Introduction

Antenna & Propagation

 Antenna and Propagation Course
Aim
This course introduces students to the concept of
antenna and propagation in telecommunication
system.
The basic antenna properties such as gain,
polarization, directivity, efficiency, and radiation
pattern for various types of antenna will be
discussed.
The concept of propagation in free space will be
detailed in term of ground wave, sky wave and space
wave.
2
 Antenna and Propagation Course
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course, students are able to:
1. Describe and evaluate important basic antennas
parameters
2. Evaluate the electric dipole antennas and loop antennas
in terms of its near field and far field analysis as well as
the determination of its radiation resistance, losses and
efficiency.
3. Characterize the various types of antennas and it
applications.
4. Analyze concepts of antenna measurements techniques

3
 Overview of This Course
why are antennas so
important and worth studying?

In the world of modern wireless

communication, engineer who wants to
specialize in the communication field needs
to have a basic understanding of the roles of
electromagnetic radiation, antennas, and
related propagation phenomena.
 Overview of This Course
Course Contents
Introduction
Fundamental Parameters of Antennas
Different types of Antenna
Antenna Arrays
Microstrip Antenna
Antenna Measurement
Radio Wave propagation
 Course logistics and details
Lectures Tuesday, 4th, 5th and 6th period
Textbook: Antenna_Theory_-
_Analysis_and_Design__Third_Edition
By Balanis

Alternate Book
 Outline
Historical Background

What is an Antenna?

Overview of different types of Antennas

 HISTORY
The first antennas were built in 1888 by German physicist Heinrich
Hertz in his pioneering experiments to prove the existence of
electromagnetic waves predicted by the theory of James Clerk Maxwell.

Hertz placed dipole antennas at the focal point of parabolic reflectors

for both transmitting and receiving. He published his work in Annalen
der Physik und Chemie (vol. 36, 1889).
Antenna Definitions
There are several definitions of antenna
A means for radiating or receiving radio waves.

An antenna is any device that converts electronic

signals to electromagnetic waves (and vice
versa) effectively with minimum loss of signals.
Antenna Definitions
An antenna is defined by Websters Dictionary as a
usually metallic device (as a rod or wire) for radiating or
receiving radio waves.

The IEEE Standard Definitions of Terms for Antennas

(IEEE Std 1451983) defines the antenna or aerial as
a means for radiating or receiving radio waves.

In other words the antenna is the transitional structure

between free-space and a guiding device.
Figure 1. Wireless
communication system
IntroductionCont
The antenna is the interface between the transmission
line and space

Antennas are passive devices; the power radiated cannot

be greater than the power entering from the transmitter

Antennas are reciprocal - the same design works for

receiving systems as for transmitting systems
IntroductionCont
Concentrates incoming wave into a sensor
(receiving case)
Launches waves from a guiding structure into
space or air (transmitting case)
 What are Electric and Magnetic
Fields?
Magnetic fieldsare created whenever there is a flow of electric
current. This can also be thought of as the flow of water in a garden
hose. As the amount of current flowing increases, the level of
magnetic field increases. Magnetic fields are measured in milliGauss
(mG).

Anelectric fieldoccurs wherever a voltage is present. Electric fields

are created around wires wherever a voltage exists. You can think of
electric voltage as the pressure of water in a garden hose the
higher the voltage, the stronger the electric field strength. Electric
field strength is measured in volts per meter (V/m). The strength of
an electric field decreases rapidly as you move away from the source.
Electric fields can also be protected by many objects, such as trees or
 The waves can take any shape. The most important
shape is the sinusoidal wave, which is plotted in Figure
1. EM waves vary with space (position) and time. The
spatial variation is given in Figure 1, and the temporal
(time) variation is given in Figure 2.

Figure 1. A Sinusoidal Wave plotted as a function of position. Figure 2. A Sinusoidal Wave plotted as a function of time.
 The wave is periodic, it repeats itself every T seconds.
Plotted as a function in space, it repeats itselfevery
meters, which we will call the wavelength. The
frequency (writtenf) is simply the number of complete
cycles the wave completes (viewed as a function of
time) in one second (two hundred cycles per second is
written 200 Hz, or 200 "Hertz"). Mathematically this is
written as:

 How fast someone walks depends on the size of the

steps they take (the wavelength) multipled by the rate
at which they take steps (the frequency). The speed
that the waves travel is how fast the waves are
oscillating in time (f) multiplied by the size of the step
the waves are taken per period The equation that
relates frequency, wavelength and the speed of light
can be written as:
 Basically, the frequency is just a measure of how fast
the wave is oscillating. And since all EM waves travel at
the same speed, the faster it oscillates the shorter the
wavelength. And a longer wavelength implies a slower
frequency.
 All electromagnetic waves propagate at the same speed
in air or in space. This speed (the speed of light) is
roughly 671 million miles per hour (1 billion kilometers
per hour). This is roughly a million times faster than the
speed of sound (which is about 761 miles per hour at

sea level). The speed of light will be denoted as c in the

equations that follow. We like to use "SI" units in science
(length measured in meters,time in seconds,mass in
kilograms), so we will forever remember that:
 Antennas function by transmitting or receiving
electromagnetic (EM) waves. Examples of these
electromagnetic waves include the light from the sun
and the waves received by your cell phone or radio.
Your eyes are basically "receiving antennas" that pick
up electromagnetic waves that are of a particular
frequency. The colors that you see (red, green, blue)
are each waves of different frequencies that your eyes
can detect.
Applications of Antenna
Antenna are used for Radio, TV, Satellite, Cellular, Wi-Fi,
etc.
Antenna can be broadcast or receive Only
A special license in needed for broadcast but not to
receive.
 WHY ANTENNAS ?
Need of antenna arisen when two person wanted to
communicate between them when separated by
some distance and wired communication is not
possible.
Antennas are required by any radio receiver or
transmitter to couple its electrical connection to the
electromagnetic field.
Radio waves are electromagnetic waves which carry
signals through the air (or through space) at the
speed of light with almost no transmission loss.
 Radio transmitters and receivers are used to convey
signals (information) in systems including broadcast
(audio) radio, television, mobile telephones , point-to-
point communications links (telephone, data networks),
satellite links.
Radio waves are also used directly for measurements in
technologies including Radar, GPS, and radio
astronomy.
In each and every case, the transmitters and receivers
involved require antennas, although these are
sometimes hidden (such as the antenna inside an AM
radio or inside a laptop computer equipped with wi-fi).
 WHERE USED?
Antennas are used in systems such as radio and television
broadcasting, point to point radio communication, wireless LAN, radar
and space exploration
Antennas are most utilized in air or outer space
But can also be operated under water or even through soil and rock at
certain frequencies for short distances
How Does an Antenna Work?
 In transmission, a radio transmitter applies an oscillating radio
frequency electric current to the antenna's terminals, and the antenna
radiates the energy from the current as electromagnetic waves (radio
waves).
 Transmitting Antenna: Any structure designed to
efficiently radiate electromagnetic radiation in a
preferred direction is called a transmitting antenna.
In reception, an antenna intercepts some of the power
of an electromagnetic wave in order to produce a tiny
voltage at its terminals, that is applied to a receiver to
be amplified. An antenna can be used for both
transmitting and receiving.
Receiving Antenna: Any structure designed to
efficiently receive electromagnetic radiation is called a
receiving antenna
How Does an Antenna Work?

Transmit Antenna Receive

50,000 Watts Antenna
 BASIC STRUCTURE
It is a metallic conductor system capable of radiating
and receiving em waves.
Typically an antenna consists of an arrangement of
metallic conductors (elements"), electrically connected
(often through a transmission line) to the receiver or
transmitter.
An oscillating current of electrons forced through the
antenna by a transmitter will create an oscillating
magnetic field around the antenna elements, while the
charge of the electrons also creates an oscillating electric
field along the elements.
 These time-varying fields radiate away from the
antenna into space as a moving electromagnetic
field wave.
Conversely, during reception, the oscillating
electric and magnetic fields of an incoming radio
wave exert force on the electrons in the antenna
elements, causing them to move back and forth,
creating oscillating currents in the antenna.
Antenna reciprocity : can be used as transmitter
and receiver.In two way communication same
antenna can be used as transmitter and receiver.
 Antennas may also contain reflective or directive
elements or surfaces not connected to the
transmitter or receiver, such as parasitic elements,
parabolic reflectors or horns, which serve to direct
the radio waves into a beam or other desired
radiation pattern.
Antennas can be designed to transmit or receive
radio waves in all directions equally
(omnidirectional antennas), or transmit them in a
beam in a particular direction, and receive from
that one direction only ( directional or high gain
antennas).
 General Types of Antennas
According to their applications and technology available,
antennas generally fall in one of two categories:
1.Omnidirectional or only weakly directional antennas
which receive or radiate more or less in all directions.
These are employed when the relative position of the
other station is unknown or arbitrary. They are also used
at lower frequencies where a directional antenna would
be too large, or simply to cut costs in applications where
a directional antenna isn't required.
2. Directional or beam antennas which are intended to
preferentially radiate or receive in a particular direction
or directional pattern.
Antenna Types by Physical Structure
A good antenna would radiate almost all the power
delivered to it from the transmitter in a desired direction
or directions. A receiver antenna does the reciprocal
process, and delivers power received from a desired
direction or directions.
Wire antennas: automobiles, buildings, ships,
aircraft, etc
There are various shapes of wire antennas such as a
straight wire (dipole), loop, and helix
 Aperture Antennas: they can be covered with
a dielectric material to protect them from
hazardous conditions of the environment.
Thanks You