Contents

1. Yagi-Uda Antenna
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Geometry
1.3 Design

2. Log-periodic Antenna
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Structure
2.3 Dipole Array

3. Dolph-Tschebyscheff or Chebyshev
Array
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Explanation

1.1 Introduction

Yagi-Uda Antenna

The Yagi-Uda antenna or Yagi Antenna is one of the most brilliant antenna
designs. It is simple to construct and has a high gain, typically greater than 10
dB. The Yagi-Uda antennas typically operate in the HF to UHF bands (about 3
MHz to 3 GHz), although their bandwidth is typically small, on the order of a
few percent of the center frequency. You are probably familiar with this
antenna, as they sit on top of roofs everywhere.

Image in left is an example of Yagi-Uda Antenna & in right is Prof. Yagi with
Yagi-Uda Antenna

The Yagi antenna was invented in Japan, with results first published in 1926.
The work was originally done by Shintaro Uda, but published in Japanese. The
work was presented for the first time in English by Yagi (who was either Uda's
professor or colleague), who went to America and gave the first English talks
on the antenna, which led to its widespread use. Hence, even though the
antenna is often called a Yagi antenna, Uda probably invented it.
1.2 Geometry

The Yagi antenna consists of a single 'feed' or 'driven' element, typically a

dipole or a folded dipole antenna. This is the only member of the above
structure that is actually excited (a source voltage or current applied). The
rest of the elements are parasitic - they reflect or help to transmit the energy
in a particular direction. The length of the feed element as F. The feed

antenna is almost always the second from the end, as shown below. This feed
antenna is often altered in size to make it resonant in the presence of the
parasitic elements (typically, 0.45-0.48 wavelengths long for a dipole
antenna).

The element to the left of the feed element is the reflector. The length of this
element is given as R and the distance between the feed and the reflector is
SR. The reflector element is typically slightly longer than the feed element.
There is typically only one reflector; adding more reflectors improves
performance very slightly. This element is important in determining the frontto-back ratio of the antenna.

Having the reflector slightly longer than resonant serves two purposes. The
first is that the larger the element is, the better of a physical reflector it
becomes. Secondly, if the reflector is longer than its resonant length, the
impedance of the reflector will be inductive. Hence, the current on the
reflector lags the voltage induced on the reflector. The director elements
(those to the right of the feed in above diagram) will be shorter than
resonant, making them capacitive, so that the current leads the voltage. This

will cause a phase distribution to occur across the elements, simulating the
phase progression of a plane wave across the array of elements. This leads to
the array being designated as a travelling wave antenna. By choosing the
lengths in this manner, the Yagi-Uda antenna becomes an end-fire array - the
radiation is along the +y-axis as shown in above diagram.

The rest of the elements (those to the right of the feed antenna as shown in
above diagram) are known as director elements. There can be any number of
directors N, which is typically anywhere from N=1 to N=20 directors. Each
element is of length Di, and separated from the adjacent director by a length
SDi. The lengths of the directors are typically less than the resonant length,
which encourages wave propagation in the direction of the directors.
1.3 Design

The design of a Yagi-Uda antenna is actually quite simple. Because Yagi

antennas have been extensively analyzed and experimentally tested.
Table for Optimal Lengths for Yagi-Uda Elements, for Distinct Boom Lengths

d=0.0085
SR=0.2
R
D1
D2
D3
D4
D5
D6
D7
D8
D9
D10
D11
D12
D13
D14
D15
Spacing
between
directors,
(SD/)
Gain (dB)

0.4
0.482
0.442

Boom Length of Yagi-Uda Array (in )

0.8
0.482
0.428
0.424
0.428

1.2
0.482
0.428
0.420
0.420
0.428

2.2
0.482
0.432
0.415
0.407
0.398
0.390
0.390
0.390
0.390
0.398
0.407

3.2
0.482
0.428
0.420
0.407
0.398
0.394
0.390
0.386
0.386
0.386
0.386
0.386
0.386
0.386
0.386
0.386

4.2
0.475
0.424
0.424
0.420
0.407
0.403
0.398
0.394
0.390
0.390
0.390
0.390
0.390
0.390

0.20

0.20

0.25

0.20

0.20

0.308

9.25

11.35

12.35

14.40

15.55

16.35

As an example, consider the table published in "Yagi Antenna Design" by

P Viezbicke from the National Bureau of Standards, 1968, given in below
Table. Note that the "boom" is the long element that the directors, reflectors
and feed elements are physically attached to, and dictates the length of the
antenna.

The spacing between the directors is uniform and given in the second-to-last
row of the table. The diameter of the elements is given by d=0.0085 . The
above table gives a good starting point to estimate the required length of the
antenna (the boom length), and a set of lengths and spacing that achieves
the specified gain. In general, all the spacing, lengths, diameters (including
the boom diameter) are design variables and can be continuously optimized
to alter performance. There are thousands of tables that further give results,
such as how the diameter of the boom affects the results, and the optimal
diameters of the elements.
The examples of Yagi Antenna Radiation Patterns are as shown below.

The left is in E-plane and right one is in H-plane

2.1 Introduction

Log-Periodic Antenna

Log-Periodic antennas are designed for the specific purpose of having a very
wide bandwidth. The achievable bandwidth is theoretically infinite; the actual
bandwidth achieved is dependent on how large the structure is (to determine
the lower frequency limit) and how precise the finer (smaller) features are on
the antenna (which determines the upper frequency limit).

Wideband antennas are often defined by angles instead of lengths, so that

they are more frequency independent (because angles are independent of
wavelength for any frequency). As an alternative to this, what if the antennas
had a self-similar structure, so that the properties at some frequency f2=k*f1
were the same as at the first frequency f1 (and k is some constant greater
than 1).

In left is Log-periodic antenna in V-shape & in right is in tooth shape

Differences between Yagi-Uda and Log-Periodic

Log-periodic antennas are designed to work across a wide range of

frequencies whereas Yagi-Uda is optimized for one frequency. Yagi-Uda will
give higher gain at its optimal frequency whereas log-periodic will have lower
gain across a wide range of frequencies.
2.2 Structure

Suppose we design an antenna system that works at some frequency f n.

Suppose we setup an antenna system as in below diagram, where there are
wires of length L(n-1), Ln, L (n+1), ... each separated by a set of distances d(n-1), dn,
d(n+1), ...:

We require that the ratio of the

successive element lengths (L(n+1)/Ln)
be equal to some constant k, and
that the distance between elements
(d(n+1)/dn) also equal k. This is a log
periodic structure.

Key Property of Log-periodic

Antenna: Suppose that our antenna
in this diagram radiates well at
frequency fn (primarily due to the
element Ln). Then the antenna must
also radiate at f(n+1) and f(n-1), because
the antenna structure is electrically
the same - it "looks" the same to wavelengths n = c/fn as well as to
(n-1) = c/f(n-1) and (n+1) = c/f(n+1). Hence, if the antenna radiates at frequency
fn it will radiate at all frequencies that are a constant multiple of f n:
, fn/k2, fn/k, fn, k*fn, k2*fn,

It is the reason we care about log-periodicity. We make a structure that

repeats itself by a constantly increasing multiplicative factor (k). Then if
the structure radiates at some frequency, it will radiate at all the multiples
of k.

Now, our radiation mode at frequency fn will have some bandwidth

(frequency range centered about fn) where the antenna efficiency is good.
Suppose we choose the expansion factor k such that the frequency band
of the next radiation mode fn+1 overlaps the frequency band of the first
radiation mode. Then we will essentially have an antenna where the
radiation mode is good everywhere between frequencies f n and fn+1. And
since this is true for every n, we essentially have a very wideband antenna.
It will only be limited in bandwidth by the number of elements in our
antenna array.
Mathematically, due to the properties of logarithms, if all the elements
grow by a constant multiple then the ratios of the logarithm will be
constant:

2.3 Dipole Array

This is basic 5 element Log-Periodic

Dipole Antenna Array. For the array
in this diagram, we use an expansion
factor k=1.25. This means that each
dipole is 25% longer than the one to
the left of it, and the separation (d)
between each dipole also increases
by 25%. In addition, the log-periodic
dipole array is arranged such that
each element is fed out of phase to
the element on either side. This is
illustrated by the crisscrossing feed
pattern in this diagram.

Log Periodic Dipole Array with 5 Arms

This antenna is often characterized by "active" and "passive" regions. This

means that if we are discussing the radiation mechanism at say f=300
MHz, then the bulk of the radiation from this antenna will come from the
dipoles with lengths near half a wavelength at 300 MHz (so L=0.5 meters).
This is illustrated in below diagram.

LPDA Active and Inactive Regions

We see that the elements near the half-wavelength dipole will contribute
to the radiation of the LPDA, however the other elements will not. The
elements that are too short will be too capacitive to radiate; the elements

much longer than a half-wavelength will also not radiate well. Note that
this is somewhat of an approximation, as if elements are 1.5 wavelengths,
they will tend to radiate well. However, this should give a bit of intuition.
As this antenna resembles somewhat a 3-element Yagi-Uda Antenna. That
is, the driven arm is in the center, the reflector element is the longer dipole
to the right, and the director is the shorter dipole to the left as seen in
above diagram. As such, the direction of peak radiation for the LPDA in
above diagram is towards the left.
Another interpretation of the radiation mechanism of the log periodic
dipole array is that if the Log Periodic Tooth Antenna has the arms reduced
to wires (dipoles), and it is folded back on itself, then the LP tooth would
reduce to the log periodic dipole antenna array. This represents somewhat
of an evolution then of the Log Periodic Tooth antenna.
The design of the log periodic dipole array antenna with 5 arms as shown
is somewhat of an empirically successful design. Generally, this antenna is
one that has been found to work well in practice after experimentation.
As an example, it is experimentally found that for good antenna gain, the
expansion factor (k) should be kept small (1.25 being on the high side).
We will use a total of N=25 elements (dipole antennas), with diameters of
0.077". The expansion factor k is 1.1 as shown:

2.1 Introduction

Dolph-Tschebyscheff Array

the antenna array factors for arrays with uniform weights have unequal
side lobe levels. Often it is desirable to lower the highest side lobes, at the
expense of raising the lower side lobes. The optimal side lobe level (for a
given beam width) will occur when the side lobes are all equal in
magnitude. This problem was solved by Dolph in 1946. He derives a
method for obtaining weights for uniformly spaced linear arrays steered
to broadside (d=90 degrees). This is a popular weighting method because
the side lobe level can be specified, and the minimum possible null-null
beam width is obtained.
To understand this weighting scheme, we'll first look at a class of
polynomials known as Chebyshev (also written Tschebyscheff)
polynomials. These polynomials all have "equal ripples" of peak
magnitude 1.0 in the range [-1, 1] (see Diagram below). The polynomials
are defined by a recursion relation:

Examples of Chebyshev polynomials

2.2 Explanation

Observe that the oscillations within the range [-1, 1] are all equal in
magnitude. The idea is to use these polynomials (with known coefficients)
and match them somehow to the array factor (the unknown coefficients
being the weights).

Lets assume we have a symmetric antenna array - for every antenna

element at location dn there is an antenna element at location -dn, both
multiplied by the same weight wn. We'll further assume the array lies along
the z-axis, is centered at z=0, and has a uniform spacing equal to d. Then
the array factor will be of the form given by:

The array is even if there are an even number of elements (no element at
the origin), or odd if there are an odd number of elements (an element at
the origin). Using the complex-exponential formula for the cosine
function:

The array factors can be rewritten as:

Recall that we want to somehow match this expression to the above

Tschebyscheff polynomials in order to obtain an equi-sidelobe design. To
do this, we'll recall some trigonometry which states relations between
cosine functions:

If we substitute these expressions into the Antenna Array Factors given in

equations (1) and (2), and introduce a substitution:
we will end up with an AF that is a polynomial. We can now match this
polynomial to the corresponding Tschebysheff polynomial (of the same
order), and determine the corresponding weights w n.

The parameter t0 is used to determine the side lobe level. Suppose there
are N elements in the array, and the side lobes are to be a level of S below
the peak of the main beam in linear units (note, that if S is given in dB
(decibels), it should be converted back to linear units SdB = 20*log(S),
where the log is base-10). The parameter t 0 level can be determined simply
from:

The resulting Array Factor (AF) will have the minimum null-null beam width
for the specified side lobe level, and the side lobes will all be equal in
magnitude.