Lecture No.
EE262. Antenna Theory &
Design
Fall, 2021
Instructor: Y. Ethan Wang
EE262 Course Information
Instructor: Y. Ethan Wang
Tel: 310-206-5670 Email: ywang@[Link], Office: EN IV 56-147K
Textbook: Constantine Balanis, Antenna Theory
Office Hour: Tuesday 2:00 to 4:00pm
7 Homework (25%), distributed on Tue. and due on next Tue.
1 Midterm (20%), date to be determined
1 Course Project (20%) Planar antenna design
1 Final Exam (35%)
No late submission of homework will be accepted !!!
Coverage of the Course
• Basic antennas (dipole, aperture)
• Planar antennas (microstrip patch, printed
dipole, slot antenna)
• Antenna arrays and synthesis
• Antennas in wireless communication systems
Expectation of the Course
• Understand the basic physics in antenna
radiation
• Grasp standard antenna design skills
• Be aware of the state of art in antennas
• Familiar with major antenna applications in
modern RF systems
Chapter 1. Introduction
1.1 Overview of antennas
1.2 Radiation mechanisms & potentials
1.3 Infinitestimal dipole
1.4 Radiation from line currents
1.5 Radiation from slit or aperture
Antenna Classifications
Electrically small antennas
Electrical Resonant antennas
Property Broadband antennas
Aperture antennas
Wire antennas (dipole, loop)
Physical
Structure Planar antennas (microstrip patch …)
Surface antennas (horn, reflector)
Radiation Current (wire antenna like dipole, monopole)
Mechanisms
Aperture (slot, horn)
Antenna Applications
•Wireless communication
•Radar
•Satellite communication
•Radio
•Sensor
Pictures of Antenna Applications
Chapter 1. Introduction
1.1 Overview of antennas
1.2 Radiation mechanisms & potentials
1.3 Infinitestimal dipole
1.4 Radiation from line currents
1.5 Radiation from slit or aperture
How Antennas Radiate
Radiation is a disturbance in the electromagnetic fields that propagates
away from the source of the disturbance
This disturbance is created by a time-varying current source
exposed under an open space
From one of the Maxwell’s equations, we know
Ñ ´ H = jweE + J
Therefore, any time-varying current
S
will generate electromagnetic fields,
but they won’t radiate until it is
exposed to an open space
Radiation mechanism: Electric current
Antenna -Transducer
“Antenna” – transducer between a guided wave propagating in a
transmission line and an electromagnetic wave propagating in an
unbounded medium (usually free space), or vice versa.
Radiation mechanism: Aperture field
Various Type of Antennas
The Basic Question
Given the distribution of time-varying current, how to find the radiation
characteristics of the antenna?
Time varying current
element contributes to
the radiated fields
S
Radiation
Pattern
Wire Antenna Reflector Antenna
The overall antenna radiation performance can be obtained by the superposition
(in vector) sense of the elementary current elements
Scalar & Vector Potentials
Potentials are physical variables explicitly related to the excitation source
(charge, current) and the fields, e.g. an effective way to bridge these two.
• Electrostatics: rv
Ñ ´ E = 0 Þ E = -ÑV ÞÑ V =-
2 (Poisson’s eq.)
e
rv 1 rv
Ñ×E =
Solution: V = òR
'
e Scalar potential dv
4pe v'
'
• Magnetostatics: Ñ×B = 0 Þ B = Ñ´ A
Þ Ñ 2 A = - µJ (Vector Poisson’s eq.)
Ñ ´ B = µJ
Vector potential µ J '
Solution: A =
4p òv ' R ' dv
• Electrodynamics:
Scalar and Vector potentials can no longer be separately defined
Scalar & Vector Potentials
Starting from Maxwell’s equations,
1 1
M.E. (4): Ñ × B = 0 Þ B = Ñ ´ A = µH H= B= Ñ´ A
µ µ
Vector
calculus observe that Vector potential yet to
identity Ñ × Ñ ´ A = 0 be determined
M.E. (1): Ñ ´ E = - jwµH Ñ ´ ( E + j wA ) = 0 E + jwA = -ÑV
observe that Ñ ´ ÑV = 0 Vector
Ñ´A calculus
identity
1 - jwA - ÑV
H= Ñ´ A 1
µ Ñ ´ Ñ ´ A = jweE + J
M.E. (2): Ñ ´ H = jweE + J
µ
Ñ ´ Ñ ´ A = Ñ(Ñ × A) - Ñ 2 A
vector calculus identity
Scalar & Vector Potentials
Therefore,
1
µ
(Ñ(Ñ × A ) - Ñ A ) = jwe ( - jwA - ÑV ) + J
2
Ñ 2 A + w 2 µeA - Ñ( jwµeV + Ñ × A) = - µJ
At the same time, assume Ñ × A + jwµeV = 0 (Lorentz Gauge)
E = - j wA - Ñ V
r
r Ñ × ( - j wA - Ñ V ) =
M.E.(3) Ñ×E = e
e
Ñ 2V Ñ × ÑV = Ñ 2V
r vector calculus identity
Ñ V + j wÑ × A = -
2
e
Ñ × A = - jwµeV
Note: The above two equations are coupled and have no unique solution
Retarded Potentials
To uncouple previous equations Lorentz condition is introduced:
Ñ × A + jwµeV = 0
Therefore,
Ñ2 A + k 2 A = - µJ k = w µe Wave number
1
ÑV +k V =- r
2 2 These are vector and
e scalar wave equations !
Observation:
These differential equations relate the electromagnetic potentials to sources
Retarded
Solutions:
µ J (R i , t - R' / u p ) '
4p òv '
Time 1 r v (R i , t - R ' / u p ) A (R, t ) = dv
domain : V (R, t ) =
4pe ò
v'
R'
dv ' R'
~ ~ '
~ 1 r v ( R i )e - jkR '
~ µ J (R i )e - jkR '
Phasor: V (R ) =
4pe òv ' R'
dv '
A(R ) = ò
4p v ' R '
dv
Solving Radiation Problems
STEP 1. Write down the expression of current density function J(r’)
STEP 2. From current density J(r ’) find vector potential A(r) using
~ - jkR '
~ µ J ( R i )e
4p òv '
A(R ) = '
dv '
R
1
STEP 3. Find magnetic field H = Ñ ´ A, based on the definition of the
µ
vector potential
1
STEP 4. Find electric field E = Ñ´H
jwe
Impedance relationship between E field and H field like
in the plane waves no longer hold generally
