ANTENNA BASICS

CS653: Mobile Computing

Instructor: Prof. Anirudha Sahoo
Scribe: Anil Kumar Swain
22 September, 2008

Abstract
Antennas, to quote a friend, are one of life’s eternal mysteries. ”All I’m
totally certain of is that any antenna is better than no antenna and the
antenna should preferably erected as high and be as long as is possible or
desirable”. Each type of antenna will eventually have its own page. Here
we will discuss the very basics of antennas.

1 Introduction
An antenna is a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic
waves. For transmission of a signal radio frequency electrical energy from the
transmitter is converted into electromagnet energy by the antenna and radiated
into the surrounding environment (atmosphere, space, water). For reception
of a signal, electromagnetic energy impinging on the antenna is converted into
radio frequency electrical energy and fed into the receiver.

Physically, an antenna is an arrangement of conductors that generate a radi-

ating electromagnetic field in response to an applied alternating voltage and the
associated alternating electric current, or can be placed in an electromagnetic
field so that the field will induce an alternating current in the antenna and a
voltage between its terminals.

An antenna is an integral part of a wireless system. Antennas are used in

systems such as radio and television broadcasting, point-to-point radio commu-
nication, wireless LAN, radar and space exploration.

2 Antenna Types
[3]Antennas can be classified in several ways. One way is the frequency band of
operation. Other include physical structure and electrical/electromagnetic de-
sign. Modern-directional antennas are basic dipoles. More complex directional
antennas consist of arrays of elements such as dipoles or use of one active and
several passive elements as in the yagi antenna.

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 New antenna technologies are being developed that allow an antenna to
rapidly change its pattern in response to charges in direction of arrival of the
received signal. These antennas and supporting technologies are called adap-
tive or smart antennas and may be used for the higher frequency bands in future.

Antenna Types

Omnidirectional Antenna

Half-Wave Dipole Antenna

Quarter-Wave Antenna

Directional Antenna

Yagi Antenna

Cubical Quad Antenna

Omnidirectional Antenna

2.1 Omnidirectional Antenna

• [2]An omnidirectional antenna is an antenna system which radiates power
equally well in all directions.An omni-directional antenna picks up signals
from all directions. The longer an omni-directional antenna is, the better
performance it will have.

Figure 1: Omnidirectional Antenna

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 • Vector A and B are of equal length.

• Half-Wave Dipole
The half-wave dipole consists of two straight collinear conductors of equal
length, separated by a small gap. the length of the antenna is one half
the wavelength of the signal that can be transmitted most efficiently. A
half wave dipole has a uniform or omnidirectional radiation pattern in one
dimension.

λ/2

Figure 2: Half-Wave Dipole Antenna

• Quarter Wave Antenna

Quarter-wave or marconi antenna has a vertical conductor of length quar-
ter of the wavelength of the signal. This type of antennas are commonly
used for portable radios.

λ/4

Figure 3: Quarter-Wave Dipole Antenna

2.2 Directional Antenna

• [1]A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates
greater power in one or more directions allowing for increased performance
on transmit and receive and reduced interference from unwanted sources.
All practical antennas are at least somewhat directional, although usually

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 only the direction in the plane parallel to the earth is considered, and
practical antennas can easily be omni-directional in one plane.
• Vector B is longer than vector A: more power radiated along B than A.
• It is directional along X

A B

Figure 4: Directional Antenna

2.2.1 Yagi Antenna

[2]A Yagi-Uda Antenna, commonly known simply as a Yagi antenna or Yagi,
is a directional antenna system consisting of an array of a dipole and addi-
tional closely coupled parasitic elements (usually a reflector and one or more
directors).There is no magic circuit located inside the elements, they are sim-
ply straight rods! The reflector element is typically 5% longer than the driven
element and the director is typically 5% shorted than the driven element. How
it works. See figure 1. As signal A comes in it strikes all three elements hence
generates a current on each element. Remember we said that current on a wire
causes it to radiate? Even though the current is very low, this current induced
on the antenna actually re-radiates off the antenna again! Ok, back to the
action, the signals are re-radiated by the director and reflector and arrive at
the driven element in-phase with one another (the two re-radiated signals and
the original signal). This basically means, the signals reinforce each other...and
make the incoming signal much stronger coming from direction A.

2.2.2 Qubical Quad

The Cubical Quad, is an antenna which is frequently used by amateur radio
operators.The quad works on the same principles as the Yagi. However, instead
of using the dipole antenna for the driver, director and reflector elements, we
are going to use the quad loop antenna.The quad loop measures exactly 1/4 of

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 (Yagi Antenna)
Source : http : //www.signalengineering.com/ultimate/yagi.html

a wavelength on each side.

(Qubical Quad)
Source : http : //www.signalengineering.com/ultimate/cubical quad.html

2.2.3 Hybrid Antenna

This simple means combining parts of the Yagi and Quad on the same an-
tenna.There is no magic to combining the quad and yagi on one boom that
makes this antenna have higher gain than just a plain yagi or quad. The gain
of the antenna depends on whether the driven element is a dipole or quad loop,

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where if its a quad loop, it will have 2db more gain than the dipole driven an-
tenna.

(Hybrid Antenna)
Source : http : //www.signalengineering.com/ultimate/cubical hybrid.html

2.3 Sectorized Antenna

• Several directional antenna combined on a single pole to provide sectorized
antenna.
• Each sector serves as receivers listening its direction

Figure 5: 3 Sector Antenna

3 Antenna Gain
• [4] Antenna gain is a measure of the directionality of an antenna. An
antenna with a low gain emits radiation with about the same power in
all directions, where as a high gain antenna will preferentially radiate in
particular direction.

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 Antenna Gain and Effective Area of Some Typical Antenna Shapes
Type of Antenna Effective Area Power gain
Isotropic λ2 /4Π 1
Infinite Simple dipole or loop 1.5λ2 /4Π 1.5
Half wave dipolep 1.64λ2 /4Π 1.64
Horn, mouth area A 0.81A 10A/λ2
Parabolic, mouth area A 0.65A 7A/λ2
2
Turn stile (Two crossed perpendicular dipoles) 1.15λ /4Π 1.15

• Def n Antenna gain is defined as the power output, in a particular direc-

tion, compared to that produced in any direction by a perfect omnidirec-
tional antenna(isotropic antenna).
Pdirectional
G= Pisotropic

• G is typically expressed in dBi

• Antenna gain is dependent on effective area of an antenna. Effective area
is related to the physical size of the antenna and its shape.
• Antenna Gain is given by

4ΠAe 4Πf 2 Ae
G= λ2 = c2

Where
G= Antenna gain
Ae = Effective Area
f = Carrier frequency
c= Speed of light (3 × 108 m/s.)
Where d and λ are in the same unit.

4 Types of Signal Propagation

[4] A signal radiated from an antenna travels along one of the three routes:
Ground wave, Sky wave and Line of sight(LOS).

4.1 Ground Wave Propagation

1. Ground wave propagation considerable more or less follows the contour of
the earth and can propagate considerable distances, well over the visual
horizon. This effect is found in frequencies up to about 2MHz.
2. It can propagate long distances.
3. it is used for submarine communication or AM radio.

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 Source: William Stallings

4.2 Sky Wave Propagation

1. With sky wave propagation, a signal from an earth based antenna is re-
flected from the ionized layer of the upper atmosphere (ionosphere) back
down to earth.
2. A sky wave signal can travel through a number of hops, bouncing back
and forth between the ionosphere and the earth’s surface.
3. It is used for amateur radio, CB radio and international broadcasts such
as BBC and voice of America.

Source: William Stallings

4.3 Line of Sight Transmission (LOS)

1. In LOS emitted waves follows a straight line of sight.

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 2. It allows straight communication with satellites or microwave links on the
ground.
3. It is used by mobile phone system, satellite systems.

Source: William Stallings

4. With any communication systems, the signal that is transmitted due to

various transmission impairments. With LOS wireless transmission, the
most significant parameters are as follows.

• Attenuation
• Free Space Loss
• Noise

4.3.1 Attenuation
• The strength of a signal falls off with distance over any transmission
medium. This reduction in strength is called attenuation
• Attenuation is greater at higher frequencies causing distortion.
• The attenuation to signal strength can be taken care of by the use of
amplifiers or repeaters.

4.3.2 Free Space Loss

• Even if no other sources of attenuation or impairment are assumed, a
transmitted signal attenuates over distance because the signal is being
spread over a large and larger area. This form of attenuation is known as
free space loss.
• It is expressed in terms of the ratio of the radiated power Pt to the
power Pr received by the antenna or in decibels.

Pt (4Πd)2 (4Πf d)2

L= Pr = λ2 = c2

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 0r

LdB = 10logL

Where
Pt = Signal power at the Transmitting Antenna
Pr = Signal power of receiving antenna
λ= Carrier wavelength
f= Carrier frequency
d= Propagation distance between antennas
c= Speed of light (3 × 108 m/s. )
Where d and λ are in the same unit.

4.3.3 Noise
• For any data transmission event, the received signal will consist of the
transmitted signal, modified by the various distortions imposed by the
transmission system, plus additional unwanted signals that are inserted
some where between transmission and reception. These unwanted signals
are referred as noise.
• The thermal noise can be expressed as

N = kT B

Where
N=Thermal noise in watt.
k=Boltzmann’s constant=1.38 × 10−23 J/K
T=Temperature in kelvin

References
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/directionalantenna.
[2] http://www.signalengineering.com/ultimate/verticals.html.
[3] Joe Carr. Radio Technical Notes.
[4] William Stallings. Wireless Communication and Networks. PHI, 2008.

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