Antenna Gain

Explained
This one stumps even some of the most advanced RF engineers, that is,
the "gain" of an antenna. Even the law states that the "Effective
Radiated Power (ERP) will not exceed..." and this is ased on the
input into the antenna multiplied ! the antenna gain. There is this
concept that, the moment the! exhiit gain, antennas magicall! create
power within themselves. "adl!, this is not the case. #f one examines
an antenna it will e noted it is constructed of asic materials, the
est eing gold, silver, copper, then aluminium following on. These
materials in themselves cannot create power.
$efore we go into an! explanations there are some terms that need
definition so%as to assist in the explanation of antenna gain.
deciel (d$)& unit of measure of loss or gain. 'ain has a positive
value, loss has a negative value, and is e(ual to
)*+log(Pout,Pin)
-ntenna 'ain& The relative increase in radiation at the maximum
point expressed as a value in d$ aove a standard, in this case the
asic antenna, a .%wavelength dipole (as in Two%Poles) ! which all
other antennas are measured. The reference is /nown as *d$0 (1ero
deciel referenced to dipole). -n antenna with the effective radiated
power of twice the input power would therefore have a gain of
)*+log(2,)) 3 4d$0.
- note of warning& There is a second 5reference5 used in antenna gain
figures ut is used to simpl! give an antenna a higher gain figure
than what is trul! achieved. #t is /nown as d$i and represents the
gain of an antenna with respect to an imaginar! isotropic antenna %
one that radiates e(uall! in a spherical pattern (e(ual in all
directions). #t increases the antenna gain figure ! 2.)6d$, this
eing the 5gain5 of a dipole over an isotropic antenna7 $ut this is
not a head start8 This is covered more in the paper "9heating with
-ntenna 'ain"
Radiation Pattern& - graphical representation of the intensit! of
the radiation vs. the angle from the perpendicular. The graph is
usuall! circular, the intensit! indicated ! the distance from the
centre ased in the corresponding angle.
-ll radiation patterns on this page are with the antenna element(s)
mounted verticall!, and viewed from the side (i.e. right%angles to
the antenna) as seen alongside.
Radiation -ngle& #t has een generall! accepted that eamwidth is
the angle etween the two points (on the same plane) at which the
radiation falls to "half power" i.e. 4d$ elow the point of maximum
radiation. :sing an!thing other than 4d$ does not do an antenna5s
reputation an! good as this could give the impression the antenna has
a wider,narrower eamwidth and if a serious engineer loo/s at this he
would, rightl! so, discredit the design.
9overage& The ph!sical geological area where signal is still at a
level which can e received, usuall! descried as a radius distance
from the antenna site.
To start with let us ta/e a standard .%
wavelength dipole and "suspend" it in free
space (i.e. ignore all possile
surroundings e.g. the mounting pole etc.
that could affect the antenna). The
radiation pattern of this antenna is
t!picall! referred to as the "doughnut" as
shown in the ad;oining figure.
-s the materials cannot create power the
onl! other alternative is to focus the
wasted energ!, for example that which is
going s/!wards, towards a more useful
direction eing on the hori1ontal plane. The
result is shown in the ad;oining picture.
<ere the shape of the radiation was changed
such that the outer most energ! was focused
to compliment the middle half, the result
eing a douling of the radiated energ!
along the re(uired plane or effectivel! a
4d$ gain.
This focusing can e even further intensified such that gains of =d$
(6 times) to >d$ (? times) can e achieved. The resultant two
patterns shown elow.
-s can e seen the method ! which an antenna is made to have "gain"
is merel! to focus the radiation (i.e. ta/ing the doughnut and
flattening it into a panca/e) thus intensif!ing the radiation along
the hori1ontal. -ntennas with omni%directional radiation and gains of
e!ond >d$ are impractical owing to the fact that the focusing is
directl! related to the length (in wavelengths) of the antenna. There
is, however, one further method of focusing, to now intensif! the
radiation in onl! one direction.
#f a reflector is placed next to a dipole
all the energ! that would have radiated in
the direction of the reflector is now
reflected ac/ in the direction of the
dipole. This ma/es all the energ! appear in
onl! one hemisphere and thus results in a
douling of radiated energ! in this
direction or 4d$ gain.
Further focusing can e achieved with the
use of "directors" and again, ! ma/ing the
angle smaller and smaller i.e. pac/ing all
the radiation into one direction, higher
gain is achieved. <ere it is practical to
achieve gains as high as 2*d$. The effective
angle, however, of such an antenna is small
(t!picall! @)* degrees).
Aith directional antennas, there is one further figure to ear in
mind.
Front%$ac/ Ratio& The driven element of most directional antennas
is a dipole with the classic "doughnut" shape radiation pattern
perpendicular to its axis. The idea, as shown, is to ta/e this
doughnut radiation pattern and s(uee1e it in to a eam off the front
of the antenna. The reflector is usuall! ;ust a single rod, ma!e a
collection of them. Even if a unch, the reflector is not going to
stop ever! scrap of energ! from escaping etween the crac/s8 "ome
will e radiated towards the rear (or, in the case of reception,
!pass the reflector and e intercepted ! the dipole). Rememer,
when in free space the dipole is ;ust as sensitive to this direction
as it is to the front of the antenna, and has a natural tendenc! to
want to continue with the doughnut pattern.
Even a solid sheet of metal as a reflector will not completel!
isolate the front from the rear ecause of "diffraction". Bip, the
ver! tips of the metal will cause some signal to "end" on the edges
of the reflector and toward the rear (or, in the case of reception,
from the rear toward the dipole).
The ratio of this front%rear difference is defined with reference to
the front (wanted) direction of the antenna, and is usuall! expressed
in d$.
#n 9losing&
-ntennas do not somehow magicall! create power ut simpl! focus the
radiated RF into narrower patterns such that there appears to e more
power coming from the antenna in the re(uired direction.
-s can e seen, "gain" is also "loss". The higher the gain of an
antenna the smaller the effective angle of use. This is the part
people forget i.e. that the! have roed power from other directions
and superimposed it on the radiation in the intended direction.
This directl! impacts the choice of the antenna for a specific
function. 9hoosing the correct antenna is dealt with in "9hoosing the
correct antenna".