resistance is related to the radiated power of the antenna. The loss resistance
account for the losses related to the use of real materials.
In a following the Fig. 4-9 shows the network definition of transmit and receive antennas.
transmitter transmit
antenna
receiver
receive
antenna
jX
ant
R
ant
R
rad
R
loss
jX
ant
R
rad
R
loss

Fig. 4-9: Network definition of transmit and receive antennas.
The transmit antenna just consists of the impedance itself. The receive antenna consists also of a
source that is related to the received power of the antenna.
We note also from Fig. 4-9 that transmit and receive antennas terminate to other parts of the
network (transmitter and receiver). It is obvious, that as for any other RF components we have to
make sure that boths parts are matched to each other in order to transmit the maximum power.
Mathematically this means:
* *
,
i ant E ant
Z Z Z Z = = . (4.36)
As the main purpose of an antenna is to transmit and receive energy, it is obvious that the losses
should be as low as possible. On the other hand, depending on the application low cost materials
have to be used. In chapter 4.3.1 we have defined the antenna efficiency to relate the directivity
to the gain. Now we can find an alternative way to calculate the antenna efficiency by the
network model in Fig. 4-9:


rad rad
ant rad loss
P R
P R R
= =
+
. (4.37)
4.5 Transmission between antennas
In the last section of this chapter, we apply the defined measures in order to calculate the
transmission between two antennas. If we assume the transmission between two antennas over
the distance d, we can calculate the power received by the receive antenna if we just follow the
path the energy travels and consider each step in-between.
transmit antenna
TX
receiver antenna
RX
P
in
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
G
TX,
,TX
d
P
out
s
11,TX
s
11,RX
G
RX,
,RX

Fig. 4-10: Transmission between two antennas.
Beginning at the transmitter the power is fed into the transmit antenna. Depending on the
matching of the antenna to the transmitter part of the energy is transferred to the antenna. As the
energy is traveling on the antenna it is attenuated by the losses on the antenna and part of it is
radiated into free space. Depending on the gain of the transmit antenna in direction towards the
receive antenna the power density can be higher or lower than the equivalent power density of an
isotropic radiator. As the transmit antenna transmits spherical waves, the power density is
attenuated according to the rising surface of the sphere. Reaching the receive antenna it depends
now on the effective antenna area of the receive antenna how much energy is received. The
received energy is again attenuated by the losses of the receive antenna and a part is reflected due
to mismatch between antenna and receiver.
We can put this together into an equation in exactly the same way:
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( )( )
2 2
11, , 11,
2
2
2 2
11, 11, 2
2
2 2
11, 11,
2 2
1
1 1
4
1
1 1
4 4
1 1
16
out in TX TX TX eff RX RX RX
in TX TX TX RX RX RX
in TX RX TX RX TX RX
P P s D A s
d
P s D D s
d
P s s D D
d

=
=
=
. (4.38)
Elementary Antennas 47


5 Elementary Antennas
Real communication antennas can be quite complex but they are always based on simple
elementary antennas in different combinations and configurations. If we understand these
elementary antennas and learn how to divide complex antennas into a combination of elementary
antennas we can easily understand or design even complex antennas for specific applications.
We have already discussed two artificial elementary antennas, the isotropic radiator and the
Hertzian dipole. In this chapter we will discuss different configurations of dipole wire antennas.
These antennas are not artificial, - they really exist and are often basic elements for more
complex wire antennas.
5.1 Electric dipole antenna
A dipole antenna consists of two metal rods. Different to the Hertzian dipole, the antenna in Fig.
5-1 has a finite length 2L and the rods have a thickness of 2t.
I
0
2L
2t

Fig. 5-1: Dipole antenna.
5.1.1 The transmission line model
The antenna is fed by a current source in the (small) gap between the rods. In order to understand
how currents flow on the antenna we refer to another model. Fig. 5-2 shows the rods of the
dipole composed out of inductor elements. The inductor elements of the different rods are
coupled via capacitors to each other. If we now bend the elements, the network reminds of an
equivalent network of a transmission line which has an open termination.
Based on this assumption it is quite simple to estimate how the current distribution on the
antenna evolves. First we have to account for the open termination of the line. This means that no
currents can leave the line (the dipole) at its end. Thus, the current at the end of the rods must be
zero. Depending on the dipole length and the frequency of the feed current, the current
distribution is established on the dipole under the boundary condition that the current at the end


of the rods must be zero. In general this distribution is sinusoidal, as we use a harmonic feed
current. If the dipole is very small we see only that part of the sinusoidal function that is
approximately linear.

Fig. 5-2: Dipole model based on distributed elements and equivalence to a transmission line.
2L : 2L = /2: 2L = 2.25 :
z
I
0
z
I
0
z
I
0
z
I -
2
0
z
I -
2
0

Fig. 5-3: Current distribution on a dipole for different dipole lengths.


5.1.2 Radiation pattern of a dipole antenna
Based on the current distribution we can now calculate the far field of the dipole. As a first
approach we consider the rods infinitesimal thin, i.e. the current flows only on the z-axis.
Furthermore, we make the assumption that the dipole is composed out of a set of stacked
Hertzian dipoles from which we already have calculated the far field in eq. (3.72):
( ) ( )
Hertzian dipole 0
far field
, , sin
4
jkr
e
r j I z
r
= E e (5.1)
Fig. 5-4 illustrates how the integration has to be performed using the far field approximation:
r
r(0)
P
y
z
antenna
L
.
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
-L
I(z)
r(z)

Fig. 5-4: Calculation of the far field based on the current distribution on a dipole antenna.
We have to consider that now since we have finite length antennas there is a path difference of
the rays originated at different points on the antenna to the observation point P:
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) 0 cos r z r z r z = = (5.2)
The field of a single element of the rod (Hertzian dipole) therefore yields:
( )
( )
( )
( )
single Hertzian 0
dipole on z-axis
, , sin
4
jkr z
e
E r j I z
r z
= (5.3)
The entire field is the superimposition of all Hertzian dipoles on the rods:
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( )
( )
single Hertzian
dipole on z-axis
, , , , d
sin d
4
L
L
L jk r z
L
E r E r z
j e
I z z
r z
=
=
(5.4)
When we apply the far field approximation r(z) r(0) for the denominator and use eq. (5.2) we
result in:


( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( )
( )
( )
( ) ( )
( )
( )
( )
( ) ( )
( )
0
0
0
cos
, , sin d
4 0
sin d
4 0
sin d
4 0
jk r z r L
L
L jkr
jkr z
L
L jkr
jkz
L
j e
E r I z z
r
j e
I z e z
r
j e
I z e z
r
=
=
=
(5.5)
Note that we can split eq. (5.5) into a distance dependent term in form of a spherical wave
originated in the center of the antenna and a term that accounts for the radiation characteristic of
the antenna:
( )
( )
( )
( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( )
0
cos
directional characteristics spherical wave factor
depends on distance
, , sin d
4 0
,
L jkr
jkz
L
j e
E r I z e z
r
A r F
=
=

. (5.6)
The current distribution on the rods is a sinusoidal function that can be expressed by:
( )
( )
( )
0
0
0
sin
sin
I
I z k L z
k L
=

. (5.7)
This leads to the following expression for the electric far field:
( )
( )
( ) ( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( )
0
cos
0
0
0
0
0 0
0
0 0
, , sin sin d
4 0 sin
cos cos cos
2
4 0 sin sin
L jkr
jkz
L
jkr
j e I
E r e k L z z
r k L
k L k L
j e I
r k L k
=

=
. (5.8)
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
270
300
330
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
-30
-60
-90
-120
-150
2L
2L = /2
2L = 2.25

Fig. 5-5: Radiation pattern of different long dipoles.


The radiation pattern can now be calculated using eq. (4.20). Fig. 5-5 shows the vertical cut of
the radiation pattern of three dipoles. The length of the dipoles is chosen according to Fig. 5-3. It
can be observed that the radiation pattern of the small dipole and the half wavelength dipole is
similar to the pattern of the Hertzian dipole. The difference is only small. However the radiation
pattern of the 2.25 dipole is different. It shows more lobes and nulls. We will discuss the
reason for that in later chapters.
5.1.3 The input impedance characteristic
Lets assume that we have a dipole of given length that is fed by a current source in the gap
between the rods. First the frequency of the source is low. The current distribution on the dipole
will resemble the linear triangular distribution like for small dipole. If we now increase the
frequency, the current distribution will become more sinusoidal reaching first the half
wavelength distribution and then higher order distributions. If we come back to the transmission
line model of the dipole, we note that at certain frequencies the distribution on the transmission
line (dipole) shows resonant behaviour. The first resonant mode is the /2-mode, the second the
-mode .
The modes of the dipole can be calculated by:
0
,
4
=
res i
c
f i
L
. (5.9)
As there are resonant modes on the antenna the whole device can be considered as a resonator.
Fig. 5-6 shows the input impedance of a real dipole antenna with 2L = 150 mm for frequencies
up to 5 GHz. For low frequencies, when the dipole is small compared to the wavelength, the
resistance is very small and the dipole can be considerd as a capacitor. If we calculate the
matching of this antenna to a 50 source, it is hardly possible to transfer power into the dipole.
In order to limit the physical antenna size, small dipoles are used for low frequency applications.
In order to match the antenna to a 50 source matching circuits that provide impedance
transformation have to be used between the source and the antenna. When the frequency rises,
the capacitance becomes lower and the real part of the impedance becomes higher. At the
frequency, where the current distribution is half wavelength, the imaginary part becomes zero,
i.e. the dipole is in resonance. At that frequency, the input impedance is purely real and
approximately 73 . This can be easily matched to a 50 source as the s
11
-plot in Fig. 5-6
shows. Most dipole antennas are designed to operate in this mode and have therefore a length of
2L = /2. Near the half wavelength resonance the input impedance can be approximated by a
seriel resonator. The reactance is the radiation resistance of the antenna and is equal to the real
part of the impedance at resonance. The inductor and capacitor characterize the quality factor of
the resonator. As the frequency increases the impedance becomes inductive and the resistance
becomes higher, reaching at the maximum that can be several hundred Ohms. When the
reactance becomes zero again the dipole carries its 2
nd
resonance mode at a length of 2L = . At
that frequency it is hard to match the antenna due to its high resistance to a 50 source. Also, if
we imagine the current distribution the current at the feed point would be zero. Near the -
resonance the impedance of the dipole can be approximated by a parallel resonator. When we


following the alternate impedance characteristic parallel and series resonator. Therefore, the 3
rd

mode of the antenna can again be easily matched to 50 .
The importance of resonance for antennas:
Antennna radiation does not require resonance, but near the resonance frequencies the
antenna input impedance is suitable to be matched to typical values of the characteristic
impedance of the system (e.g. 50 ).

R
S1
L
S1
C
S1
1 1
Z
0 1 1
Z
0
R
P1
L
P1
C
P1
0 1 2 3 4 5
-500
-250
0
250
500
750
1000
-15
-10
-5
0
Re{Z
in
}
Im{Z
in
}
s
11
Z

[
]
f [GHz]

s
1
1

[
d
B
]
R
S1
L
S1
C
S1
1 1
Z
0
R
S1
L
S1
C
S1
1 1
Z
0 1 1
Z
0
R
P1
L
P1
C
P1
1 1
Z
0
R
P1
L
P1
C
P1
0 1 2 3 4 5
-500
-250
0
250
500
750
1000
-15
-10
-5
0
Re{Z
in
}
Im{Z
in
}
s
11
Z

[
]
f [GHz]

s
1
1

[
d
B
]

Fig. 5-6: Impedance characteristic of a dipole.
As it can be observed from Fig. 5-6 the matching of the antenna to the 50 source is not only
good at the resonance frequency, but also in its vicinity. We can quantify the matching range by
the bandwith of the antenna mode:
( ) ( )
11 11
abs,limit
limit limit
max min
s s
BW f f

= . (5.10)
The relative bandwidth is defined by:


( ) ( )
( )
11 11
abs,limit
rel,limit
limit limit
1
min max
2
s s
BW
BW
f f

=
+
(5.11)
For many applications in the field of mobile communication antennas, the limit is either
11,max
10 dB s or
11,max
6 dB s . We can derive that a mismatch of
11,max
10 dB s at the
border of the frequency range means that 90 % of the power is delivered to the antenna while
10 % is reflected at the terminals. A missmatch of
11,max
6 dB s means that about 75 % is still
delivered to the antenna while 25 % is reflected at the terminals.
0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2
-150
-100
-50
0
50
100
150
-15
-10
-5
0
Re{Z
in
}
Im{Z
in
}
s
11
Z

[
]
f [GHz]

s
1
1

[
d
B
]
BW
-10dB
BW
-6dB
0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2
-150
-100
-50
0
50
100
150
-15
-10
-5
0
Re{Z
in
}
Im{Z
in
}
s
11
Z

[
]
f [GHz]

s
1
1

[
d
B
]
BW
-10dB
BW
-6dB

Fig. 5-7: Bandwidth of the /2 mode of a dipole antenna designed for the GSM 900 frequency
band for mobile communication.
Bandwidth is a very important measure of antennas for communications as they typically have to
operate in a certain frequency band rather than at a single frequency. The bandwidth of an
antenna can depend on different parameters that depend on the antenna type. For a dipole
antenna, bandwidth depends e.g. on the thickness of the antenna. Thicker antennas provide more
bandwidth than thinner antennas. On the other hand the input impedance at the /2-resonance is
approximately 75 for a thin dipole and decreases when thicker rods are used.


5.1.4 Monopole antennas
We can suppress one of the rods of the dipole if we follow the mirror concept and mount the
upper rod of the antenna on a ground plane. In this case the ground plane acts as an electric
boundary that mirrors the remaining rod and yields electrically to the same entire antenna. This
monopole antenna provides the same radiation characteristic in the upper hemisphere as the
dipole but possesses only half the input impedance, i.e. approximately 36 Ohms at the first
resonance. In this case we call the resonance a /4-resonance due to the current distribution on
only the upper remaining rod, although it is physically the same like the /2-resonance of the
complete dipole. The value of 36 Ohms is also well suited for matching to 50 . The monopole
configuration is widely used as the ground plane is often threre in different applications. In this
case it seems that the physical size of the antenna is reduced by half. However, in many practical
cases the ground plane is often there in different e.g. the chassis of the application and therefore
it is not a real ground plane due to its finite size. In this case there might be additional effects,
like a certain amount of radiation into the lower hemisphere. If the effective groundplane used is
small, the mirror concept might not work as intended and things can become more complicated.
We will discuss these aspects in later chapters, because they are very important when integrating
antennas into small devices.
I
0
2L
I
0
L
ground plane
a) dipole b) monopole

Fig. 5-8: Conversion from a dipole antenna to a monopole antenna on a ground plane: Mirror
principle.
5.1.5 Inductive and capacitive loading
In order to further reduce the mechanical size, we can load the antenna. This can be either
inductive or capacitive loading. When we refer again to the transmission line model of the dipole
antenna we can assume that there will be in addition to the current distribution a voltage
distributition on the rod of the antenna. The voltage distribution and the current distribution, will


have a phase difference of 90. Therefore, the voltage will be zero at the feedpoint of the antenna
and will have its maximum at the end of the rod.
If we assume an inductor as a coil positioned at the feed point of the antenna in series to the rod
above, this coil adds length (like a spiral wire) to the antenna. Therefore, we can reduce the
length of the rod itself and still maintain the /4-resonance at the same frequency. An inductance
has a stronger effect in parts of the circuitry where stronger currents exist. Therefore the coil is
positioned in series to the rod near the feedpoint of the antenna as it is illustrated in Fig. 5-9b.
If we assume a capacitor between the top of the monopole and the ground plane, displacement
currents flows via the capacitor. Therefore, the initial boundary condition that the current
distribution must be zero at the end of the rod is no longer valid. The current distribution on the
rod seems to be cut at the top of the rod without changing its general distribution on the rod
neither its period.
I
0
I(z)
U(z)
z
I
0
z
I(z)
U(z)
I
0
I(z)
U(z)
z
/4
a) no loading
b) Inductive loading c) capacitive loading

Fig. 5-9: Reduction of the mechanical length of a monopole antenna by inductive or capacitive
loading.
Antenna loading is widely used in order to reduce the size of an antenna while still keeping the
benefits from the resonance behaviour in terms of antenna matching. But, nevertheless there are
drawbacks: Real coils typically contain a certain amount of losses as they are made out of thin
wires and sometimes even use ferrite materials. Placed in the current maximum of the antenna
this can reduce the antenna efficiency drastically. Furthermore, inductive and capacitive loading
tends to reduce the bandwidth of the antenna. Therefore, it is a design task to the antenna
engineer to find the best compromise between size, efficiency and bandwidth depending on the
application the antenna is intended for.
5.1.6 Influence of the wire thickness
Finally, the wire thickness of the dipole rods is an open task. We have derived that the radiation
resistance is approximately 36 for a thin monopole antenna. When thicker rods are used, the
radiation resistance decreases smoothly. Typically we talk of thin wire antennas when the ratio of


length and thickness is greater than 50 (L/t > 50). On the other hand we talk of thick antennas if
the ratio is smaller than 20 (L/t < 20). Note that the numbers in other literature may vary.
It can be observed from Fig. 5-10 that a thicker monopole can also provide a larger bandwidth
than a thin monopole. By tapering the diameter of the rod, even a very broadband matching can
be achieved. However this is only partly an effect of the rod thickness and will be discussed in
later chapters.
I
0
/4
I
0
/4
d
I
0
/4
a) thin wire monopole
b) thick monopole c) conical monopole

Fig. 5-11: Monopoles using different thick rods.
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
f [GHz]
|
s
1
1
|

[
d
B
]
thin dipole
thick dipole
conical
dipole

Fig. 5-12: Matching of different monopole antennas to a 50 Ohm system.


5.2 Magnetic dipole antenna - loop antenna
We have defined the Hertzian electric dipole antenna as an infinitesimal current element as a
source of radiation. From that we have generated real electric dipole antennas as a distribution of
Hertzian dipoles resulting in an antenna of finite length.
Similar to that we can consider a small loop on which electric current is circulating (see Fig.
5-13). If we want to calculate the field generated by this infinitesimal current loop, we can
directly apply eq. (3.61) again and integrate over the source current distribution. A much simpler
way, makes use of the principle of duality that will be discussed in the following subsection.
x
y
r
M = I
M
l (r) e
z
F(r, , )
z
observation point
P
I
r
x
|r| 0, I
y
z
equivalent magnetic
source current

Fig. 5-13: Infinitesimal current loop (Fitzgerald dipole) and equivalent magnetic current
element.
5.2.1 The principle of duality
Maxwells equation considers electric currents and electric charges as sources for the electro-
magnetic field. Similar to the electric sources we could define magnetic charges and magnetic
currents as sources for the electromagnetic field. Such sources do not exist in nature but
nevertheless for some calculation it can be useful to define them as an artificial substitute. In our
case we could define a magnetic current in the centre of the current loop generating the same
field as the circulating electric current. This yields to a similar configuration like for the Hertzian
electric dipole and we can assume that we can make use of this similarity for our calculation of
the electromagnetic field. Fig. 5-13 illustrates the substitution of the infinitesimal electric current
loop by an artificial magnetic current element in the centre of the loop.
If we assume magnetic sources instead of electric sources Maxwells curl equations have to be
rewritten as follows:

Electric sources: Magnetic sources:
= + j H J E

= j H E
(5.12)


j = E H j = + E H M
(5.13)
We notice that the two sets of equations have the same form they are dual to each other. We
can simply convert them into each other by the following replacement that is called the

Fitzgerald transformation:
E H
H -E
J M

These replacements, transform the set of Maxwells equations for electric sources to the set for
magnetic sources. Therefore, it must be possible to transform the solutions simply by the same
replacements.
5.2.2 The Fitzgerald (magnetic) dipole
As the inifinitesimal magnetic loop can be substituted by a concentrated magnetic current
element in the centre of the loop it is the dual configuration to the Hertzian electric dipole. This
means we can calculate the field generated by the loop just by applying the Fitzgerald
transformation to the solution of the Hertzian electric dipole:
( )
( )
2
2
0
1
sin
4
0
jkr
M
r
e j
k I z
kr
kr
| |
|
| |
| |
|
|
= + |
|
|
|
|
\ |
\
|
\
E
(5.14)
( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( )
( )
2 3
2 2
1
2 cos
0
4
1 1
sin
jkr
M
j
kr kr
r
e
j I zk
j
kr
kr kr
| | | |
| + |
|
|
| | \
|
|
=
|
|
| |
| |
\
|
+ |
|
|
|
\
\
H
(5.15)
It is now clear that the magnetic dipole has also the dual radiation characteristic of the electric
dipole. This means that the loop is z-directed and the polarization is horizontal instead of vertical
as it appears for the electric dipole. Also, for the magnetic dipole the field lines of the electric
field strength are concentric circles instead of the magnetic field lines as it appears for the
electric dipole. All in all the electric and magnetic dipoles are dual antennas.


5.2.3 Loop antennas
As for the Hertzian electric dipole the Fitzgerald magnetic dipole does not exists. However, it is
a good approximation for small loop antennas that can be considered as a conductive loop
carrying a constant current distribution. When the loop becomes larger things become more
complicated, as for the electric dipole. Nevertheless the principle field distribution remains
similar. When the length of the loop becomes half a wavelength, resonance appears on the loop.
This half wavelength resonance can be approximated by a parallel resonator. The real part of the
impedance is very high and the imaginary part shows a strong gradient when crossing the real
axis. Therefore, it is hard to match this resonance to a 50 system. The next resonance appears
when the length of the loop is one wavelength. This resonance can be approximated by a series
resonator and it is more convenient to match the antenna to a 50 system.
0 1 2 3 4 5
-500
-250
0
250
500
750
1000
-10
-5
0
Re{Z
in
}
Im{Z
in
}
s
11
Z

[
]
f [GHz]

s
1
1

[
d
B
]
R
S1
L
S1
C
S1
1 1
Z
0
R
S1
L
S1
C
S1
1 1
Z
0
1 1
Z
0
R
P1
L
P1
C
P1
1 1
Z
0
R
P1
L
P1
C
P1

Fig. 5-14: Impedance characteristic of a loop antenna.
However in practice, in contrast to the electric dipole that is mostly designed as a half
wavelength resonance antenna, the loop antenna is often used as a small receiving antenna far
below its resonance. In order to reduce the mechanical dimensions of the antenna a number of
turns can be used or the loop wire can be wound around a core of high permeable ferrite material.


H
U
ferrite core
loop turns

a) Principle of induction. b) Photograph of an antenna.
Fig. 5-15: Loop antenna on a ferrite core used e.g as a FM radio receiving antenna.
Numerical Methods for analysis and design of antennas 61


6 Numerical Methods for analysis and design of antennas
In the past chapters we have derived the fundamental principle of antenna radiation directly
based on Maxwells equations. Furthermore, we have analysed the radiation from elementary
antennas such as the electric Hertzian dipole and the magnetic Fitzgerald dipole by solving
Maxwells equations analytically. Thereafter we started to discuss real antennas such as the
dipole or the loop antenna, we have already seen that things become very complicated when we
try to calculate the antenna radiation by means of analytical approaches. In fact, it is nearly
impossible to analyse accurately real antennas that might be mechanically complicated or use
different materials by standard analytical approaches. Principally there are two different
approaches that can be followed:
At first, we can use approximation, e.g. neglecting the rod thickness of a wire antenna, in order to
simplify the antenna to be analysed. In addition, we can use models that approximate the antenna
behaviour up to a certain stage of accuracy, e.g. considering a dipole antenna as a transmission
line for the calculation of the resonance frequency. These models can be refined by experimen-
tally gained data resulting in design charts, e.g. such charts are available to approximate the
influence of dipole thickness on the input impedance. For a long time, antenna analysis and
design had to rely on such strategies only. With the rapid advances in computer technology in the
past few decades new possibilities have been opened. Recently, new software tools have become
available that calculate approximate solutions of Maxwells and Helmholtzs equations. These
tools can numerically analyze distributed RF and microwave structures like antennas and filters.
This chapter presents the basic mathematical concepts of the most important numerical methods
in a short and illustrative way. The user of a field simulator should have a basic knowledge of the
different methods to choose the numerical method that is best suited for a particular problem.
Furthermore, a basic knowledge is required to generate efficient and reliable simulation models
and to interpret the results of a simulation in an adequate manner. In the first section of this
chapter a general overview of the methodology of numerical modeling and simulation models
will be given. Following to this two different important numerical methods, the Method of
Moments MoM and the Finite Difference Time Domain method FDTD, for antenna analysis and
design will be introduced briefly.
6.1 General aspects of numerical modeling software
Before we start with the mathematical details we highlight some general aspects that are common
to all numerical methods. With respect to the computational domain the numerical methods can
be divided into two classes:
volume-based methods and
surface-integral methods.



Substrate
(=0,
r
=3.2,
r
=1)
Metal
(=10
7
,
r
=1,
r
=1)
Air
(=0,
r
=1,
r
=1)
Computational Domain
(Discretized cubical material distribution)
Spatial Discretization
(Division of the computational domain into cubical cells)
Unit material cells
(Voxels)
Termination of the computational
domain at the outer surface
Boundary conditions
(e.g. absorbing for antenna)
The EM field is
calculated in the
unit cells at each
discrete timestep

Fig. 6-1: General aspects of volume based methods like FDTD. In FDTD cubical cells are
used.
The volume-based methods require a discretization of a volume, the computational domain,
which includes the structrure of the device under test as well as the air-filled space around as
shown in Fig. 6-1. In contrast to that, the surface-integral methods segmentize the material
interfaces of the geometrical structures and calculate the sources of the electromagnetic fields on
these surfaces as shown in Fig. 6-2. In order to restrict the size of the computational domain
when using volume-based methods the space is truncated. At the boundaries of this volume
special boundary conditions have to be applied to simulate the continuous transition to free
space. Inside the computational volume ports can be defined that link circuit-based quantities
like scattering parameters to fieldbased quantities.
As an exampleFig. 6-1 shows a microstrip filter structure in a cuboid computational domain of a
volume-based method. The model consists of metallic traces, a substrate layer and an air-volume
above the structure. In order to calculate s-parameters, ports are defined where the microstrip
lines terminate at the outer surface of the computational domain. The entire volume is discretized
in three dimensions and divided into electrically small unit cells with homogeneous material.
The shape of the unit cells can be as simple as cuboids or more complex like tetrahedrons in
order to get a more flexible approximation of curved structures. Inside the unit cells the unknown
field quantities are defined and calulated during the numerical solution process. Depending on
the method these can be electric and magnetic field values or electromagnetic potentials. With
respect to the solution process numerical methods can be divided into


frequency-domain methods and
time-domain methods.
Frequency-domain methods calculate the solution separately for each frequency. Time-domain
methods calculate the time-response of the structure step-by-step until a steady-state is reached.
From this time response the frequency response is calculated by Fourier transform. These general
aspects will be discussed in detail for the volume-based, time-domain FDTD method and the
surface-integral frequency-domain method MoM in the following sections.

J
S
[A/m]
I [A]
Unit surface element
Unit wire element
Port
(Excitation/measurement)

Fig. 6-2: General aspects of surface integral methods like MoM. The unit cells usually have
the shape of a line element triangle or quadrilateral.
6.2 Method of Moments (MoM)
The Method of Moments MoM is one of the first full-wave numerical methods used for EMC
and antenna applications. Especially in the last years, where computer performance increased
drastically, the importance of MoM became lower while the use of other techniques like FDTD
or FEM rose. Nevertheless, the MoM still provides advantages for certain structures especially
when metal objects and wires are of interest.
In the following section we will derive the fundamentals of the MoM in an illustrative way due to
a level sufficient to understand the basic considerations for later modeling. Because the MoM is
part of a very general body of mathematical techniques designed to solve integral equations, the
detailed description requires heavy mathematical formulations. As this chapter is meant to be a
practical tutorial we suppress these details.


6.2.1 Fundamentals
In order to solve electrodynamic problems the MoM is based on the Helmholtz equation
eq. (3.73) that is repeated here in its frequency domain notation:
2
2
t

A A J . (6.1)
As discussed in chapter 3.2 the Helmholtz equation defines a relation between the sources (the
current density) and the resulting field measures in terms of the vector potential. We have also
derived that the relation between the source current density and the vector potential at the
observation point is given by eq. (3.61):
( ) d
4
jk
V
e
V
'
r r
'
J
A r
r r
. (6.2)
Let us now discuss the situation in Fig. 6-3 where we consider two wires arbitrarily oriented in
free space. On each of the wires a certain current density exists.
x
y
r
0
r
1
r
0,1
J
0
J
1
Current density
in wire 0
Current density
induced in wire 1
r
1,S
On the surface
of the wire:
(E
tot,tan
=0)
x
y
r
0
r
1
r
0,1
J
0
J
1
Current density
in wire 0
Current density
induced in wire 1
r
1,S
On the surface
of the wire:
(E
tot,tan
=0)

Fig. 6-3: Interaction between currents on different wires. Current in an element of wire 1
induced by current in an element of wire 0.
According to the Helmholtz equation the current density on both wires generates a vector
potential at any point in space:
( )
0
0
0
0
0
d
4
jk
V
e
V
'
r r
'
J
A r
r r
, (6.3)


( )
1
0
1
1
1
d
4
jk
V
e
V
'
r r
'
J
A r
r r
, (6.4)
where the term
( )
1
, '
4
jk
e
G
'
r r
'
r r
r r
(6.5)
in the integrals represents the so called Greens function of free space. The vector potential is
related to the electric field by:
( )
j
j
= E A A . (6.6)
We can consider the electric field at any point to be a superimposition of the field generated by
individual current densities on the wires:
0 1
= +
tot
E E E . (6.7)
It is obvious that the current distributions on the different wires interact via the field they
generate. For simplification we consider the current density J
0
as an imprinted source current that
induces the current J
1
on the surface of the other wire. By this means J
0
generates the vector
potential
( )
01
0
0
0 0
01
d
4
jkr
S
V
e
V
r
J
A r (6.8)
at a certain location on the surface of wire 1. On the other hand, the current density distribution
J
1
itself generates a vector potential at the same location on the surface of wire 1:
( )
1
1
1
1 0
1
d
4
S
jkr
S
S V
e
V
r
J
A r (6.9)
In addition we know that the boundary condition enforces the tangential electric field to vanish
on the surface of the wire:
!
,tan 1
0 for V =
tot
E r . (6.10)
Therefore on the surface of wire 1 the following condition has to be fulfilled:
( ) ( )
!
1,tan 0,tan 1
for
S S S
V = E r E r r . (6.11)
6.2.2 Thin wire approximation
For simplicity we assume now that the wires in Fig. 6-3 are infinitesimally thin. The voltage over
a short segment of wire 1 can be calculated by integrating the electric field in eq. (6.11) over the
path along the wire segment:


( )
( )
1
01 01
0 0
1 1,tan 1 1,tan 1 0,tan 1 1 0 1 1
1 0 0 0 0 1
01 01
d
1
d d
4
s
jkr jkr
s s
U E s E s s
e e
s j s s
j r r

= = =

=

E s n E r
n I I
. (6.12)
In eq. (6.12) the vector n
1
denotes the outward directed unit vector perpendicular to the surface
of the wire which is normal to the axis of the wire. Note that the distribution of the current
density on the wire is replaced by a vectored current I
0
on the axis of the wire segment. In order
to perform the integration of the current on wire 0 different assumptions can be made regarding
its distribution. If we assumed a constant current on each segment, we would result in unphysical
discontinuities at the ends of each segment. This would be in general no major problem if we
used sufficiently short segments, but by the same cost we could assume a continuous representa-
tion which describes the physical behavior much better. Fig. 6-4 shows that this can be done
easily by defining, e.g., triangular base functions on each segment of a wire. By superimposition
of the base functions of adjacent segments a continuous current distribution is generated while
the unknown parameter on each segment is still only the amplitude of the base function, i.e., the
current. Instead of triangular base functions also sine functions can be used to interpolate the real
physical distribution between two segments. Different MoM software available on the market
make use of various types of base functions.
s'
i
s'
i+1
s'
I
i+1
I
i

Fig. 6-4: Use of triangualar base function for the interpolation of the current distribution on a
wire.
Eq. (6.12) reminds of Ohms law when we write it in the following form:
1 01 0
U Z I = . (6.13)
By this means the impedance Z
01
describes the coupling between the segment on wire 0 with the
segment on wire 1 and therefore contains information on the geometry of the problem. Since the
current of all N segments contribute to the voltage drop along a segment of a certain wire,
eq. (6.13) has to be expanded in the following way:


0
N
k ki i
i
U Z I
=
=
. (6.14)
If we want to calculate the voltage in all segments we can use a matrix formulation:
11 1 1 1 1
1
1
i N
k ki kN k k
N Ni NN N N
Z Z Z I U
Z Z Z I U
Z Z Z I U
| | | | | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
=
| | |
| | |
| | |
\ \ \

. (6.15)
Eq. (6.15) describes the problem completely. It relates the unknown currents on the segments
with the voltage along the segments via the coupling matrix which is related to the geometry of
the problem only. Note that the voltage vector is known: In case of ideal conductors the voltage
along a wire segment is equal to zero except if we imprint a voltage, e.g., by placing a voltage
source (which can be the feeding of the antenna) in this segment. Eq. (6.15) is a system of linear
equations which has to be solved by standard techniques to calculate the unknown currents. Note
that the matrix is fully occupied. This is a major drawback as most of the fast techniques to solve
linear equation systems can only be used for sparse or band structure matrices. On the basis of
the calculated currents all other measures of interest like fields or farfield can be calculated in the
post-processing.
6.2.3 Metal surfaces
Of course the Method of Moments is not restricted to wires only. The current distribution on
metal surfaces can be calculated by two different ways: First, a similar formulation like above
can be derived for surface elements. The entire surface is divided into surface elements (patches)
which can be, e.g., triangular or quadrangular in order to approximate even complicated shapes.
Two-dimensional base functions define the distribution of the surface density on the patches.
Similar to the triangular base functions for the thin wire case such functions can be, e.g., rooftop
functions. As for the wire case the boundary condition for the tangential electric field on the
patches is used to calculate the interaction between different patches or between patches and
wires.
In addition to the direct definition of surface elements, the electromagnetic behavior of a metallic
surface can also be approximated by a wire grid. For integral measures like farfield or shielding
the wire grid leads to accurate results if the mesh size is much smaller than the wavelength. Of
course, for local measures like the current distribution on the surface itself, the results will be
different, as illustrated in Fig. 6-5.


Currents on the
real wire grid
Current density on
the real surface
Equivalent currents as a
result of superposition of
wire currents
x
y
(Under certain
conditions)
Wire grid
Conducting surface

Fig. 6-5: Wire-grid approximation of a conducting surface.
6.2.4 Treatment of dielectric material
As the Method of Moments is based on the calculation of currents it is ideally suited for the
treatment of metal objects. In case the problem contains also dielectric materials the procedure is
slightly modified. A material object is defined as a closed surface. The boundary conditions on
the surface of the dielectric body enforce continuity for the tangential components of the electric
and magnetic fields. This can be formulated by eq. (6.16) and eq. (6.17) if the index 1 denotes
the side of the boundary in free space and the index 2 denotes the side of the boundary inside the
dielectric body:
1,tan 2,tan
= E E , (6.16)
1,tan 2,tan
= H H . (6.17)
In order to satisfy these conditions an equivalent electric surface current density J
s
and an
equivalent magnetic surface current density Ms are defined on the surface of the dielectric body.
By this means the dielectric body is replaced by the closed surface containing the equivalent
sources and the same formulations can be performed to calculate these currents. Note that two
equivalent currents are defined for one patch of the dielectric body. Therefore, the computational
effort is significantly higher if the computational problem contains also dielectric material.


(
r1
,
r1
,
1
)
(
r2
,
r2
,
2
)
J
S,i
M
S,i
(
r1
,
r1
,
1
)
(
r2
,
r2
,
2
)
J
S,i
M
S,i
J
S,i
M
S,i

Fig. 6-6: Replacement of a dielectric body by a closed surface containing equivalent electric
and magnetic sources.

6.3 Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD)
6.3.1 Fundamentals
Maxwells partial differential equations in the time-domain represent the starting point of the
Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method. These equations are repeated here for
convenience:
t
D
H J , (6.18)
t
B
E. (6.19)
With the material relations
0 r
= = D E E, (6.20)
0 r
= = B H H, (6.21)
= J E, (6.22)
All physical entities can be expressed in terms of the electric field strength and the magnetic
field strength H. In this step we consider Cartesian components of the electric and magnetic field
and assume linear, isotropic and non-dispersive materials:
,
x x
y y
z z
E H
E H
E H
| | | |
| |
= =
| |
| |
\ \
E H . (6.23)
If we apply this approach to eq. (6.18) and eq. (6.19) we can rewrite Maxwells differential
equations in the following form of six coupled partial differential equations for the components
of the electric and magnetic field values E
x
, E
y
, E
z
, H
x
, H
y
and H
z
. All components are continuous
functions of space and time:
y
x z
x x
H
E H
J
t y z

=

, (6.24)


y
x z
y y
E
H H
J
t z x

=

, (6.25)
y
z z
z z
H
E H
J
t x y

=

, (6.26)
y
x z
x
E
H E
t z y

=

, (6.27)
y
x z
y
H
E E
t x z

=

, (6.28)
y
x z
z
E
E H
t y x

=

. (6.29)
6.3.2 Discretization in space and time
In Equations (6.24) - (6.29) the six components of the electric and magnetic field are continuous
functions of the spatial coordinates x, y, z and time t. In the next step we consider the six field
components as discrete functions of space. We introduce constant discretization steps x, y and
z which denote the sampling distances in the three Cartesian coordinate directions. The
Cartesian coordinates of the field values are locally arranged in an orthogonal scheme as shown
in Fig. 6-7.
E
x
E
y
E
z
H
y
H
x
H
z
(i,j,k) (i+1,j,k)
(i,j,k+1)
(i,j+1,k+1)
(i+1.5,j+0.5,k+0.5)

Fig. 6-7: Electric and magnetic field components in an orthogonal FDTD grid.


The computational domain is subdivided into orthogonal cells (boxes) where the electric field
components are located at the edges and the magnetic field components are located at the center
of the surfaces (see dark gray block in Fig. 6-7). On the other hand, if we look upon the light-gray
block in Fig. 6-7 we recognize that the magnetic and electric field components are located on the
edges and at the center of the surfaces, respectively. At closer inspection we see that each electric
field component is surrounded by four circulating magnetic field components and each magnetic
field component is surrounded by four circulating electric field components. Fig. 6-8 illustrates
this arrangement. The mutual circulation is a direct implementation of Amperes law and
Faradays law of induction. The presented concept of two dual grids was first applied by Yee in
1966.
It is interesting to note that there is a delocalization of field components, i.e., all field compo-
nents are defined at different spatial points. The locations of the field components E and H are
specified by the indexes (i, j, k) as shown in Fig. 6-7.
E
x
E
y
H
z
H
x
H
y
E
z

Fig. 6-8: Each magnetic field component is surrounded by four circulating electric field
components (left) and each electric field component is surrounded by four circulating magnetic
field components (right).
The representation of the field value in form of two dual grids is helpful from a didactic point of
view when visualizing the interdependence of E and H. However, in commercial software the
dark-colored grid in Fig. 6-7 is generally used for discretizing the structure.
ix
(i+1)x (i+1/2)x x
E(ix)
E((i+1)x)
E(x)

Fig. 6-9: Approximation of partial space derivative in x-direction by central differences.


In considering E and H discrete functions of space we replace the partial space derivative by
central differences. As an example we look at the partial derivatives in x-direction:
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
, , , , 1, , , , , y i j k y i j k y i j k
E E E
x x
+ + + + +

, (6.30)
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
, , , , 1, , , , , z i j k z i j k z i j k
E E E
x x
+ + + + +

, (6.31)
1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2 2
, , , , , , , , , y i j k y i j k y i j k
H H H
x x
+ + + +

, (6.32)
1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2 2
, , , , , , , , , z i j k z i j k z i j k
H H H
x x
+ + + +

. (6.33)
Fig. 6-8 shows the approximation of the spatial derivative
y
E x the central difference
y
E x . The discrete function E
y
is known at n x . Evaluating the central difference gives us
an approximation of the space derivative at the center of the intervals, i.e., at ( )
1
2
n x + .
In y- and z-direction we obtain similar expressions that are omitted for simplicity. Now we will
take a look at the time derivative in Maxwells equations. It can be seen that the time derivative
of the electric field depends on the curl of the magnetic field. Furthermore, the time derivative of
the magnetic field depends on the curl of the electric field. Now we consider the electric and
magnetic fields as discrete functions in time. We introduce a time step t and replace the time
derivatives by central differences. Finally, we calculate the electric field at n t and the
magnetic field at ( )
1
2
n t + .
The time derivatives of the electric field components are approximated by the following central
differences:
( )
( )
1
2
1 1
2 2
1
2
, , ,
1
, , , , , ,
1 x i j k
n n
x i j k x i j k
t n t
E
E E
t t
+
+
+ +
= +

(6.34)
( )
( )
1
2
1 1
2 2
1
2
, , ,
1
, , , , , ,
1 y i j k
n n
y i j k y i j k
t n t
E
E E
t t
+
+
+ +
= +

(6.35)
( )
( )
1
2
1 1
2 2
1
2
, , ,
1
, , , , , ,
1 z i j k
n n
z i j k z i j k
t n t
E
E E
t t
+
+
+ +
= +

(6.36)
where the subscript indexes denote the Cartesian component and the location in the FDTD grid
and the superscript index indicates the discrete time. The time derivatives of the magnetic field
are approximated by the following central differences:


( )
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
, , ,
, , , , , ,
1 x i j k n n
x i j k x i j k
t n t
H
H H
t t
+ + +
+ + + +
=

(6.37)
( )
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
, , ,
, , , , , ,
1 y i j k n n
y i j k y i j k
t n t
H
H H
t t
+ + +
+ + + +
=

(6.38)
( )
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
, , ,
, , , , , ,
1 z i j k n n
z i j k z i j k
t n t
H
H H
t t
+ + +
+ + + +
=

(6.39)
If we consider eqs. (6.24) - (6.29) it is obvious that the electric current density J has to be
calculated at the same time as the magnetic field, i.e., ( )
1
2
n t + . Hence, the current density J at
( )
1
2
n t + is evaluated by averaging the electric field values at the previous and subsequent
time step.
Taking into account the conductivity we get the following equations:
( )
1
2
1 1 1
2 2 2
1
, , , , , , , , ,
1
2
n
n n
x x i j k x i j k x i j k
J E E
+
+
+ + +

(6.40)
( )
1
2
1 1 1
2 2 2
1
, , , , , , , , ,
1
2
n
n n
y y i j k y i j k y i j k
J E E
+
+
+ + +

(6.41)
( )
1
2
1 1 1
2 2 2
1
, , , , , , , , ,
1
2
n
n n
z z i j k z i j k z i j k
J E E
+
+
+ + +

(6.42)
Substituting eqs. (6.34) - (6.42) e.g. into eq. (6.24) yields:
( )
( )
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
1 1
2 2
1 1
2 2
, , , , , , , , , , , ,
1
, , , , , ,
1
, , , , , ,
1
2
n n n n
z i j k z i j k y i j k y i j k
n n x
x i j k x i j k
n n
x x i j k x i j k
H H H H
E E
t y z
E E
+ + + +
+ + + + + +
+
+ +
+
+ +

=

(6.43)
Similar expressions may be obtained by substituting eqs. (6.34) - (6.42) into eqs. (6.25) to (6.29).
The corresponding equations are omitted for simplicity. We rearrange these relations in order to
obtain the following explicit time stepping equations:


1 1
2 2
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
1
, , , , , ,
, , , , , , , , , , , ,
1
2
1
2
1
2
x
n n x
x i j k x i j k
x
x
n n n n
z i j k z i j k y i j k y i j k
x
x
x
t
E E
t
t
H H H H
t
y z
+
+ +
+ + + +
+ + + + + +
| |
|
| =
|
+
|
\
| |
| |
|

|
| +
|
|
+
\
|
\
(6.44)
1 1
2 2
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
1
, , , , , ,
, , , , , , , , , , , ,
1
2
1
2
1
2
y
y n n
y i j k y i j k
y
y
n n n n
y i j k y i j k z i j k z i j k
y
y
y
t
E E
t
t
H H H H
t
z x
+
+ +
+ + + +
+ + + + + +
| |
|
|
=
|
+
|
|
\
| |
|
| |

|
|
+
|
|
+
\
|
|
\
(6.45)
1 1
2 2
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
1
, , , , , ,
, , , , , , , , , , , ,
1
2
1
2
1
2
z
n n z
z i j k z i j k
z
z
n n n n
z
z
z
t
E E
t
t
H H H H
t
x y
+
+ +
+ + + +
+ + + + + +
| |
|
| =
|
+
|
\
| |
| |
|

|
| +
|
|
+
\
|
\
(6.46)

The recursive equations for the calculation of the magnetic field components are as follows:
1 1
2 2
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
, , , , , ,
, , , 1 , , , , , 1, , , ,
n n
x i j k x i j k
n n n n
x
H H
E E E E
t
z y
+
+ + + +
+ + + + + +
=
| |
|
|

\
(6.47)
1 1
2 2
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
, , , , , ,
, 1, , , , , , , , 1 , , ,
n n
y i j k y i j k
n n n n
z i j k z i j k x i j k x i j k
y
H H
E E E E
t
x z
+
+ + + +
+ + + + + +
=
| |
|
|

\
(6.48)


1 1
2 2
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
, , , , , ,
, , 1, , , , , 1, , , , ,
n n
z i j k z i j k
n n n n
x i j k x i j k y i j k y i j k
z
H H
E E E E
t
y x
+
+ + + +
+ + + + + +
=
| |
|
|

\
(6.49)
The algorithm given in eqs. (6.44) - (6.49) is also known as leap-frog algorithm, because E and
H are calculated at alternating discrete points in time as shown in Fig. 6-10. If the initial field
values for E and H are known the following field values can be evaluated recursively by the
equations above.
n
E
1 n
E
+ 2 n
E
+ 3 n
E
+
1
2
n
H
+
...
...
t
3
2
n
H
+
5
2
n
H
+
7
2
n
H
+

Fig. 6-10: Leap-frog algorithm: The electric field values are calculated at t n t = and the
magnetic field values are calculated at ( )
1
2
t n t = + .
6.3.3 Numerical stability and dispersion
Eqs. (6.44) - (6.49) represent the core algorithm of the FDTD method. To make the algorithm
work properly, additional conditions concerning the discretization in time and space have to be
fulfilled. To assure numerical stability of the time stepping algorithm the time step has to be
bounded. In a uniform discretized volume the maximum time step t is limited by the following
relation (known as Courant-stability criterion):
2
2 2
1
1 1 1
t
c
x y z

| |
| | | |
+ +
| | |

\ \
\
, (6.50)
where x, y, z are the space increments in x, y and zdirection and c is the velocity of the
electromagnetic wave. Eq. (6.50) ensures that the distance c t (i.e., the distance that the
electromagnetic waves propagates within one time step t) is not greater than the width of one
cell. It is obvious that the spatial resolution affects the total simulation time: a smaller spatial
resolution results in a smaller time step t and therefore more time steps are required for the
electromagnetic wave to travel through the computational volume. In commercial FDTD
simulation software the user sets the spatial resolution of the computational region and the
software automatically adjusts the time step according to eq. (6.50).


A deeper analysis of the FDTD algorithm shows that the spatial discretization introduces an
anisotropy in the propagation velocity of the propagating fields. If the maximum space increment
is less than one tenth of the minimum wavelength of the frequency band of interest the
propagation error is suitable for most applications:
( )
min
max , ,
10
x y z

. (6.51)
Fig. 6-11 shows a visualization of the effect of velocity anisotropy as a function of spatial
resolution. As an example we use a vertically oriented Hertzian dipole that emits spherical
waves. The figure shows isolines of the electric field vector in a horizontal plane. For fine
meshes the isotropic effectremains small and the isolines are nearly circles. For larger cell sizes
/10 the isotropy error becomes more obvious as the isolines deviate from the circular shape,
and waves in directions diagonal to the main axes of the mesh travel with increased speed.

Fig. 6-11: Visualization of the effect of velocity anisotropy as a function of spatial resolution:
Spherical waves originating from a vertically oriented Hertzian dipole. The graphics show
isolines of the electric field vector in a horizontal plane.


6.3.4 Boundary conditions
From the previous section we have learned that the FDTD method produces electromagnetic
waves that spread out over the simulation volume. At the boundary of the simulation volume
special boundary conditions have to be defined, since the volume cannot be extended to infinity.
Electric walls simulate a perfect conducting wall, e.g., a ground plane. Electric walls may be
used as planes of symmetry where the electric field is normal to the surface and the magnetic
field is tangential to the surface. Using planes of symmetry can reduce the computational effort
significantly since only a part of the structure has to be simulated.
Magnetic walls simulate a plane of symmetry where the magnetic field is normal and the
electric field is tangential to the surface.
Absorbing boundary conditions (ABC) simulate free space behaviour by minimizing reflections
of electromagnetic waves. The most effective absorbing boundary condition in FDTD modeling
is the perfectly matched layer (PML).
Fig. 6-12 illustrates the use of PML to provide an absorbing termination of the computational
domain in order to simulate free-space conditions. As an anology absorbers are used on the walls
of an anechoic chamber antenna measurement.
Electric wall
FDTD simulation volume
PML layer 3
PML layer 2
PML layer 1

a) Termination of simulation volume by
PML absorbing boundaries.
b) Analogy to antenna measurements: Absorbers
terminate walls in an anechoic chamber.
Fig. 6-12: Absorbing termination of the computational domain and its analogy in antenna
measurements.

Practical single element antennas and their integration in communication devices 78


7 Practical single element antennas and their integration in communication
devices
7.1 The folded dipole antenna
The half wavelength dipole provides an impedance of approximately 73 when in resonance.
This fits very well to 50 or 75 transmission lines or systems which are commonly used.
However for some applications the characteristic impedance can be larger. E.g. for some TV
applications the so called twin lead transmission line is used to connect the antenna. It consists of
two parallel wires typically separated by a distance of 5/16 inch embedded in a low loss plastic
material. Such a transmission line provides a characteristic impedance of about 300 . Also due
to some circumstances (e.g objects nearby) the impedance of an antenna can be affected, i.e. is
smaller or higher than its initial value. Both aspects led to the development of the so called
folded dipole antenna:
z
1
I
0
I
D
I
FD
+ L
- L
s L
a) Dipole b) Folded dipole
2L = /2
z
2
I
0
+ L
- L
z
2
I
0
+ L
- L

Fig. 7-1: Current distribution on a half wavelength dipole antenna and folded dipole antenna.
If we connect the open ends of the dipole by a straight wire in parallel to the dipole wires, we
result principly in a loop antenna. Due to the fact that the distance s of both wires is very narrow
the loop area is very small too (s L or s 0) and it is questionable that this is a good design
when a loop antenna is intended. In fact the functional principle can be described better by a
different approach: When the length of the straight wires is equal to a half wavelength of the
frequency of operation, the current distribution on the straight parallel wires is identical and there
is no current flowing on the short connecting wires. This means that the entire antenna can be
considered as two closely spaced parallel dipoles. In order to calculate the radiated field of the
antenna we have to integrate the current distribution over both dipole rods. If we intend to result


in the same radiation pattern and the same amount of power radiated into free space as the initial
dipole
!
rad,Folded Dipole rad,Dipole rad
P P P = = , (7.1)
we have to feed the folded dipole with half the current of the initial dipole since the vector
potential generated by the current distribution on both parallel rods superimpose in the far field.
In terms of an equivalent circuit this yields:
2
2 2
, 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0
, 0 , 0
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
4
rad Dipole z Dipole z Folded Dipole z Folded Dipole z Dipole z Folded Dipole z
Folded Dipole z Dipole z
P I R I R I R
R R
= = = = = =
= =
| |
= = =
|
\
=
(7.2)
And thus the resistance of the folded dipole is 4 times the one of the ordinary dipole while the
radiation pattern remains the same as long as the wires are closed very near to each other.
www.danimex.com/.../Procom/Procom-DP-21.jpg
http://www.scadata.net/web_objects/images/products/bluewave/yagi.gif
a) Singe folded dipole antenna.
a) Folded dipole used as feed element in a Yagi antenna.

Fig. 7-2: Practical applications of the folded dipole antenna: a) Single folded dipole, b) Folded
dipole as feed element of a Yagi-antenna.
7.2 Helix antennas
The height of a monopole antenna can also be reduced by winding the wire into a helix. The
parameters of the helix are its diameter d, the constant pitch angle , the number of turns n and
the total height L. The helix then is a space curve given by the parametric equation:
( )
( )
( )
( )
cos
sin
2
tan
d
| |
|
=
|
|
\
s , where [ ] 0, 2 . (7.3)
The length of an arc element is


( ) ( )
2
1 tan
2
end
end
s d

= + . (7.4)
Thus the total length of a helix consisting of n turns is:
( )
2
1 tan
tot
s d n = + , (7.5)
while the total height is only
( ) ' tan L d n = . (7.6)
Fig. 7-3 shows the configuration in comparison to the initial monopole antenna mounted on a
ground plane.

Fig. 7-3: Length reduction of a monopole antenna by winding a helix.
Of course, due to the winding of the wire the current distribution on the helix is now different to
the one on the monopole. While a vectorized representation of the current on the monopole
consists only of a z-component, the current distribution on the helix contains a horizonatal
-component in addition. Fig. 7-4 visualizes the current distribution on the helix.


~
I
1,
x
y
z
I
1
I
1,z
I
2
I
2,z
I
2,

Fig. 7-4: Current distribution on the wire of a helix antenna: The vector potential generated by
the horizontal components is cancelled out in the far field if the loop diameter is small.
When we remember the relation between the source current on the antenna and the vector
potential in eq. (3.61) it is clear that the contribution of the horizontal components cancel out in
the far field if the diameter of the helix is small. In this case only the vertical component remains
and thus the radiation pattern is still similar to the one of initial monopole antenna. Due to the
winding the capacitive coupling of different parts of the antenna can be expected to be stonger
compared to the case of the straight monopole. Therefore also the input impedance changes.
-1000
-500
0
500
1000
1500
0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,4 1,5
f [GHz]
|
s
1
1
|

[
d
B
]
Monopole: Re(Zin)
Helix: Re(Zin)
Monopole: Im(Zin)
Helix: Re(Zin)
-20
0
20
40
0,8 0,9 1
Monopole: Re(Zin)
Helix: Re(Zin)
Monopole: Im(Zin)
Helix: Re(Zin)

Fig. 7-5: Comparison of the input impedance of a monopole antenna and a helix antenna.


-18
-16
-14
-12
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,4 1,5
f [GHz]
|
s
1
1
|

[
d
B
]
Monopole
Helix

Fig. 7-6: Comparison of the matching of a monopole antenna and a helix antenna to a 50
system.
Fig. 7-5 shows a comparison of the input impedance of a monopole antenna and a helix antenna.
The monopole antenna is designed to operate around 900 MHz in its quarter wavelength mode.
The length of the wire is L = 75 mm and the thickness of the wire is 2 mm. In order to reduce the
height of the antenna, a helix is designed that operates in the same frequency range. The total
height of the antenna is now L = 25 mm. The diameter of the helix is d = 8 mm and it consists of
5 turns. The diameter of the wire is 2 mm as for the initial monopole.
It can be observed from Fig. 7-5 that although the quarter wavelength resonance occurs at the
same frequency, the helix provides a significantly lower resistance than the initial monopole. Fig.
7-6 shows that this results in a certain mismatch if the antenna is operated on a 50 system. In
order to re-match the helix antenna to the 50 system it would be necessary to use a matching
network at the feed point of the antenna that provides an impedance transformation from 50 to
the input impedance of the helix. Such matching networks typically are T- or -circuits
consisting of LC-components.

Fig. 7-7: Typical circuits used for antenna matching.
Such matching circuits as they are shown in Fig. 7-7 are widely used to match the antenna input
impedance to the impedance of the system. They typically use small SMD (surface mounted
device) components placed on a PCB (printed circuit board) near the antenna feeding point.
When designing such a matching circuit we have to bear at least two important things in mind:


Real components contain parasitic elements, i.e. an inductor is not only an inductor, but
can contain also some capacitive and resistive properties.
Lumped componets, especially inductors can cause significant losses.
The helix concept is widely used as an antenna for compact devices such as mobile phones and
PDA (personel digital assistant). In most applications the antenna wire is wound around a
dielectric cylinder in order to reduce the antenna size further. Fig. 7-8 shows a helix antenna
mounted on the edge of the chassis of a PDA.

Fig. 7-8: Helix antenna on a mobile phone.
7.2.1 Axial mode helical antenna
If the diameter of the helix is no longer small in terms of the wavelength the horizontal currents
on the wire do not cancel in the far field. In this case the operational mode is different compared
to the monopole. The circulating current generates circular polarization in the far field. Also,
depending on the number of turns and the pitch angle between the turns, the radiation pattern
becomes directive in the axis of the antenna.
http://www.speag.com/img/thumbs/helical_coax_antenna.gif http://www.suparco.gov.pk/images/HELICAL.jpg http://www.speag.com/img/thumbs/helical_coax_antenna.gif http://www.suparco.gov.pk/images/HELICAL.jpg

Fig. 7-9: Normal mode helical antennas for point-to-point communication.
These antennas are typically used for point-to-point communication.


7.3 The inverted-F antenna
A major drawback of the monopole and the helix antenna is the fact that the input impedance of
the antenna is fixed and cannot be adjusted. If the input impedance does not fit to the characteris-
tic impedance of the transceiver, matching circuits have to be used in addition.
In order to overcome this drawback we discuss the modification of the monopole according to
Fig. 7-10:
~
~ ~
/4
/4 /4
Monopole antenna
Inverted-L antenna Inverted-F antenna

Fig. 7-10: Evolution from the monopole antenna to the inverted-F antenna.
Fig. 7-10 shows on the left side a standard monopole antenna that is fed versus a groundplane. If
we just want to maintain the resonance when the length of the wire is equal to a quarter of a
wavelength, we should be able to bend the wire parallel to the groundpalane. As the length is still
equal to a quarter of a wavelength the resonance should still occur. This antenna is known as the
inverted-L antenna as it reminds of the letter L. The antenna impedance is affected by the
increased capacitive load due to the antenna wire parallel to the ground plane. This mainly results
in an even smaller real part of the impedance at the resonance frequency. Moreover, it is clear
that now the antenna radiation characteristic is no longer dipole like and consists of both
polarizations due to the bend wire carrying different directed currents.
~
s
Inverted-F antenna
0
0,1
0,2
0,3
0,4
0,5
0,6
0,7
0,8
0,9
1
0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1
Reihe1
Reihe2
Reihe3
s /4
U(s)
I(s)
Z(s)
(
U
(
s
)
,
I
(
s
)
,
Z
(
s
)
)
/
m
a
x
(
U
,
I
,
Z
)

Fig. 7-11: General voltage and current distribution along the wire of an inverted-F antenna.
In order to overcome the impedance problem we replace the feeding by a ground connection and
introduce a new feeding stub close-by. The procedure follows the idea that the current/voltage
distribution on the inverted-L antennas is a cosine/sine function along the antenna path. If we
assume that the impedance at a certain position on the wire of the antenna can be calculated from


the ratio of voltage over current, the principle impedance distribution of the antenna rises with
increasing distance from the connection to the ground plane. The principle is shown in Fig. 7-11.
The antenna principle according to this idea is known as the inverted-F antenna, as now the
antenna reminds of the letter F. Due to its compactness and the convenient possibility to adjust
the input impedance this antenna concepts is very frequently used for low-cost consumer
applications where no specific polarization or radiation pattern is required.
Fig. 7-12 shows the input impedance of the antenna when the tuning stub is adjusted to provide
good matching to a 50 system. If we compare the resonance curve of the inverted-F antenna to
the one of the dipole (e.g. Fig. 5-6) we still observe the typical resonance curvature, but in terms
of matching there are significant differences. While for the dipole the first resonance appears
when the real part is still rising, the best matching for the inverted-F antenna can be achieved
between two crossings of the imaginary axis on the right side of the maximum for the real part.
This different shape of the resonance curve is due to the fact that the modified feeding acts like
an integrated matching circuit. More details regarding the impedance behaviour with reference to
the position of the feeding stub can be found in [6].
0,8 0,9 1,0 1,1
-50
0
50
100
-15
-10
-5
0
Re{Z
in
}
Im{Z
in
}
s
11
Z

[
]
f [GHz]

s
1
1

[
d
B
]

Fig. 7-12: Input impedance and matching to a 50 system of an inverted-F antenna.
Typically the inverted-F antenna is operated in its first mode, i.e. when its length is approxi-
mately a quarter of the wavelength. Nevertheless the antenna provides resonances periodically
over the frequency range. Similar to the monopole the modes can be calculated by:


,
1
2 2
res i
c
f i
L
| |
= +
|
\
. (7.7)
Fig. 7-13 shows the electric near field of the inverted-F antenna at its first resonance frequency.
The sinusoidal function can be resembled in principle as well as the capacitive coupling between
the antenna wire and the ground plane. As for the monopole the antenna size decreases slightly
when the loading is increased due to a shorter distance to the ground plane; but also the
bandwidth of the antenna is reduced in this case.

Fig. 7-13: Electric near field of the IFA at its quarter wavelength resonance frequency.
As mentioned before the radiation characteristic of the inverted-F antenna is now different to the
dipole and the monopole case due to the fact that the current on different portions of the wire has
different directions. The principle total radiation pattern can be constructed by assuming
differently oriented dipoles replacing the differently oriented sections of the real antenna. If we
superimpose the radiation from the differently oriented dipoles the principle radiation pattern of
the IFA can be constructed. The result can be refined if we take the different length of the wires
and the cosine current distribution into account. With this regard, the horizontal wire is longer,
but carries smaller currents due to the cosine current distribution having higher values on the
vertical arm near the connection to the ground plane.
Fig. 7-14 shows two vertical cuts of the radiation pattern of the IFA calculated using numerical
simulations. In the cut =0 the antenna provides no -polarization due to the orientation of the
different portions of the wires. The -polarization is the superimposition of the equivalent
vertical and horizontal oriented dipole patterns. The short z-directed portion carrying high
currents gives strong radiation into the horizontal direction (=90 and =-90) where the
radiation from the long horizontal wire has its null, while the long horizontal wire radiates more
into vertical direction (=0) where the vertical wire has its null. In combination the superimpo-
sition results into a quite omnidirectional radiation into the upper hemisphere in this cut. Similar
assumptions can be made for the cut =90. In this case both kinds of polarizations occur.



-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
270
300
330
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
=0 : E
=0 : E
=90 : E
=90 : E
x
z
y
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
270
300
330
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
=0 : E
=0 : E
=90 : E
=90 : E
x
z
y
-30
-60
-90
-120
-150

Fig. 7-14: Vertical cuts of the radation pattern of the IFA.
As mentioned before the inverted-F antenna is used very frequently in consumer applications
where no pure polarization of specific directivity of the antenna is required. In this case the IFA
is often not mounted on a perpendicular ground plane but uses the DC ground of the PCB as the
counterpart.

Fig. 7-15: Printed IFA for Bluetooth operation implemented in the layout on the PCB of a mobile
phone.
It is obvious that in this case we will have radiation also into the lower hemisphere. Moreover, if
the counterpart (the PCB) is small, the current density excited by the antenna on the PCB


contributes to the radiation into the far field and the entire assembly (antenna + PCB) has to be
considered as the antenna. Therefore the finite ground plane (or a small vertical PCB) has
influence on all antenna parameters (matching, resonance frequency, radiation pattern). In most
cases the matching and the resonance frequency can be adjusted by the methods discussed above.
The influence on the radiation pattern can be stronger, but as mentioned before this is a less
sensitive requirement for most applications of this kind.
Antennas on small ground planes (e.g. printed circuit board PCB):
If a small counterpart (e.g. PCB) is used instead of an infinite ground plane, the antenna
excites currents on the PCB. These currents contribute to the antenna radiation. All
antenna parameters are affected by the specific PCB. The combination of antenna
module and PCB has to be considered as the entire antenna.
Fig. 7-16 shows a printed IFA implemented into the layout of a PCB of credit card dimensions.
The antenna is realized in a cut out of the DC ground metallization and tuned to operate at a
frequency of 2.45 GHz. The wavelength is approx. 13 cm at that frequency. Therefore the PCB
of credit card size cannot be considered to be a large ground plane. Nevertheless the PCB can
work as the counterpart to the inverted-F antenna. It can be observed from the distribution of the
electric near field that the antenna excites significant current on the edges of the PCB. These
currents contribute to the radiation of the antenna and therefore the entire PCB has now to be
considered as the entire antenna. Moreover, the strong RF-current distribution on the PCB can
affect the functionality of other electronic components on this PCB. Sensitive circuits have to be
shielded or blocked using filter components.

a) Printed IFA. b) Distribution of the electric near field.
Fig. 7-16: Pinted IFA on a PCB. Electric near field near the antenna and the PCB.


7.4 The slot antenna
In chapter 5.2.2 we have derived the Fitzgerald Dipole as a small loop antenna by applying the
principle of duality. We have seen that the loop antenna is the magnetic analogous to the electic
dipole. In a similar way we can derive another important antenna, the slot antenna.
According to Babinets principle a thin slot in an infinite ground plane is the complementary
assembly to a conductive strip (dipole) in free space. The slot will have the same radiation
pattern as a dipole with the same dimensions as the slot, except that the E- and H-fields are
swapped, as illustrated in Fig. 7-17.
~
z
I
0
+ L
- L
z
U
0
+ L
- L
~
Dipole Slot
Duality
Conductor
A A

H
E
E
H
Cut plane: AA
Dipole Slot

Fig. 7-17: Duality between dipole antenna and slot antenna (Babinets principle).
If we swap electric and magnetic field


0 F
Z =
Slot Dipole
E H (7.8)
0
1
F
Z
=
Slot Dipole
H E (7.9)
we result in the complementy field distribution for both antennas. Therefore the polarization is
rotated 90, so that radiation from a vertical slot is polarized horizontally.
The duality is also reflected in the impedance behaviour. Fig. 7-18 shows the impedance and the
matching to a 50 system for a dipole and its complementary slot.
0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0
-500
-250
0
250
500
750
1000
-10
-5
0
Re{Z
in
}
Im{Z
in
}
s
11
Z

[
]
f [GHz]

s
1
1

[
d
B
]
~
0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0
-500
-250
0
250
500
750
1000
-10
-5
0
Re{Z
in
}
Im{Z
in
}
s
11
Z

[
]
f [GHz]

s
1
1

[
d
B
]
~
1
st
resonance
R
S1
L
S1
C
S1
1 1
Z
0
R
S1
L
S1
C
S1
1 1
Z
0
R
P1
1
1 Z
0
L
P1
C
P1
R
P1
1
1 Z
0
L
P1
C
P1

Fig. 7-18: Impedance behaviour of dipole and complementary slot antenna.
As discussed in chapter 5.1.3 the impedance of the dipole starts capacitively and possesses a real
part of approximately 73 at its half wavelength resonance. This resonance can be approxi-


mated by a seriel equivalent circuit. As the complementary antenna the slot also provides a
resonance at the same frequency, but has to be expressed in terms of a parallel equivalent circuit.
Therefore the real part of the impedance possesses a large value that cannot be matched
conveniently to 50 when the slot is fed at the center.
There are different possibilities to match the slot to 50 . First we can consider the voltage and
the current distribution along the slot:
~
z
+ L
- L
Slot

Fig. 7-19: Voltage and current distribution along the slot.
If we now imagine that the feed impedance can be calculated from the ratio of voltage over
current a better position for the feeding might be apart from the center of the slot. Fig. 7-20
shows the return loss of the slot antenna with reference to a 50 system when the slot is fed at
different positions. It can be observed that the matching becomes better when we move the feed
position apart from the center. The best position for 50 matching is near the end of the slot.
Fig. 7-21 shows typical feeding realization of slot antennas in the ground metallization of a
printed circuit board (PCB). For an one layer PCB a coplanar line can be used conveniently
because it can be realized in the same layer as the slot. The input impedance can be matched by
adjusting the feed point position along the slot. For a multilayer PCB a microstripline feed is
used quite often. In this case the microstrip line is realized on the opposite layer to the slot. The
microstrip extents over the slot and ends in an open termination. The connection between
microstrip line and slot is now realized by field coupling. The impedance can now be adjusted by
the extension of the microstrip line over the slot in terms of a transmission line matching circuit.
In this case the effective feeding position can be in the center of the slot as the field coupling
results in an impedance transformation anyway.


~
+ L
- L
~~
~~
1
2
3
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
0,5 1 1,5 2
f [GHz]
|
s
1
1
|

[
d
B
]
1
2
3

Fig. 7-20: Matching of the slot impedance by variation of the feed point apart from the center of
the slot.
Microstrip line in
bottom layer
Coplanar line: 1 layer structure Microstrip line: 2 layer structure

Fig. 7-21: Typical feeding realization of slot antennas by coplanar or microstrip lines.
7.5 The microstrip patch antenna
When talking about compact antennas the concept of microstrip antennas or patch antennas is
often mentioned. The microstrip antenna consists of a metal plate (patch) that is positioned in
some distance above a ground plane. The official name microstrip antenna is chosen because it
reminds of a short piece of microstip line (see lecture microwave theory or text books). Often the
antenna is called patch antenna because of the metal plate (patch) that is the radiator. The space
between the patch and the ground plane can be air or because of mechanical or electrical reasons
a dielectric substrate. The feed of the antenna is located between the goundplane and the patch.
The simplest realization of patch antenna is the rectangular patch antenna as it is shown in Fig.
7-22 and Fig. 7-23.


ground plane
dielectric substrate
metal patch
feed between
patch and
ground plane
w
L
h
w

Fig. 7-22: Microstrip (Patch) antenna.
When feeding the antenna on the centre line (half of the width W) the first resonant mode of the
antenna is excited when the length of the antenna L is approximately one half of the wavelength.
Note that the width W of the patch is often longer than the length L.
The patch antenna as a leaky cavity:
Strong field between patch and ground plane
Fringe field at the edges (leaky cavity)
Current distribution on the patch
Matching by adjustment of feed point position

Fig. 7-23: The field under the patch reminds of a leaky cavity.
Fig. 7-23 shows that the current density on the patch is a sinusoidal distribution along the length
of the patch. Under the patch the electric field lines point mainly in z-direction and have also a
cosine distribution at the resonance frequency. The z-directed field under the patch does not
generate radiation into the far field because of the opposite orientation on both sides of the patch.


Near the edges of the patch the field under the antenna is no longer purely z-directed but contains
also horizontal components as it is bent towards the patch edge. These horizontal components of
the fringe field have the same orientation at both edges and therefore contribute to the radiation
into the far field. Therefore the patch antenna can be considered as a leaky cavity. The cavity
fields store energy and the fringe fields generate radiation.
Leaky cavity and fringe fields:
A patch antenna can be considerd as a leaky cavity. Only the fringe fields at the patch
edges contribute to the radiation into the far field.
If we consider the current and voltage distribution as a sine and cosine distribution along the
length of the patch it is obvious that we can adjust the input impedance of the antenna by varying
the feed point position. Thereby the input impedance is zero when we feed the antenna in the
middle of the patch. The impedance rises when we move the feed point apart from the centre
towards the patch edges. A good location for 50 matching can typically be found in short
distance from the centre of the patch.
The patch radiation can be approximated if we replace the patch by two slots that generate the
same field distribution as the fringe fields. This principle is shown in Fig. 7-24:
L
Fringe fields generate radiation
The fringe fields can be considered to
be generated by two slots instead of
the patch
The slots are separated by the distance
L that is slightly longer than L
equivalent slot model

Fig. 7-24: The patch can be replaced by two equivalent slots that generate the same field
distribution as the fringe fields.
Note that the distance between the slots is slightly longer than the patch length due to the fringe
fields of the patch. This length extension on both sides of the patch
' 2 L L L = + (7.10)
can be approximated by the empirical equation


( )
( )
( )
( )
0.264
0.3
0.412
0.258
0.8
+
+
+
+
r eff
r eff
W
h
L h
W
h
(7.11)
when designing patch antennas.
The length extension is a function of the patch dimensions and the permittivity of the substrate.
However, eq. (7.11) shows that not the permittivity of the substrate has to be considered directly
but the effective permittivity
r,eff
, that respects the fact that only part of the field is concentrated
in the substrate while the other portion extends out of the patch cavity in the air.
Substrate
r
Effektive material
r,eff

Fig. 7-25: Equivalent Effective permittivity.
The concept follows the idea that the substrate of finite thickness can be replaced by an infinite
matrial distribution having an effective permittivity. When the permittivity of the substrate is
high and the height of the patch is small the field is concentrated mainly under the patch in the
substrate and the effective permittivity is only slightly smaller than the permittivity of the
material. When the permittivity of the substrate is small and the patch has significant height,
more fringe fields extend into the air and the effective permittivity is small. An approximate
empirical formula that can be found in textbooks is:
1
2
r
r eff
+
. (7.12)
Effective permittivity:
The field of a patch antenna is only partly concentrated in the dielectric substrate, some
portion extends into the air above the patch. Thereby the antenna can be considered to
exist in a medium of effective permittivity which is smaller than the permittivity of the
substrate.

Compared to the length, the height and the permittivity of the substrate, the width of the patch is
a quite uncritical parameter. However for rectangular patch antennas it is typically slightly longer
than the length of the patch.
When the feed point of the antenna is not on the centre line, two modes can be excited at
different frequencies according to the length of both sides. In this case both modes have
orthogonal polarization.


Due to the fact that the radiation of the patch antenna is only due to the fringe fields and these
fringe fields are only a small portion compared to the cavity fields that cancel out in the far field
the bandwidth of a patch antenna is rather small (typically BW
-10dB
< 3 %). Therefore, the
bandwidth of the patch antenna is a function of the ratio between fringe fields and cavity fields.
As explained above the fringe fields are bigger if fewer fields are concentrated under the patch.
This can be achieved by using a low-permittivity substrate or increasing the height h of the patch.
Therefore, air or air-like foam substrates are often used if the size of the antenna is not sensitive
and bigger bandwidth is required. On the other hand, if bandwidth is no problem, high
permittivity substrated, such as ceramic, can be used in order to reduce the size of the antenna.

http://home.iae.nl/users/plundahl/antenne/patchant.htm

http://img.alibaba.com/photo/50591043/
Dielectric_Patch_Antenna.jpg
a) Air-filled patch antenna. b) High permittivity ceramic substrate.
Fig. 7-26: Use of different substrate for patch antennas: a) Air-like foam substrate to increase
bandwidth; b) High permittivity ceramic substrate to reduce size.
7.5.1 Planar Inverted-F antenna (PIFA)
Similar to a dipole the size of the patch antenna can be reduced by making use of the symmetry
in the current distribution, i.e. cutting the patch in half and short-circuiting it to the ground plane.
This procedure leads to a planar version of the inverted-F antenna (PIFA). It exhibits the same
resonance frequency with nearly only half of the size of the physical antenna structure.
Note: Due to the fact that we have now horizontal currents on the patch and vertical currents on
the short circuit to the ground plane the polarization of the antenna is no longer pure but consists
of different components in different cut planes.


L /2
B
H
Groundplane
Feeding
Ground Return
Antenna
Patch
L/2 + h /4

Fig. 7-27: Reducing the size of a patch antenna by short-circuiting the patch at the middle to the
ground plane The Planar Inverted-F Antenna (PIFA).
Because of the three dimensional structure of the PIFA the size of the antenna can be reduced
even further by lengthening the path the current takes on the patch. This can be achieved by
recessing the size of the short circuit connection on the vertical part.
l
1
w
d
Effective
resonant path
Ground plane
Patch
Feed pin of
the patch
h
Ground peturn
of the patch
Dielectric
substrate
l
2
Effective path between
feed and ground return
p

Fig. 7-28: PIFA with recessed ground connection for further size reduction.
Due to the fact that the RF current mainly flows near the patch edges the lowest mode on the
antenna can be achieved when the length is
!
1 2
4
L l l w h

= + + . (7.13)


The first resonance frequency is then:
( )
0
1 1 2
,
4
r eff
c
f l l w h
= + + . (7.14)
The current distribution on the different parts of the antenna now exhibits three different
directions, 2 horizontal and 1 vertical. Therefore the far field contains contribution from all of
these different portions.
The feed point position can be placed on one or the other edge next to the ground return. By
adjusting the distance between the feed point and the ground return the impedance can be
matched to the systems characteristic impedance (typically 50 ).
7.5.1.1 Example design procedure of a PIFA
The above simplified description of the antenna concept is sufficient to start the antenna design
but is only intendend to give approximate results. There are more accurate but also more
complicated analytical models of the PIFA presented in antenna literature that lead to more
accurate results. However, nowadays it is typically sufficient to use the simple models for the
initial design and then refine the antenna by the use of numerical simulations or in the lab.
Nevertheless such a design process should not be based on try-and-error but should follow an
efficient procedure that requires only minimum steps and the ability to verify the antenna
behaviour.
In the following subsection we describe the complete modeling process to design the antenna.
For this example we mainly use the FDTD technique and apply the commercial simulator
EMPIRE. The PIFA is designed on a dielectric substrate. The height and one dimension of the
substrate are given. The other dimensions can be varied to tune the antenna to the right
frequency. The antenna is centered on a square metal plate of finite dimensions. The antenna is
fed by a coaxial cable which passes the metal plate. The inner conductor of the coaxial cable
contacts the antenna patch. The parameters of the PIFA are as follows
target frequency f
c
= 0.92 GHz
length l
1
= unkonwn (variable)
length l
2
= 30 mm
width w = 7 mm
height h = 7 mm
relative permittivity of substrate
r
= 2.08
feed distance d = unkonwn (variable)
feed patch p = unkonwn (variable)
ground plate dimension = 326mm 326 mm
coax dielectric diameter d
d
= 2 mm
coax inner conductor diameter d
i
= 0.5 mm


coax permittivity
r,coax
= 2.75
In order to have a starting value for the unknown dimension l
1
we apply the simplified model
derived in eq. (7.11) and eq. (7.14). The first approximation leads us to a starting value of
l
1,1
= 35.7mm . We can presume that we will have to run some simulation runs to come close to
the desired frequency. Therefore it is recommended to start with a simple simulation model that
offers a quick simulation. Accordingly we will first replace the finite ground plane by an infinite
ground plane that can be treated efficiently by an electric wall in the simulation. In addition we
will use a simple lumped source instead of a complicated coaxial line for feeding. Although this
might require additional fine tuning afterwards, it provides us a fast computational model for the
major tuning of the antenna.
The first simulation model is set up using this starting value for the parameter l
1
. In addition, we
have to find a starting value that determines the distance between the antenna feed and the
ground return. As we only know that the impedance becomes smaller, the closer we come to the
ground return and that the 50 point is usually quite close to ground return we start with d = 6.5
mm and p = 5 mm for the first simulation. Note that for the efficient design it may make sense to
have an approximate starting value that is estimated on sort of a physical basis, but it is not
necessary to invest too much effort to find a better approximation. In this respect it is reasonable
that we estimate the feed position on such a rough basis. As a result from this initial simulation a
resonance can be observed at f
c,1
= 1.07 GHz. The minimum of s
11
is around -8 dB at this
frequency which can be found as a result of the impedance that is still too high at the chosen
feeding point. From the obtained results we can see that the rough approximation is not very
accurate, as expected before, but brings us in the right region by less than 20% error. In the
second step we try to get a better estimation for the length l
1
on the basis of the obtained results
and our rough model in eq. (7.14). By this we can derive the following relation between the
obtained frequency of the first shot f
c,1
and the desired target frequency f
c
= 0.92 GHz which
provides us a new estimate for l
1,2
:
1,1 2
,1 1,2 2
c
c
l l w h
f
f l l w h
+ +
=
+ +
. (7.15)
Using the above numbers we result in a second estimate for l
1,2
= 46.4 mm. For the next
simulation the model is changed only according to the dimension l
1
. The simulated center
frequency of this simulation run is f
c,2
= 0.895 GHz. This is still not correct, but it is closer to our
target than the first estimate. As we are now quite close to the target frequency, we will tune the
matching of the antenna in the next step. As this will also have little impact on the frequency of
best match we will do this in a separate step. More experienced antenna designers would
combine both at this stage. Because we have no approximation formula, we have to find our
estimate intuitively. As we are already quite close to a good matching, we use the tuning
metallization at the front face and extend the length by 0.5 mm to p = 5.5 mm. When we run the
modified model again, we achieve a good matching of 17 dB. The center frequency is nearly
unchanged. Based on this model we start the tuning process for the center frequency. Our next
estimate by using eq. (7.15) is l
1,3
= 44.4 mm. This results in a good matching at f
c,3
= 0.92 GHz
and therefore terminates our tuning process.
Fig. 7-29 shows a evolution of the matching of the antenna during the tuning process.


0.85 0.90 0.95 1.00 1.05 1.10
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
start
tune-f2
tune-f2imp
tune-f3
|
s
1
1
|

[
d
B
]
f [GHz]
1
2
3
4
0.85 0.90 0.95 1.00 1.05 1.10
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
start
tune-f2
tune-f2imp
tune-f3
|
s
1
1
|

[
d
B
]
f [GHz]
1
2
3
4

Fig. 7-29: Antenna tuning process.
Table 6.8 shows a listing of all steps and parameters.
Tuning step Tuning goal Parameter s
11
f
c,1

1 Initial l
1
= 35.7 mm -8 dB 1.07 GHz
2 Res. freq. l
1
= 46.4 mm -7.5 dB 0.895 GHz
3 Matching p = 5.5 mm -17 dB 0.895 GHz
4 Res. freq. l
1
= 44.4 mm -16 dB 0.92 GHz
Table 7-1: Tuning process of the PIFA.
Based on the final model we can calculate the radiation pattern of the antenna. Fig. 7-30 shows a
polar plot of the vertical pattern in two planes. Due to the infinite ground plane the antenna
radiates only into the upper hemisphere. We can observe that the antenna does not show a clear
polarization. Both components have significant values. This is a typical behavior for a PIFA
antenna as the effective path for the current density contains also all directions.
In order to come to the final solution we have now to replace the infinite ground plane (e.g. wall
in the simulation software) by the finite size metal plate and replacing the lumped source by a
coaxial cable. Due to the ground plane the computational domain is larger and modelling
the coaxial cable requires refined discretization. In combination this results in a larger
computational model that requires longer simulation time.
It can be observed from Fig. 7-31 that the finite size ground plane results in a modified radiation
pattern that shows also back radiation. The changed size of the ground plane and the coaxial
cable might also result in slight detuning. If this is the case, we have to return the antenna using


the final model. However, due to the fact that the simple model was tuned before, this should be
possible in only a few steps.
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
270
300
330
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
=0 : E
=0 : E
=90 : E
=90 : E
-30
-60
-90
-120
-150

Fig. 7-30: Radiation pattern of the PIFA on an infinite gound plane.
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
270
300
330
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
=0 : E
=0 : E
=90 : E
=90 : E
-30
-60
-90
-120
-150
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
270
300
330
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
=0 : E
=0 : E
=90 : E
=90 : E
-30
-60
-90
-120
-150

Fig. 7-31: Radiation pattern of the PIFA centered on a square = 326mm 326 mm
metal plate.


7.5.2 Modified PIFAs
Based on the original PIFA different modified designs exist. Most of them aim on reducing the
antenna size by cutting notches into the antenna patch to lengthen the effective current path.
Fig. 7-32 shows the so-called C-patch antenna. It is generated simply be cutting a notch into the
patch of the PIFA. The remaining metal patch provides now a longer path for the current flowing
from the ground return connection to the open end of the resonator. Assuming a quarter
wavelength current distribution this enables a lower resonance frequency compared to the
original PIFA of the same outer dimensions or, that the overall size of the antenna can be
reduced to result in the same resonance frequency. Of course, this reduced size is not gained
without additional cost in terms of antenna performance. As illustrated in Fig. 7-32 the current
distribution shows opposite oriented currents on both sides of the notch. These current elements
generate opposite contributions to the vector potential in the far field and therefore partly cancel
out. Similar to the original PIFA a quarter wavelength distribution is established along the
effective path on the antenna. Therefore the amplitude of the current elements on both sides of
the notch is different and therefore the destructive interference cancels the vector potential not
completely and the antenna still radiates but the ratio between stored energy and radiated energy
is increased compared to the original PIFA. When we cut more notches into the patch the
effective path can be lengthend even more and we result in a meandered structure, but also more
opposite directed currents cancel out in the far field and result in a worse ratio between stored
and radiated energy.
L
eff
ground
return
feed
notch
effective path
L
eff
/4
I
~
~
+
( ) d
4
jk
V
e
V
'
r r
'
J
A r
r r
=

Fig. 7-32: Modified PIFA - the C-Patch: The size of the antenna can be reduced by meandering
the effective current path, but opposite directed currents cancel partly out in the far field.
The C-patch:
The size of the original PIFA can be reduced by cutting a notch into the patch and
thereby lengthening the effective current path. Note that in this case opposite directed
currents cancel partly out in the far field. The simplest shape is the C-Patch, but also


more meandering is possible.
7.6 Application to mobile phones
Since the mid-1990s mobile phones have become part of our daily life. With the growing public
interest in mobile communication the devices changed drastically in a relatively short period
around the millennial. As an example Fig. 7-33 shows the evolution of Siemens mobile phones
in a 10-year period.

Fig. 7-33: Evolution in the design of mobile phones.
Some years ago the mobile phone was mainly used for its initial purpose: voice communication.
The operation was restricted to a single telecommunication standard used in the specific country.
Although compact at its time these mobile phones now look bulky to us. Nowadays mobile
phones are universal mobile multimedia devices. Voice communication is today only one of its
features. Typically the mobile works according to several mobile communication standards in
order to guarantee operation also during travel around the world. Advanced standards like UMTS
in addition to voice communication allow high-speed download and even video streaming. With
the evolution of the mobile phone to a mass market product with focus on several features
especially aesthetic design becomes very important. In this respect especially the bulky and
protruding antenna came into the focus of the designers. In the first step, the extractable wire
antenna was replaced by stubby helical antennas. But the designers intended to remove the
antenna completely - or at least make it invisible for the user. This led to the development of
integrated antennas. The integration of the antenna into the chassis of the mobile phone
incorporates several technical problems and was seen to be completely impossible by many
antenna engineers at that time. This pessimistic forecast was mainly due to miss-understanding of
the technical principle of the antenna functionality of a small device.


In the following section we will review the functional principle of integrated antennas in mobile
phones as an example of a fundamental analysis with state-of-the-art practical content.
7.6.1 Technical and non-technical requirements
Fig. 7-34 shows a plan of the frequency allocation of different mobile communication standards.
RX TX TX
80 MHz
8,7 %
GSM
900
GSM
1800
GSM
1900
0,88 0,96 0,92 1,71 1,88 1,795
RX
1,85 1,92 1,99
f / GHz
TX RX
170 MHz
9,47 %
140 MHz
7,3 %
280 MHz
15,13 %
RX TX TX
80 MHz
8,7 %
GSM
900
GSM
1800
UMTS
0,88 0,96 0,92 1,71 1,88 1,795
RX
1,85 1,92 1,98
f / GHz
170 MHz
9,47 %
270 MHz
13,27 %
FDD
TX
FDD
RX
2,11 2,17
T
D
D
T
D
D
460 MHz
23,7 %

Fig. 7-34: Frequency plan of most common standards for mobile communication in todays
phones available on the European market.
It shows that an antenna for the GSM900 standard needs a relative bandwidth of 8.7 %. If we
assume a small antenna module and a minimum matching of s
11
< 6 dB this is much more than
a patch antenna can provide. Moreover, the minimum length of a PIFA is related to a quarter of
the wavelength as has been shown in Section 7.5.1 and therefore is much larger than acceptable.
This problem becomes even more serious when a tripleband antenna has to be designed where
the upper frequency bands overlap or are situated close to each other. For instance, a
GSM900/1800/1900 antenna requires 8.7 % relative bandwidth to cover GSM900 and as much
as 15.13 % relative bandwidth to cover GSM1800 and GSM1900 because both bands overlap in
the frequency spectrum used. If we include the UMTS standard the upper band has to cover a
relative bandwidth of almost 23.7 %.
We have already discussed that in contrast to, e.g., a filter component that can be completely
encapsulated in its chassis, an antenna is an open component that interacts with all other


components in its close vicinity. In this respect the antenna has to be tuned individually to
operate in a specific assembly of different components in a mobile phone. In addition to these
technical requirements the antenna must not disturb the aesthetic design of the mobile and thus
has to be integrated conformal to the chassis of the mobile. Finally, as a low-cost product for the
mass market, all components of the mobile are required to be light weight, small and inexpen-
sive.
7.6.2 Antenna concepts
Due to the fact that modern mobile phones become smaller and smaller, a suitable concept for
the antenna integration must be very compact and thus leads again to microstrip patch antennas
based on the PIFA concept. In general, there are different ways to minimize the size of a PIFA.
As discussed in chapter 7.5 a dielectric material can be positioned between the patch and its
ground plane in order to reduce the wavelength in the substrate. Another possibility that is
proposed in section 5.1.5 for the monopole antenna is to reduce the resonance frequency of the
by capacitive loading at the top. Of course this can also be applied to a PIFA. Finally, we can use
the C-patch concept as discussed in section 7.5.2. However, all these concepts are known to
reduce the bandwidth of the antenna furthermore. In order to investigate the influence of the
different antenna concepts on a realistic platform a generic model of a mobile phone is set up.
Fig. 7-35 shows the generic model of the mobile phone used for the investigation. It simply
consists of a metal plate representing the PCB (Printed Circuit Board), some metal blocks that
represent the RF shieldings on the PCB, and a large metal block representing the battery. For the
antenna module a volume above the battery is reserved. The different antenna concepts are all
realized in this volume in order to allow comparison of the results.
Cap. Patch
Diel. Patch C-Patch
Generic model of a mobile phone
Battery
RF shielding
PCB (Printed Circuit Board)
Antenna module
C
~
/4
I
~
I
r
/4
I
/4
Path
Path
Cap. Patch
Diel. Patch C-Patch
Generic model of a mobile phone
Battery
RF shielding
PCB (Printed Circuit Board)
Antenna module
C
~
/4
I
~
I
r
/4
I
/4
Path
Path

Fig. 7-35: Three different concepts to minimize the size of a PIFA on a mobile phone.


All three PIFA based concepts have the ground return at the top of the phone. The outer
dimensions of the PCB are 100 mm by 40 mm in this initial model. Fig. 7-35 illustrates the
functional principle of the different concepts by a generalized current distribution along a path on
the antenna. The path starts from the ground return on the PCB and ends at the so-called
radiating edge. In order to obtain resonance we need to establish a quarter-wave current
distribution along this path. The dielectrically loaded PIFA achieves this by reducing the
wavelength due to the dielectric. The current distribution on the capacitively loaded patch is
shorter than quarter wavelength, but the capacitive load enforces resonance. Finally the current
distribution along the patch of the so-called C-patch contains again a quarter of a wavelength.
Note: The above simple assumptions based on the general current distribution or fields in
combination with the boundary conditions can be often useful to predict the general physical
behavior of RF components.
In order to illustrate the behavior of the different antenna concepts more visually we calculate the
distribution of the electric field in a plane above the antenna module in Fig. 7-36.
(a) Cap. Patch
(b) Diel. Patch
(c) C-Patch

Fig. 7-36: Distribution of the electric field above the antenna module of a mobile phone
calculated using the FDTD method.
The different concepts have been applied to two different antenna modules. The large antenna
module consists of a cubical volume of 6.5 cm while the small volume covers only 4.3 cm.
They represent realistic values for the size of the antenna module in state-of-the-art mobile


phones. The antennas are tuned to operate at the center frequency of the GSM900 band which is
925 MHz. By varying the feedpoint position as it is explained in section 7.5.1.1 the matching is
adjusted to reach optimum bandwidth according to a matching of s
11
< 6 dB. Table 7.6
summarizes the obtained bandwidth for the different concepts and the different restrictions
regarding the volume of the antenna module.

Table 7-2: Relative bandwidth of the different antenna concepts mounted on a generic reference
mobile. Results for two different size modules.
It can be observed from Table 7-2 that the bandwidth is nearly the same for the dielectrically
loaded PIFA and the capacitively loaded PIFA for both restrictions of the antenna module.
Furthermore, the bandwidth is much smaller than the bandwidth of the C-patch, especially when
we look at the smaller module size. Although not yet sufficient to fulfill the -6 dB matching
requirement over the entire frequency band (8.7% relative bandwidth) the bandwidth of the C-
patch is larger than expected at the beginning. So far, this cannot be explained by the traditional
microstrip antenna theory and therefore will be investigated in more detail in the following
section.
7.6.3 Detailed Analysis of the Functional Principle of Mobile Phone Antennas
As presented above, the C-patch concept provides nearly acceptable bandwidth for an integrated
antenna in a mobile phone. To be exact the bandwidth of the realized antenna in a real phone will
be even larger, because we did not account for losses in our analysis. Therefore the matching of
the C-patch antenna turned out to be sufficient to work with the amplifier of the phone when the
concept was first realized in the Nokia 8810 mobile phone in 1998. However, although now
integrated antennas can be realized it would be advantageous for advanced development to
understand more accurately how the antenna works. As explained above the results cannot be
predicted accurately enough if we simply apply the theory of microstrip antennas. In order to get
a better insight how the antenna interacts with the remaining part of the mobile we visualize the
current density on both sides of the PCB of the mobile. The results are displayed in Fig. 7-37 and
Fig. 7-38.


0
20
40
60
80
100
120
x [mm]
0
20
40
y [mm]
0
0,2
0,4
0
0,2
0,4
PCB
y
x
A
ntenna-Side
of PC
B
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
x [mm]
0
20
40
y [mm]
0
0,2
0,4
0
0,2
0,4
D
isplay-Side of PC
B
J [mA/m]
J [mA/m]

Fig. 7-37: Current density on the PCB of a mobile excited by antenna module at 925 MHz.
PCB
y
x
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
x [mm]
0
20
40
y [mm]
0
0,2
0,4
0
0,2
0,4
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
x [mm]
0
20
40
y [mm]
0
0,2
0,4
0
0,2
0,4
A
ntenna-Side
of PC
B
D
isplay-Side of PC
B
J [mA/m]
J [mA/m]

Fig. 7-38: Current density on the PCB of a mobile excited by an antenna module at 1800 MHz.


The antenna side of the PCB is dominated by the current distribution under the antenna module.
According to the theory of microstrip antennas this current distribution resembles the mirrored
distribution of the currents on the antenna patch if we consider the PCB as a ground plane to the
antenna patch. Additionally, we observe an overlayed current distribution on both sides of the
PCB that reminds of a half wavelength distribution similar to a dipole. This overlayed current
distribution is induced by the antenna module and is a result of the fact that the PCB cannot be
considered large compared to the wavelength. Therefore it is not correct to consider the PCB of
the mobile as a pure ground plane for the antenna module. From the results displayed in Fig. 7-37
and Fig. 7-38 one could still expect that the current distribution on the antenna would be most
significant for the antenna functionality because the amplitude of the currents on the antenna
module itself are much higher than the ones on the PCB. If we consider the principle drawing in
Fig. 7-39 we can come to a different conclusion.
Currents excited on a Mobile
Currents excited on a Mobile
Z
in
s
11
1:N1 1:N2
R1 L1 C1
R2 L2 C2
PCB
Antennenmodul
(1) /4-Distribution on Antenna Module
(2) Corresponding Mirrored /4-Distribution under
Antenna Module
Fields from (1) and (2) cancel partly !!!
(3) Additional CD excited on PCB; Depends on
Dimension of PCB
PCB
Currents on
the PCB
Currents
on the
Antenna
Antenna
Induced Antenna
Currents on the
PCB
P. Vainikainen et al.: Performance analysis of small antennas
mounted on mobile handsets. In: Proc. COST 259 Final Workshop
Mobile Terminal and Human Body Interaction, Bergen, 2000

Fig. 7-39: The current distribution on a mobile separated into three parts.
In general we have to superimpose the three different current distributions. If we take into
account that the mirrored current distribution under the antenna patch is of opposite sign, the
superimposition with the current distribution on the antenna patch is mainly destructive. This is
one explanation why microstrip antennas are usually narrowband antennas. In this respect the
current distribution on the PCB is left for radiation and might play a much more important role
for the overall antenna performance of the mobile than expected at the beginning. In order to
validate this assumption with respect to the radiated power we investigate the same scenario on
PCBs of varying length. The investigation is again based on the generic platform of the mobile
phone equipped with the small C-patch antenna module. In a series of FDTD simulations the
length of the mobile is varied from 80 mm to 150 mm. Each model is tuned to the same center
frequency. Fig. 7-40 shows the contribution of the current density of the antenna module and the
PCB of the mobile to the entire radiated power from the mobile phone (100 %). It can be


observed that there is a significant effect of the length of the mobile the contribution from the
different parts. For short mobile the largest amount of radiation is generated by currents on the
antenna module. In this case the functionality of the entire mobile can be seen as the radiation
from the PIFA like antenna module. Therefore, the achievable bandwidth is quite narrow. When
the PCB is longer the antenna module can excite more efficiently a current distribution on the
chassis of the PCB and that current distribution becomes the main source of overall radiation.
This coupling becomes very efficient when the size of the PCB allows to generate a resonant
current distribution. The overall antenna functionality is now different compared to the short
PCB. Now the antenna module simply acts as a coupling element to the PCB where it excites a
dipole like current distribution. Due to the fact that the whole mobile can now be seen as the
entire antenna, larger bandwidth can be achieved.
PCB
Antenna
1
80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
P
w
/

P
w
m
a
x
/ mm
PCB
l
0.1
1
80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
P
w
/

P
w
m
a
x
/ mm
PCB
l
0.1
1
80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
P
w
/

P
w
m
a
x
/ mm
PCB
l
0.1
80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
P
w
/

P
w
m
a
x
/ mm
PCB
l
0.1
Radiated Power
Z
in
s
11
1:N1 1:N2
R1 L1 C1
R2 L2 C2
PCB
Antennenmodul

Fig. 7-40: Radiation from different parts of the mobile phone. Especially at low frequencies the
antenna module acts more as a matching element to excite currents on the chassis to radiate.
7.6.4 Interaction between mobile phone and user
While in use, the mobile phone is attached to the head of the user and is partly covered by the
persons hand. It is obvious that there will be an influence of the user on the antenna and vice
versa.


Fig. 7-41: Interaction between the mobile and the user observed from different perspectives.
Fig. 7-41 illustrates that the interaction between the mobile and the user can be observed from
different perspectives. First, we have the influence of the mobile (antenna) on the user. With this
respect the EM field penetrates into the tissue and causes heating. This is often associated with
health issues. On the other hand we can observe the influence of the user on the mobile
(antenna). With this respect the head and hand of the user can be seen as lossy objects resulting
in absorbtion of the radiated power (reduced efficiency) and detuning of the antenna.
The tissue of the human body can be considered as a lossy dielectric material in the related
frequency range. Therefore an electromagnetic field penetrating the tissue is attenuated strongly
and the penetration depth is rather small at GHz frequencies. The field penetrating the tissue
induces a certain current density in the tissue that results in heating of the tissue, i.e. the
electromagnetic energy is transformed to thermal energy. The relation between the electromag-
netic measures and the thermal measure can be expressed by the Specific Absorption Rate SAR.
The SAR is defined as the temperature rise multiplied by the thermal coefficient of the tissue c
th

on the one hand. On the other hand it can be calculated from the r.m.s. electric field strength E
inside the human body, the conductivity and the mass density of the biological tissue:

2
th
T E
SAR c
t
= =
(7.16)
With respect to health issues, heating of the tissue can be harmful if it exceeds a certain amount
(T > 1 K). Less heating can be compensated by the physiological mechanisms of the human
body. A limitation of the specific absorption rate in terms of basic restrictions prevents an
excessive heating of the human body by electromagnetic energy including some safety factor. In
Europe the relevant SAR limit in the human head while using a mobile phone is set to 2 W/kg
averaged over 10 g of tissue. Meanwhile a standard for compliance testing of mobile phones in
terms of SAR has been established Europe wide (EN 50361). Every mobile phone model which is
released to the market is tested with respect to the maximum SAR it induces in a phantom of the


human head. The specific value is typically reported in the manual or on the website of the
manufacturer.
SAR Specific Absorption Rate:
The SAR is a measure for the temperature rise in the tissue due to the electric field in
the tissue that is induced by electromagnetic radiation.
Mobile phones are tested to generate less SAR in the human head than limited by the
related safety regulation before being released to the market.
The influence of the head and hand on the antenna functionality is driven by two issues: antenna
detuning and losses. Especially the high permittivity of the tissue can result in a strong detuning
of the antenna when the hand covers the antenna. Furthermore a significant amount is absorbed
in the lossy tissue of the hand and head of the user. Depending on the topology of the phone, the
use position and the frequency band of operation this loss can be up to 6 dB.
Antenna Arrays 113


8 Antenna Arrays
The arrangement of a number of single antenna elements that interact with each other in order to
generate specific antenna functionality is called an antenna array. Based on the specific
characteristic of the single element, the arrangement of the elements, in the array and the feeding
of the elements a desired specific radiation characteristic can be synthesized.
The following chapter gives a brief introduction to antenna arrays. However, the theory and
application of array antennas fills books and due to the nature of this lecture only the basics can
be discussed here.
A simple introduction to the theory of array antennas starts with an arrangement of point sources.
wave front
source
direction
of
propagation

Fig. 8-1: Radiation from a single point source.
From the prior chapters we know that a single isotropic point source generates a radial outward
directed Pointing vector. Electric and magnetic field components are orthogonal and their
magnitudes have the relation of the free space wave impedance:
2
0
1
r r
F
EH E
Z
= = =
i
S E H e e . (8.1)
The magnitude of the power density decays according to the homogeneous distribution at a given
radius r of the sphere. In terms of an equivalent circuit the point source can be expressed as the
radiation resistance.
2
2 2
4 4
ant ant
P R I
r r
= =
i
S . (8.2)
Thus the distribution of the electric field
Antenna Arrays 114


( )
2
0 0
2
Constant
4 4
jkr jkr
jkr j j F ant F ant
Z R I Z R e e
E r e Ie Ie
r r r

= = = (8.3)
can be expressed in terms of the feed current, a linear attenuation and the phase term.
8.1 Basics
Let us assume that we have two isotropic radiators (point sources) spaced by the distance d on
the z-axis of a coordinate system. The electric field generated in the point P is the superposition
of the field generated by the single elements:
( )
1 2
1 2
2 1 2
1 2
, ,
jkR jkR
j j
e e
r C I e C I e
R R

= + = +
1
E E E . (8.4)
Here R
1
and R
2
denote local coordinate systems originated at the position of the point sources. In
order to express these quantities in terms of the global coordinate systems we make again use of
the far field approximation, i.e. use the parallel vectors R
a
1
and R
a
2
instead if P is in the far field
of the antenna system.
z
x
Ant 2
Ant 1
d
P
E(r,,)
r
~ ~
~
~
~
~
d
c
o
s
(
)
~
~
R
1
R
2
R
1
a
R
2
a
.
z
x
Ant 2
Ant 1
d
P
E(r,,)
r
~ ~
~
~
~
~
d
c
o
s
(
)
~
~
R
1
R
2
R
1
a
R
2
a
.

Fig. 8-2: Superposition of the radiation from different antennas far field approximation.
The parallel rays can be written as:
( )
1
1
cos
2
a
R r d = + (8.5)
and
( )
2
1
cos
2
a
R r d = . (8.6)
Antenna Arrays 115


According to the description in chapter 4.1.1 this definition is used in the phase terms, while the
approximation
1 2
a a
R R r = (8.7)
is sufficient for the attenuation of the magnitude.
The total electric field in the far point P yields:
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
1 2
1 2
2
1 2
1 2
1 2
1 2
1
1 1
cos cos
2 2
1 2
1 1
cos cos
2 2
1 2
1 1
cos cos
2 2
1 2
, ,
a a
jkR jkR
j j
FF a a
jk r d jk r d
j j
jk d jk d
jkr jkr
j j
jk d jk d
j j
e e
r C I e C I e
R R
e e
C I e C I e
r r
e e e e
C I e C I e
r r
C I e e I e e

| | | |
+
| |
\ \

= +
= +
= +
= +
E
jkr
e
r
| |
|
\
. (8.8)
The radiation pattern of the entire antenna array is the superposition of the radiation from the
single radiators. It is clear from eq. (8.8) that the shape of the radiation pattern depends on the
feed current at the elements (amplitude and phase) and the spacing d of the elements.
We will discuss some important cases based on our simple array consiting of two point sources
(Fig. 8-2). First, we simplify the notation of eq. (8.8) by expressing the spacing of the elements
as its electrical length, i.e. as a fraction of wavelength:
; d x x = (8.9)
and using the relation in Eq. (3.20) for the wave number k
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( )
1 2
1 2
2 1 2 1
cos cos
2 2
1 2
cos cos
1 2
, ,
jkr
j x j x
j j
jkr
j x j x j j
e
r C I e e I e e
r
e
C I e e I e e
r

| |
= +
|
\
= +
E
. (8.10)
More simplification can be reached when assumptions for the feed currents amplitude and phase
are made. Some representative examples are discussed now:
A) Equal amplitudes, equal phases:
1 2 1 2
; I I I = = = = :
( )
( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( )
( )
cos cos
, ,
2cos cos
jkr
j x j x j
jkr
j
F
e
r C Ie e e
r
e
C Ie x
r

= +
=
E
(8.11)
Antenna Arrays 116


0,0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1,0
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
270
300
330
0,0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1,0
Element spacing d:
d=/2
d=
d=2
-30
-60
-90
-120
-150
F()
d=x

Fig. 8-3: Equal magnitude, equal phase.
B) Equal amplitudes, phase difference 180:
1 2 1 2
; I I I = = = :
( )
( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( )
( )
cos cos
, ,
2sin cos
jkr
j x j x j
jkr
j
F
e
r C Ie e e
r
e
C Ie x
r

=
=
E
(8.12)
0,0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1,0
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
270
300
330
0,0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1,0
Element spacing d:
d=/8
d=
d=2
-30
-60
-90
-120
-150
F(,)
d=x

Fig. 8-4: Equal magnitude, anti phase.
Antenna Arrays 117


The two simple examples above show that various different radiation patterns can be synthesized
by special combinations of the parameters
Amplitude of the feed current of the different radiators,
phase of the feed current of the different radiators,
spacing between the different radiators.
Additionally it is clear that if instead of isotropic radiators real antenna elements are used the
specific
radiation characteristic of the elements
affects the entire radiation pattern of the array.
With this regard, the far field characteristic can be expressed in terms of different factors
accounting for these quantities:
( )

( ) ( )
( )
( )
( ) ( )
1 2
1 1
cos cos
2 2
1 2
constant , Element Factor
Spherical wave propagation
, Array Factor
, 1
, ,
jkr
jk d jk d
j j
h
F
jkr
e
E C I e e I e e
r
e
C F h
r

| |
= +
|
\
=
. (8.13)
The element factor h(,) is the radiation patterns of the single antenna elements. The array
factor F(,) accounts for the distribution and the feeding of the single elements.
Let us now assume, as a practical example, that we have an array of three isotropic radiators
equally spaced with the distance d along the z-axis. The elements are fed synchronously with the
same amplitude and phase. The elementary waves of the different radiators interfere with the
waves of the other radiators. By superposition this interference can be constructive or destructive
at different points. The interference at a specific point is a function of the wavelength and the
distance d of the elements.
Fig. 8-5 shows the electric farfield in vertical-cut plane for different distances d of the elements.
Note that the diagram is normalized to a single isotropic radiator. It can be observed in Fig. 8-5
that constructive interference leads to higher directivity at certain angles while destructive
interference results in less directivity and even nulls at other angles. By increasing the distance
between the elements the directivity in transversal direction to the array ( = 90) increases up
to 4.8 dB when the distance is d = /2. At = 60 and = 120 so-called side lobes occur. Side
lobes and main lobe are separated by deep nulls. When the distance becomes d = secondary
main lobes occur at the borders of the diagram. They are called grating lobes. The number of
nulls between the main lobe and the grating lobe is n 1 when the number of elements in the
array is n. Typically an array is used to increase the directivity of an antenna in a certain
direction. For example, an array with stacked elements along the z-axis, as it is displayed in Fig.
8-5, is used to increase the omnidirectional directivity of the antenna. Therefore, a typical
spacing for the elements would be d = /2.

Antenna Arrays 118


Antenna 0
z
x
Antenna 1
Antenna -1
d
d
Antenna 0
z
x
Antenna 1
Antenna -1
d
d
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
-30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5
d = 1/8
d = 1/4
d = 1/2
d = 1
|E()|/|E
max
|
]

Fig. 8-5: Array of three isotropic radiators. Influence of the element distance on the radiation
pattern.
8.2 Characteristic measures of a directive radiation pattern
The definition of the different characteristic measures of the directive radiation patterns is shown
in Fig. 8-6:

Fig. 8-6: Characteristic meaures of a directive radiation pattern.
Antenna Arrays 119


8.3 Phased arrays and beam steering
As we have different separated antenna elements we are not obliged to feed them all with the
same current. If we vary the amplitude of the current for the different array elements it is obvious
that we can adjust the height of the different lobes. This means that we can, e.g., minimize the
height of the side lobes for a certain distribution of the current amplitude along the antenna
elements. In addition, we can vary the phase of the current for the different elements. This affects
the interference of the elementary waves from the individual elements as it can be observed in
Fig. 8-7. Let us consider an array of ten isotropic radiators stacked with d = /2 distance on the
z-axis. The elements are fed with the same amplitude of the current but have a linear phase
progression. This means that the phase of an element has a fixed offset of to the element
before. The drawing in Fig. 3.13 illustrates this behavior. Let us consider that we observe a
certain phase, similar to a point in time, of the sinusoidal current exciting the antenna elements.
Due to the linear phase progression from element to element this phase seems to reach one
element after another with a certain delay which is related to . If we imagine that a spherical
wave is radiated from each antenna element, when it is excited with the specific phase, it seems
that also the radiation is delayed from element to element. The waves from all elements interfere
and form a wave front which is now tilted from the transversal direction due to the delayed
excitation of the lower elements. (The superposition of elementary waves to a wave front is
known as the Huygens principle). The array factor F(,) of the antenna is:
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
0
0
1 cos
1
1 1 cos
1
1 cos
1
,
i
n
jk i d j
i
i
n
j i jk i d j
i
i
n
j i kd
j
i
i
F I e e
I e e e
e I e

=

=
+
=
=
=
=
(8.14)
If we assume that the main lobe direction is defined at the angle
0
and
0
where g(,) is
maximum we can derive the condition
( )
0
cos 0 kd + = (8.15)
Solving this equation for the phase increment allows us to tilt the main lobe by a certain
angle:
( )
0
2
cos d
= . (8.16)
With this condition a phase increment = 127.28 has been used to tilt the main lobe by
0
= 45 in Fig. 8-7. The above concept of electronical beam steering is widely used in the
antenna design. The antennas using this principle are called phased arrays. Some advanced
concepts even use fast algorithms to continuously adapt the direction of the beam to the current
needs of the system. Sometimes the antennas aligned with this technique are called smart
antennas although the smartness comes more from the algorithms used rather than from the
antenna. More detailed information on antenna arrays can be found in the specific literature.
Antenna Arrays 120


z
x
d
1
=
0
2
=
0
+
10
=
1
+ 9
3
=
0
+ 2
0
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
-30 -20 -10 0 10
= 0
= 127.3
|E()|/|E
max
|
]
z
x
d
1
=
0
2
=
0
+
10
=
1
+ 9
3
=
0
+ 2
0
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
-30 -20 -10 0 10
= 0
= 127.3
|E()|/|E
max
|
]

Fig. 8-7: Array of ten isotropic radiators spaced on the z-axis. Linear phase progression.
8.4 Amplitude distribution, shaping the radiation pattern
The ratio between main lobe and side lobe, the beamwidth of the main lobe and the side lobe
level can be adjusted by the amplitude distribution of the feed current around the different
antenna elements.
If we take a close look to the composition of the array factor we can observe some similarity to
the Fourier intergral. In fact, by assuming a continious distribution of the array elements yields a
distribution function of the current amplitudes. By applying the substitution in Fig. 8-8 the
relation between the current distribution and the radiation pattern can be expressed in terms of a
Fourier transformation. This provides the advantage that we can apply all rules that we know
from the standards Fourier transformation.
We can thereby easily derive that a constant current distribution over a finite array (rect function)
yields a radiation pattern of an si-function.

Antenna Arrays 121


Fig. 8-8: Relation between current distribution among the antenna elements and the shape of
the radiation pattern an analogy to the Fourier transformation [8].
A choice of current distributions and their radiation patterns are presented in Fig. 8-9. Specific
amplitude functions can be designed e.g. to generate a minimum side lobes or a narrow main
beam.
If we come back to the discrete antenna array where single elements are spaced by the distance d,
we can also apply our knowledge about the Fourier transformation of discrete functions in order
to derive the radiation pattern. In analogy to discrete signal processing where ambiguity appears
if the sampling rate of the time signal is longer than the Nyquist rate, grating lobes appear when
the element spacing is too big.
Antenna Arrays 122


Fig. 8-9: Different current distribution function and the radiation pattern of the array [8].
Antenna Arrays 123


Fig. 8-10: The radiation pattern of an antenna array composed of discrete spaced elements [8].
8.5 Base station antenna array
A GSM base station antenna is a practical example of an antenna array used in communication
systems.
Kathrein 736 078 (900 MHz, D-Netz)
1,29 m
0,26 m
Reflektor
Dipol-
strahler

Fig. 8-11: GSM base station antenna array consisting of vertically stacked dipoles in front of an
Reflector.
It consists of vertical dipole positioned in front of a metal reflector.
Antenna Arrays 124


Fig. 8-12: Near field and far field of the base station. The main beam is tilted by 7 applying a
linear phase progression among the elements.
The antennas can be fed with a certain phase increment in order to tilt the beam of the radiation
pattern when the antenna is positionend on a roof top.
The visualization illustrates how the phase attenuation generates the tilted wave front and how
the radiation pattern with its main beam, nulls and side lobes is developed.
Appendix 125


Appendix
Stokes theorem:
( )
d rot d A
C A A
=

F s F

(0.74)
Gauss theorem:
d div d
A V
V =

F A F

(0.75)
rot F = F (0.76)
div F = F (0.77)
8.6 Spherical coordinates
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( )
sin cos
sin sin
cos
x
y r
z
| | | |
| |
=
| |
| |
\ \
(0.78)
( )
2
sin d d dA r =
( )
2
sin d d d dV r r =
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
x r
r
r
e e sin cos e cos cos e sin
e e sin sin e cos sin e cos
e e cos e sin
y
z

= +
= +
=
(0.79)
( )
( ) ( )
( )
( )
( )
1
sin
sin
1 1
curl
1 1
sin
r
r
A
A
r
A
rA
r r r
A
rA
r r r
| |

|

|
|

= =
|

|
|
|
|

\
A A
Figures 126


Figures
Fig. 2-1: Radio frequency allocation. ......................................................................................... 5
Fig. 2-2: Antennas for different applications and their relation between size, directivity and
frequency. 6
Fig. 2-3: Radio and TV broadcasting antennas. ......................................................................... 7
Fig. 2-4: TV and radio receiving antennas. ................................................................................ 8
Fig. 2-5: Structure of a cellular mobile communication system, e.g. GSM or UMTS. ............. 9
Fig. 2-6: Base station sector antennas for the illumination of a sector of the cell and directive
dish antennas to enable communication between the base station and the control center. ........... 10
Fig. 2-7: External and internal mobile phone antennas............................................................ 10
Fig. 2-8: Antennas for short range wireless connections are integrated in nearly every
electronic product. ......................................................................................................................... 11
Fig. 2-9: Antennas for short range low and high data rate applications integrated into mass-
market low-cost products. ............................................................................................................. 12
Fig. 2-10: Radio frequency spectrum and atmospheric opacity. ................................................ 13
Fig. 2-11: Single 100 m dish antenna and the planned configuration of the Square kilometer
array with antennas distributed thoughout Australia. .................................................................. 13
Fig. 2-12: Overhead antennas. ................................................................................................... 15
Fig. 3-1: Visualization of the integral notation of (a) Amperes and (b) Faradays law in the time
domain. .......................................................................................................................................... 17
Fig. 3-2: Visualization of the integral notation of Gauss law for the electric field (a) the
magnetic field (b). ......................................................................................................................... 18
Fig. 3-3: Visualtization of the source-free boundary conditions. .................................................. 19
Fig. 3-4: Propagation of spherical waves and 2-dimensional analogy of surface waves on the
water excited by raindrops............................................................................................................. 21
Fig. 3-5: Plane wave propagation. ............................................................................................ 22
Fig. 3-6: Plane wave in lossy media. ........................................................................................ 23
Fig. 3-7: Electromagnetic wave consisting of the orthogonal electric and magnetic components
oscilating perpendicular to the direction of propagation. .............................................................. 24
Fig. 3-8: Polarization of waves propagating in positive z-direction: a) linear polarization, b)
right-handed circular polarization (RHCP), c) and d) right-handed elliptical polarization (RHEP).
25
Fig. 3-9: Radiation from a source volume. .............................................................................. 28
Fig. 3-10: Hertzian dipole at the origin of a spherical coordinate system.................................. 31
Figures 127


Fig. 4-1: Electric field strength around a dipole antenna. ........................................................ 34
Fig. 4-2: Farfield approximation: Concept of parallel rays. ..................................................... 36
Fig. 4-3: Far field distance: Phase error due to different length of the propagation paths from
the current elements on the antenna. ............................................................................................. 37
Fig. 4-4: Radiation characteristic of a Hertzian dipole [8]....................................................... 39
Fig. 4-5: Cardinal cuts through the radiation characteristic: xy-plane horizontal pattern; xz-
plane and yz-plane vertical pattern. ............................................................................................ 40
Fig. 4-6: Cardinal cuts of the radiation characteristic. ............................................................. 41
Fig. 4-7: Horizontal and vertical cut of the directivity pattern of a half wavelength dipole. ... 43
Fig. 4-8: Effective antenna area [Kark]. ................................................................................... 44
Fig. 4-9: Network definition of transmit and receive antennas. ............................................... 45
Fig. 4-10: Transmission between two antennas. ........................................................................ 46
Fig. 5-1: Dipole antenna. .......................................................................................................... 47
Fig. 5-2: Dipole model based on distributed elements and equivalence to a transmission line.
48
Fig. 5-3: Current distribution on a dipole for different dipole lengths. .................................... 48
Fig. 5-4: Calculation of the far field based on the current distribution on a dipole antenna. ... 49
Fig. 5-5: Radiation pattern of different long dipoles. ............................................................... 50
Fig. 5-6: Impedance characteristic of a dipole. ........................................................................ 52
Fig. 5-7: Bandwidth of the /2 mode of a dipole antenna designed for the GSM 900 frequency
band for mobile communication. .................................................................................................. 53
Fig. 5-8: Conversion from a dipole antenna to a monopole antenna on a ground plane: Mirror
principle. 54
Fig. 5-9: Reduction of the mechanical length of a monopole antenna by inductive or
capacitive loading. ......................................................................................................................... 55
It can be observed from Fig. 5-10 that a thicker monopole can also provide a larger bandwidth
than a thin monopole. By tapering the diameter of the rod, even a very broadband matching can
be achieved. However this is only partly an effect of the rod thickness and will be discussed in
later chapters.................................................................................................................................. 56
Fig. 5-10: Monopoles using different thick rods. .......................................................................... 56
Fig. 5-11: Matching of different monopole antennas to a 50 Ohm system. ............................... 56
Fig. 5-12: Infinitesimal current loop (Fitzgerald dipole) and equivalent magnetic current
element. 57
Fig. 5-13: Impedance characteristic of a loop antenna. .............................................................. 59
Fig. 5-14: Loop antenna on a ferrite core used e.g as a FM radio receiving antenna................. 60
Figures 128


Fig. 6-1: General aspects of volume based methods like FDTD. In FDTD cubical cells are
used. 62
Fig. 6-2: General aspects of surface integral methods like MoM. The unit cells usually have
the shape of a line element triangle or quadrilateral. ..................................................................... 63
Fig. 6-3: Interaction between currents on different wires. Current in an element of wire 1
induced by current in an element of wire 0. .................................................................................. 64
Fig. 6-4: Use of triangualar base function for the interpolation of the current distribution on a
wire. 66
Fig. 6-5: Wire-grid approximation of a conducting surface..................................................... 68
Fig. 6-6: Replacement of a dielectric body by a closed surface containing equivalent electric
and magnetic sources. .................................................................................................................... 69
Fig. 6-7: Electric and magnetic field components in an orthogonal FDTD grid...................... 70
Fig. 6-8: Each magnetic field component is surrounded by four circulating electric field
components (left) and each electric field component is surrounded by four circulating magnetic
field components (right). ............................................................................................................... 71
Fig. 6-9: Approximation of partial space derivative in x-direction by central differences. ..... 71
Fig. 6-10: Leap-frog algorithm: The electric field values are calculated at t n t = and the
magnetic field values are calculated at ( )
1
2
t n t = + . ................................................................ 75
Fig. 6-11: Visualization of the effect of velocity anisotropy as a function of spatial
resolution: Spherical waves originating from a vertically oriented Hertzian dipole. The graphics
show isolines of the electric field vector in a horizontal plane. ................................................... 76
Fig. 6-12: Absorbing termination of the computational domain and its analogy in antenna
measurements. ............................................................................................................................... 77
Fig. 7-1: Current distribution on a half wavelength dipole antenna and folded dipole antenna.
78
Fig. 7-2: Practical applications of the folded dipole antenna: a) Single folded dipole, b)
Folded dipole as feed element of a Yagi-antenna. ........................................................................ 79
Fig. 7-3: Length reduction of a monopole antenna by winding a helix. .................................. 80
Fig. 7-4: Current distribution on the wire of a helix antenna: The vector potential generated by
the horizontal components is cancelled out in the far field if the loop diameter is small. ............ 81
Fig. 7-5: Comparison of the input impedance of a monopole antenna and a helix antenna. ... 81
Fig. 7-6: Comparison of the matching of a monopole antenna and a helix antenna to a 50
system. 82
Fig. 7-7: Typical circuits used for antenna matching. .............................................................. 82
Fig. 7-8: Helix antenna on a mobile phone. ............................................................................. 83
Fig. 7-9: Normal mode helical antennas for point-to-point communication. .......................... 83
Figures 129


Fig. 7-10: Evolution from the monopole antenna to the inverted-F antenna. ............................ 84
Fig. 7-11: General voltage and current distribution along the wire of an inverted-F antenna.
84
Fig. 7-12: Input impedance and matching to a 50 system of an inverted-F antenna. ............. 85
Fig. 7-13: Electric near field of the IFA at its quarter wavelength resonance frequency. .......... 86
Fig. 7-14: Vertical cuts of the radation pattern of the IFA. ........................................................ 87
Fig. 7-15: Printed IFA for Bluetooth operation implemented in the layout on the PCB of a mobile
phone. ............................................................................................................................................ 87
Fig. 7-16: Pinted IFA on a PCB. Electric near field near the antenna and the PCB. .................... 88
Fig. 7-17: Duality between dipole antenna and slot antenna (Babinets principle). .................. 89
Fig. 7-18: Impedance behaviour of dipole and complementary slot antenna............................. 90
Fig. 7-19: Voltage and current distribution along the slot. ........................................................ 91
Fig. 7-20: Matching of the slot impedance by variation of the feed point apart from the
center of the slot. ........................................................................................................................... 92
Fig. 7-21: Typical feeding realization of slot antennas by coplanar or microstrip lines. ........... 92
Fig. 7-22: Microstrip (Patch) antenna. ....................................................................................... 93
Fig. 7-23: The field under the patch reminds of a leaky cavity. ................................................. 93
Fig. 7-24: The patch can be replaced by two equivalent slots that generate the same field
distribution as the fringe fields. ..................................................................................................... 94
Fig. 7-25: Equivalent Effective permittivity. ............................................................................. 95
Fig. 7-26: Use of different substrate for patch antennas: a) Air-like foam substrate to
increase bandwidth; b) High permittivity ceramic substrate to reduce size. ................................. 96
Fig. 7-27: Reducing the size of a patch antenna by short-circuiting the patch at the middle to
the ground plane The Planar Inverted-F Antenna (PIFA). ......................................................... 97
Fig. 7-28: PIFA with recessed ground connection for further size reduction. ........................... 97
Fig. 7-29: Antenna tuning process. .......................................................................................... 100
Fig. 7-30: Radiation pattern of the PIFA on an infinite gound plane. ...................................... 101
Fig. 7-31: Radiation pattern of the PIFA centered on a square = 326mm 326 mm .... 101
Fig. 7-32: Modified PIFA - the C-Patch: The size of the antenna can be reduced by
meandering the effective current path, but opposite directed currents cancel partly out in the far
field. 102
Fig. 7-33: Evolution in the design of mobile phones. .............................................................. 103
Fig. 7-34: Frequency plan of most common standards for mobile communication in todays
phones available on the European market. .................................................................................. 104
Fig. 7-35: Three different concepts to minimize the size of a PIFA on a mobile phone. ........ 105
Figures 130


Fig. 7-36: Distribution of the electric field above the antenna module of a mobile phone
calculated using the FDTD method. ............................................................................................ 106
Fig. 7-37: Current density on the PCB of a mobile excited by antenna module at 925 MHz. . 108
Fig. 7-38: Current density on the PCB of a mobile excited by an antenna module at 1800 MHz.
108
Fig. 7-39: The current distribution on a mobile separated into three parts. ............................. 109
Fig. 7-40: Radiation from different parts of the mobile phone. Especially at low frequencies
the antenna module acts more as a matching element to excite currents on the chassis to radiate.
110
Fig. 7-41: Interaction between the mobile and the user observed from different perspectives.
111
Fig. 8-1: Radiation from a single point source. ...................................................................... 113
Fig. 8-2: Superposition of the radiation from different antennas far field approximation. . 114
Fig. 8-3: Equal magnitude, equal phase. ................................................................................ 116
Fig. 8-4: Equal magnitude, anti phase. ................................................................................... 116
Fig. 8-5: Array of three isotropic radiators. Influence of the element distance on the radiation
pattern. 118
Fig. 8-6: Characteristic meaures of a directive radiation pattern. .......................................... 118
Fig. 8-7: Array of ten isotropic radiators spaced on the z-axis. Linear phase progression. ... 120
Fig. 8-8: Relation between current distribution among the antenna elements and the shape of
the radiation pattern an analogy to the Fourier transformation [8]........................................... 121
Fig. 8-9: Different current distribution function and the radiation pattern of the array [8]. .. 122
Fig. 8-10: The radiation pattern of an antenna array composed of discrete spaced elements [8].
123
Fig. 8-11: GSM base station antenna array consisting of vertically stacked dipoles in front of an
Reflector. ..................................................................................................................................... 123
Fig. 8-12: Near field and far field of the base station. The main beam is tilted by 7 applying
a linear phase progression among the elements. ......................................................................... 124

References 131


References
[1] I. WOLFF: Grundlagen und Anwendung der Maxwellschen Theorie I Ein Repetitorium (2.,
vollstndig berarbeitete Auflage). B I Wissenschaftsverlag, Mannheim, 1991
[2] I. WOLFF: Grundlagen und Anwendung der Maxwellschen Theorie II Ein Repetitorium
(2., vollstndig berarbeitete Auflage). B I Wissenschaftsverlag, Mannheim, 1992
[3] P. LORRAIN, D. R. CORSON, F. LORRAIN: Elektromagnetische Felder und Wellen. Walter de
Gruyter, Berlin, 1995
[4] J. R. JAMES, P. S. HALL: Handbook of Microstrip Antennas. Peter Peregrinus Ltd., London,
1989
[5] W. WIESBECK: Hochfrequenztechnik II. Skript zur Vorlesung an der Universitt Karlsruhe,
SS 1992
[6] K. HIRASAWA, M. HANEISHI (EDITORS): Analysis andesign of small and low-profile
antennas. Artech House Inc., Boston, 1992.
[7] F. GUSTRAU, D. MANTEUFFEL: EM Modeling of Antennas and RF Components for
Wireless Communication Systems A Practical Guide. Series: Signals and Communica-
tion Technology, ISBN 3-540-28614, Springer, April 2006
[8] K. Solbach: Antennas. Lecture notes. University Duisburg-Essen.

Antenna-Design Lecture 2009-04-23

Încărcat de

Informații document

Descriere originală:

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Antenna-Design Lecture 2009-04-23

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel

Institute of Electrical and Information Engineering

relative permittity [1]

describes a spherical wave propagating outward from the origin of the

S-ar putea să vă placă și