Garcia, Bryx William C.
ECE/23L-B//
Monopole and Microwave Antenna
Monopole Antenna
/n its simplest form, the monopole antenna
above an infinite ground plane, can be
considered as one-ha/f of a corresponding
double-/ength center-fed finear dipo/e. The
current distribution for a vertical monopo/e
antenna of height is assumed to be a standing
wave.
The monopole antenna appears to be a center-
fed dipole for the upper ha/f-space. There is
negligible penetration of fields into a high
conductivity ground for a monopole antenna,
and a// that radiation is directed into the
upper ha/f-space creating a power density for
any angle that 1s twice as high as that for adipole radiating the same amount of power.
This gives a directivity or gain of the monopole
antenna that 1s twice that for the doub/e-/ength
dipole. Many of the other properties of a
monopole antenna above ground are a/so
related to those for the corresponding doub/e-
length di pole ina fairly simple manner.
Because monopole antennas he/p reduce the
length of the necessary dipole by a factor of
two and resu/t in directivities that are twice as
Jarge, vertical monopole antennas above
ground are extensive/y used for amplitude
modulated (AM) broadcasting inthe frequency
range 535-605 kHz. For this application, the
wavelengths are long on the order of 200-600
m, and the monopo/e antennas are immensely
helpful in reducing the required height. /t is
necessary, Of course, to create a good
conductivity ground, which for dry or rocky soi/
conditions is offen 3 obtained by burying a
conducting screen made of radial/y spread
metal wires with angu/ar separations of 2-3that extend to a radius at /east equa/ to the
height of the antenna, but preferably 20 to 50%
Jarger than this minimal requirement. This
screen, ca//ed a counter poise, 1s offen buried a
few inches below the surface of the natura/
ground but may also be /eft slight/y above
ground for rocky or otherwise difficult terrain.
Monopole Antennas for Car Radio and Mobile
Communications
Monopole antennas used for car radio and
mobile communications commonly rely on the
body of the vehicle to provide the ground plane.
Variations in the shape of the vehicle and
placement of the antenna affect the radiation
pattern and performance of these antennas.
For an antenna mounted on the automobi/e, it
would no longer radiate isotropically in the
horizontal plane but may radiate with a
slightly higher gain in directions where theautomobile body extends farther, thus
simulating a larger width ground plane in such
directions.
Monopole Antennas for Persona/ Wireless
Devices
A monopo/e antenna with or without a helix has
commonly been used for personal /O wireless
devices, including ce//u/ar telephones. Antennas
of different lengths, typically from a quarter
wavelength to a half wavelength at the
irradiation frequency, have been used for
hand-held devices that operate at 600 to 900
MHz for cellular telephones and /600 to /900
MHz for PCS (persona/ communication system)
devices. Often, these monopole antennas are in
the form of awhip antenna that can be pulled
out to its full length during a telephone
conversation. At times, a sma// length helical
antenna is permanent/y mounted on the top ofthe handset through which the monopole
antenna can be retracted and to which this
monopole connects when it is completely pulled
out, giving a monopole loaded with a helix at
the bottom as the radiating antenna during
te/ephone usage. Of necessity, these antennas
use a finite-size reflecting plane, which Is
generally the metallic shielding box used either
for the top RF section, or at times for the entire
handset. Severa/ authors have ca/culated
and/or measured the radiation patterns of
such monopole antennas mounted on a handset
held in air or against the human head. The
computed and measured radiation patterns in
the azimuthal plane for a typical commercia/
telephone at the center-band frequency of 635
MHz in free space and in the presence of the
Auman head, respectively. This te/ephone uses a
short helical antenna of diameter 4.2 mm, pitch
/4 mm, and total length /6 mm. Dimensions of
the handset are similar to those for many
telephones and are approximately 24 52/4.7 cm along the three axes, respectively.Fairly
similar radiation patterns are a/so obtained
for antennas using either monopoles or
monopole-helix combinations./nthe presence of
the human head, gains on the order of /.0 to 3.0
db; are obtained away from the human head,
with gains in directions through the head that
are substantially lower due to absorptioninthe
tissues of the head. Radiation efficiencies for
monopo/e antennas used persona/ wire/ess
devices are typically on the order of 30 to 50
with 30 to 50% of the power being absorbed in
the head and another 5to/5z of the power being
absorbed inthe hand
Microwave Antennas
Microwave antenna is used for radiating
microwave signal into space and receiving
microwave signal from space. Microwave
antenna acts as a transition region betweenfree space and guiding structure like a
transmission line in order to communicate
between two or more /ocations. /n microwave
antennas, high gains with very narrow beam
width in one or more planes are required, These
can be achieved with antennas of reasonab/e
SIZE.
Types of microwave antenna
There are two main types of antenna that are
used in microwave links. They are: /, a horn-
reflector antenna 2,a parabo/ic dish antenna
Horn-reflector antenna
A horn antenna is nothing more than a flared
wave-guide. The horn exhibits gain and
directivity, however its performance is
improved more by using it in combination with
a parabolic reflector.Horn antennas have exce//ent gain and
directivity. The longer the horn, the greater its
gain and directivity. Different kinds of horn
antennas can be created by flaring the end of
the wave-guide in different ways for example
flaring in one dimensions creates a sectora/
horn e.g. horns flared in the E or H planes.
Flaring the wave guide in both dimension
produces a pyramidal horne.g. horns flared in
both E andH planes. /f a circular wave-guide is
used the f/are produces a conica/ horn.
The length of a typical horn is usually 2 to /5
wavelengths at the operating frequency. The
Jonger horns though more difficult to mount
and work with provide higher gain and better
directivity. The aperture area is the area of the
rectangle formed by the opening of the horn
and is simply the product of the height and
width of the horn. The greater this area, the
higher the gain and alrectivity.Parabolic Reflector
The parabolic reflector antenna is one of the
most wide spread of a// the microwave
antennas and is the type that normal/y comes
to mind when thinking of microwaves systems.
This type of antenna derives its operation from
optics and is possible because microwaves are
in transition region between ordinary radio
waves and infrared/visi ble light.The parabolic
reflector antenna (often called a dish
antenna).The dishis not actual/y an antenna but
serves a reflector. /t must be driven by a
radiating element at the focal length. This
radiating element could be a dipole or a horn
radiator. A parabo/a is a mathematical curve
such that its reflection property causes an
incoming beam of paral/e/ rays to focus to one
point. Conversely radiated waves from a point
signal placed at the foca/ point are reflected
by the surface to form para//e/ rays in the
outgoing beam.References
£.C. Jordan and K.G. Ba/ main, Electromagnetic
Waves and Radiating Systems, 2nd ed.,
Englewood Cliff's. NJ: Prentice-/966, p. 543.
NT Handbook, Reference Data for Radio
Engineers. Sth ed, /ndianapo/sis, /N: Howard W.
Sams & Co.,/nc., Chap. 26, /973.
W.L. Stutzman and G. A. Thiele, Antenna Theory
and Design, New York: Wiley, /96/.
O. P. Gandhi and J. Y. Chen, Electromagnetic
absorption in human head from experimenta/
6GHz hand-held transceivers, /EEE Trans.
Electromagn. Compat., 37: 547-556, /995.
Frenzel, L.E. (/996). Communication Electronics
Macmillan/McGraw-Hil/, New York. [2] Misra,
DK. Radio frequencies and microwave
communication circuits and design (2004). John
Wiley and Sons /nc. Publication, New Jersey. [3]
Co/lin, RE. Foundations of Microwave
Engineering (200/) /EEE Press, U.S.A.