Antenna Parameters

1. Radiation Pattern
2. Directivity
3. Gain
4. Return Losses
5. Bandwidth
6. Radiation Resistance and Efficiency
7. Polarisation

Radiation Pattern
An antenna radiation pattern or antenna pattern is defined as a mathematical function
or a graphical representation of the radiation properties of the antenna as a function of space
coordinates.

• Defined for the far-field.

• As a function of directional coordinates.

• There can be field patterns

Magnitude of the electric or magnetic field

Or power patterns (square of the magnitude of the electric or magnetic field).

• Often normalized with respect to their maximum value.

• The power pattern is usually plotted on a logarithmic scale or more commonly

in decibels (dB).

Directivity

The ratio of the radiation intensity in a given direction from the antenna to the
radiation intensity averaged over all directions.

The average radiation intensity: total power radiated by the antenna divided by 4π
Gain
The gain of the antenna is closely related to the directivity.

The ratio of the intensity, in a given direction, to the radiation intensity that would be
obtained if the power accepted by the antenna were radiated isotropically.

Return Losses

Return Loss is the portion of a signal that is lost due to a reflection of power at a
line discontinuity.

There are two major causes of return losses in a network

1)discontinuities

2)impedance mismatches

Discontinuities occur at connections where cable is terminated to plugs or jacks

and within the plug/jack connection itself. A discontinuity can also occur if a
cable is bent too much, kinked or otherwise damaged.

When a transmitted signal hits one of these structural discontinuities, echo or RL

occurs.

Bandwidth

For broadband antennas, the bandwidth is usually expressed as the ratio of the upper-to-
lower frequencies of acceptable operation. For example, a 10:1 bandwidth indicates that the
upper frequency is 10 times greater than the lower.
For narrowband antennas, the bandwidth is expressed as a percentage of the frequency
difference (upper minus lower) over the center frequency of the bandwidth. For example, a
5% bandwidth indicates that the frequency difference of acceptable operation is 5% of the
center frequency of the bandwidth.

Polarization

Polarization is the curve traced by the end point of the arrow (vector) representing the
instantaneous electric field. The field must be observed along the direction of propagation.

 Polarization is classified as linear, circular, or elliptical