Antenna and Wave

Propagation (ECE 329)

Lecture 4

Antenna Parameters
Reference: Balanis (Antenna Theory Analysis
and Design)
 Polarization efficiency
• Polarization efficiency (polarization mismatch)
which is defined as the ratio of the power received
by an antenna from a given plane wave of arbitrary
polarization to the power that would be received by
the same antenna from a plane wave of the same
power flux density and direction of propagation.
𝑖𝑛𝑐 2
𝑙𝑒 ∙ 𝐸
𝑝𝑒 =
𝑙𝑒 2 𝐸 𝑖𝑛𝑐 2
𝑙𝑒 : vector effective length of the antenna
𝐸 𝑖𝑛𝑐 : incident electric field
• Vector effective length represents the antenna in its
transmitting and receiving modes.
𝑘 𝐼𝑖𝑛
𝐸𝑎 = 𝐸𝜃 𝑎ො𝜃 + 𝐸𝜙 𝑎ො𝜙 = −𝑗𝜂 𝑙𝑒 𝑒 −𝑗𝑘𝑟
4𝜋𝑟
𝑉𝑜𝑐 : open-circuit voltage at antenna terminals
𝐸 𝑖 : incident electric field
𝑉𝑜𝑐 = 𝐸 𝑖 ∙ 𝑙𝑒
2.61. The field radiated by an infinitesimal dipole of very small length (G ≤ λ/50), and
of uniform current distribution Io, is given by
𝑲𝑰𝟎 𝒍 −𝒋𝒌𝒓
𝑬=𝒂 ෝ𝜽 𝒋𝜼 𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝜽
𝟒𝝅𝒓
Determine:
(a) vector effective length
(b) maximum value of the vector effective length. Specify the angle.
(c) ratio of the maximum effective length to the physical length G.
2.62. The field radiated by a half-
wavelength dipole (G = λ/2) with
a sinusoidal current distribution
is given by

𝝅
𝑰𝟎 −𝒋𝒌𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝜽
𝟐
𝑬= ෝ𝜽 𝒋𝜼
𝒂 𝒆
𝟐𝝅𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝜽

where Io is the maximum current.

Determine:
(a) vector effective length.
(b) maximum value of the vector
effective length. Specify the angle.
(c) ratio of the maximum effective
length to the physical length G.
2.63. A uniform plane wave, of 10−3 watts/cm2 power
density, is incident upon an infinitesimal dipole of length
G = λ/50 and uniform current distribution. For a
frequency of 10 GHz, determine the maximum open-
circuited voltage at the terminals of the antenna.
2.64. Repeat Problem 2.63 for a small dipole with triangular
current distribution and length G = λ/10.

2.65. Repeat Problem 2.63 for a half-wavelength dipole (G =

λ/2) with sinusoidal current distribution.
 Input impedance
• It is the impedance presented by an antenna at its terminals.
• It is the ratio of the voltage to current at a pair of terminals.
• It is the ratio of the appropriate components of the electric to magnetic
fields at a point.
• For lossless antenna, 𝑅𝐿 = 0, under conjugate matching only half of the
captured power is delivered to the load and the other half is scattered.
𝑍𝐴 : antenna impedance
𝑍𝐴 = 𝑅𝐴 + 𝑗𝑋𝐴 𝑅𝐴 : antenna resistance
𝑋𝐴 : antenna reactance
𝑅𝐴 = 𝑅𝑟 + 𝑅𝐿 𝑅𝑟 : radiation resistance of the antenna
𝑅𝐿 : loss resistance of the antenna
2.51. The input reactance of an infinitesimal dipole of length λ/60 and radius 𝒂 = 𝝀/𝟐𝟎𝟎
is given by
𝒍𝒏 𝒍/𝟐𝒂 − 𝟏
𝑿𝒊𝒏 = −𝟏𝟐𝟎
𝒕𝒂𝒏 (𝒌𝒍/𝟐)
Assuming the wire of the dipole is copper with a conductivity of 5.7 × 107S/m,
determine at 𝒇 = 𝟏 𝑮𝑯𝒛 the
(a) Loss resistance RL (b) Radiation resistance
(c) Radiation efficiency (d) VSWR when the antenna is connected to a 50-ohm line
2.47- A λ/2 dipole, with a total loss
resistance of 1 ohm, is connected
to a generator whose internal
impedance is 50 + j25 ohms.
Assuming that the peak voltage
of the generator is 2 V and the
impedance of the dipole
excluding the loss resistance is
73 + j42.5 ohms, find the power

(a) supplied by the source (real)

(b) radiated by the antenna Pr ==> Rr
(c) dissipated by the antenna. PL ==> RL
2.60. A 𝟏𝒎 long dipole antenna is driven by a 150 MHz source having
a source resistance of 50 ohms and a voltage of 100 V. If the
ohmic resistance of the antennas is given by RL = 0.625 ohms,
find:
(a) Current going into the antenna (Iant)
(b) Power dissipated by the antenna
(c) Power radiated by the antenna
(d) Radiation efficiency of the antenna
 Transmitting mode
• Antenna is attached to a generator with internal
impedance 𝑍𝑔
𝑍𝑔 = 𝑅𝑔 + 𝑗𝑋𝑔

𝑅𝑔 : resistance of generator
𝑋𝑔 : reactance of generator

• The maximum power delivered to the antenna

occurs when we have conjugate matching
𝑅𝑟 + 𝑅𝐿 = 𝑅𝑔
𝑋𝐴 = −𝑋𝑔
• Power that is provided by the generator, half is
dissipated as heat in the internal resistance (𝑅𝑔 ) of
the generator and the other half is delivered to the
antenna.
 Receiving mode
• Antenna is attached to a load with impedance 𝑍𝑇
𝑍𝑇 = 𝑅𝑇 + 𝑗𝑋𝑇

𝑅𝑇 : resistance of load
𝑋𝑇 : reactance of load

• Power that is delivered to load under conjugate

matching
𝑅𝑟 + 𝑅𝐿 = 𝑅𝑇
𝑋𝐴 = −𝑋𝑇

• Power collected or captured half is delivered to

the load and the other half is scattered or
reradiated through Rr and dissipated.
 Equivalent area
• Equivalent areas are used to describe the power capturing characteristics of the
antenna when a wave impinges on it.
1- Effective area or effective aperture (𝑨𝒆 ) is the equivalent area which when
multiplied by the incident power density gives the power delivered to the load.
2- Scattering area (𝑨𝒔 ) is the equivalent area when multiplied by the incident power
density is equal to the scattered or reradiated power.
3- Loss area (𝑨𝑳 ) is the equivalent area which when multiplied by the incident power
density leads to the power dissipated as heat through 𝑅𝐿 .
4- Capture area (𝑨𝒄 ) is the equivalent area which when multiplied by the incident
power density leads to the total power captured, collected or intercepted by the
antenna.
𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 = 𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 + 𝑆𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 + 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎
 Maximum effective area
• Maximum effective aperture (𝑨𝒆𝒎 )
𝜆2
𝐴𝑒𝑚 = 𝐷0 𝑒0 𝑃𝐿𝐹
4𝜋
• Assume that there are no conduction-dielectric losses (radiation efficiency 𝑒𝑐𝑑
is unity), the antenna is matched to the load (reflection efficiency 𝑒𝑟 is unity),
and the polarization of the impinging wave matches that of the antenna
(polarization loss factor 𝑃𝐿𝐹 and polarization efficiency 𝑝𝑒 are unity).
𝜆2
𝐴𝑒𝑚 = 𝐷0
4𝜋
• Aperture efficiency (𝜖𝑎𝑝 ) is the ratio of the maximum effective area (𝐴𝑒𝑚 ) of
the antenna to its physical area (𝐴𝑃 ).
𝐴𝑒𝑚
𝜖𝑎𝑝 =
𝐴𝑃
2.83. A resonant, lossless (ecd = 1) half-wavelength dipole antenna having
a directivity of 2.156 dB has an input impedance of 73 ohms and is
connected to a lossless 50 ohms transmission line. A wave, having
the same polarization as the antenna is incident upon the antenna
with a power density of 5 W/m2 at a frequency of 10 MHz. Find the
received power available at the end of the transmission line.