Antenna Polarization

Definition
Classifications
Practical Considerations
Different Scenarios
Factors affecting Polarization
Combating with the effects of the factors
Definition

The orientation of electric field vector.

The property of an electromagnetic wave which describes time varying magnitude and direction of
electric field vector.
Classification

Linear Polarization
Circular Polarization
Elliptical Polarization
Cross Polarization
Linear Polarization

Linear Polarization:
In a linearly polarized electromagnetic wave, electric field component is always oriented along
the same straight line at every instant of time.

 Horizontal Polarization:
The electric field vector is parallel to the earth’s surface; e.g Television Transmissions.

 Vertical Polarization:
The electric field component is perpendicular to the earth surface.

 Slant:
The electric field component is in the angle of +45 degree or - 45 degree.
Circular Polarization

Circular Polarization:
It consists of two perpendicular electromagnetic plane waves.

Characteristics:
 The electromagnetic waves have equal magnitude.
 90 degree difference in phase.
 The electric field vector completes one revolution as the wave advances one wavelength.
Types:
 Right Hand Circular:
Electric field component moving clockwise.
 Left Hand Circular:
Electric field component moving counter clockwise.
Elliptical Polarization

Elliptical Polarization:
It is composed of two perpendicular electromagnetic signals.
Characteristics:
 The electromagnetic signals have unequal magnitude.
 90 degree difference in phase.
 The electric field vector completes one revolution as the wave advances one wavelength.
Cross Polarization

Cross Polarization:
Two signals having the same frequency but with polarizations in the opposite sense: Further
categorized into 0 and 90 degree and 45 and - 45 degree polarization.
 0 and 90 degree Cross Polarization:
One electric field component along 0 degree propagating is crossed with the field component
along 90 degree .
 45 and –45 degree Cross Polarization:
One electric field component along 45 degree propagating is crossed with the field component
along -45 degree .
Polarization Effects on MW propagation

Multipath Phenomena:
In an environment where the multipath phenomena exists, a no. of additional signals will arrive at
the antenna as a result of signal reflections of nearby objects.
If the objects are not aligned, or parallel with the polarization of the incident signal, the reflected
signal will undergo a shift.
Smooth reflective surface:
When the radio wave strikes a smooth electric surface ,they may incur a 180 degree phase shift.
A phenomenon known as specular or mirror image reflection.
The reflected signal may then destructively and constructive affect the direct LOS signal.
Practical Considerations:
Due to multipath effects, the radio arriving the receiver would experience a polarization shift.
To combat with this ,we use either dual linearly polarized antenna or cross polarized and circularly
polarized antenna.
They are used in the different practical scenarios regarding the effects on polarization.
Dual Polarized Antenna Circular VS Linear

In dual linearly polarized antenna ,there are separate output connectors for each linear polarization
component each 45 degree off vertical and horizontal
unlike circularly polarized antenna.
In case of dual polarized antenna, receiver would sample and track the output with strongest
signal whereas
circularly polarized antenna receiver only samples the single output which is the combination of all
signals arriving the antenna.
Choice b/w the two antennas:
Circularly polarized antenna is suitable for the signal comprising of a random sample of multiple
linearly polarized signals.
If the total signal is predominantly contained in the signal of linearly polarized wave then dual
linearly polarized antenna would be beneficial.
co-channel dual-polarization (CCDP)
XPIC technology doubles the capacity of wireless transmission, a clear advantage to the network
operator at the dense frequency bands.
Microwave radio energy travels in waves, transmitting in both horizontal and vertical directions.
This physical phenomenon enables the transmission of RF waves on both polarizations at the same time.

Figure 1 illustrates single-polarization transmission, and Figure 2 depicts co-channel dual-polarization

(CCDP) transmission.

CCDP operation provides two parallel

communication channels over the
same link with orthogonal
polarizations, thus doubling the link
capacity.

Separate and independent signals are

transmitted over the same wireless Figure 1: Single-polarization transmission
channel using single antenna.
However, despite the orthogonality of
the two signals, some interference
between the signals almost inevitably
occurs, due to imperfect antenna
isolation and channel degradation.

Figure 2: Co-channel dual-polarization transmission

XPIC Technology

In order to cancel the effects of this interference, the receiver may include an XPIC, which
processes and combines the signals from the two receiving paths to recover the original,
independent signals.
Figure 3 shows the high-level block diagram of an XPIC system.

Figure 3: XPIC block diagram

XPIC Technology

Each polarization demodulator path receives a large signal from the opposite polarization, causing cross-
polarization interference.

XPIC systems filter the cross-polarization interference signal in order to successfully receive or decode
the desire signal.
This way, two separate data streams can be transmitted over the same channel.
In XPIC technology, each polarization path receives both the polar signal and the cross-polar signal.
The receiver subtracts the cross-polar signal from the polar signal and cancels the cross-polar
interference.
An XPIC solution doubles the wireless link capacity and enables operators to reduce operating
expenditures in terms of their frequency license fee.
For example, the FCC divides the spectrum into 28MHz slices. In order to transmit OC-3 (155Mbps) over
the 28MHz band, a 7-bit/Hz modulation is required.
Two OC-3 channels can be transmitting over the same 28MHz channel using XPIC technology.
XPIC Improvement
Andrew HSX High XPD Antenna

Andrew HSX High XPD Antenna

-
0.10
+1.50
40 dB+ (50 dB typical)
XPD in this area accommodates
wide variations in ray arrival angles due
to k-factor variations

36 dB+ XPD within this

1 dB circle (but outside
the 40 dB+ XPD area)

-1.50
Dual-Polarized Antennas

Many wireless service providers have discussed the adoption of a polarization diversity scheme in place
of a space diversity approach. Like space diversity, polarization diversity relies on the de correlation
of the two receive ports to achieve diversity gain.
The diversity gain from polarization diversity is maximized if the dual-polarized antenna has receive and
receive diversity ports that receive radiation in a cross-polarized fashion over the desired coverage
area with equal field strengths.
Stated in another way, in a typical sectorized system, the two receive ports must remain cross-polarized
(i.e., orthogonal) and capable of tracking one another over the forward 120-degree sector and into
the hand-over area.
The orthogonality, combined with tracking ability, is necessary if systems using dual-polarized antennas
in a polarization diversity scheme with an advanced combining technique are to perform as well as
systems employing vertically polarized antennas in a horizontal space diversity format.
Co-polar and Total Power Front-to-Back Measurement

Characterizing the performance of slant-45 polarization diversity antennas is considerably more involved
than vertically polarized space diversity antennas or polarization diversity antennas with vertically
and horizontally polarized receive and receive diversity ports.
Thus, antenna pattern measurement techniques used to determine the performance of slant-45 dual
polarized antennas are likewise more involved.
The technique for measuring the performance of vertically and horizontally polarized antennas is well
known and quite robust.
When these types of antennas are measured properly, the polarization of the source matches the
polarization of the antenna being tested for the entire test.
This type of measurement is said to be a co-polarized measurement.
Hence, as the polarization of the source antenna matches that of the antenna-under-test, no coupling
loss occurred.
Coupling loss (i.e., the polarization loss factor) is a result of a mismatch in the polarizations of the
source antenna and the antenna-under-test.
If the polarizations of the two antennas do not match over the entire pattern measurement, then
antenna parameters such as gain, horizontal beam width, and front-to-back ratio may not be
accurately reflected in the antenna pattern measurement.
The polarizations of the source and of the antenna-under-test do not match over the entire test with a
slant-45 source and a slant-45 antenna.
The polarizations of the source and the slant-45 antenna match only at bore site.
This type of measurement is not truly co-polarized, but is often referred to as copolarized, and is
depicted in Figure 1.
Co-polar and Total Power Front-to-Back Measurement

For this single pattern cut with a slant-45 source, the source antenna and the antenna-under-test are
co-polarized at bore site (see position A in Figure 1), cross polarized in the back (see position B in
Figure 1), and varyingly non co-polarized elsewhere.
The same can be said in converse fashion for a cross-polarized measurement on a slant-45 antenna
with a slant-45 source.
Such a pattern is shown in Figure 2, where the source antenna and the antenna-under-test are cross-
polarized at bore site (see position C in Figure 2), co-polarized in the back (see position D in Figure 2),
and varyingly non co-polarized elsewhere.

Figure 1. Co-polarized Measurement with a Slant-45 Source on a Slant-45 Antenna

Co-polar and Total Power Front-to-Back Measurement
The difference in signal strength between position A in Figure 1 and position D in Figure 2 is known as
the co-polarized front-to-back ratio.
If the power level at B and D are added together in a linear fashion, this gives the total radiated
power in the backward direction.
Comparing this total radiated power to that of position A in Figure 1 gives the total power front-to-
back ratio.
For this case, the co-polarized front-to-back measurement is approximately 22 decibels (dB), whereas
the total power front-to-back ratio is approximately 20 dB.

Figure 2. Cross-Polarized Measurement with a Slant-45 Source on a Slant-45 Antenna

Cross-Polar Discrimination

The level of the polarization purity for the polarization diversity antenna should be pushed as high as
possible for peak diversity gain performance.
The system diversity gain relies on the combining method used by the base station equipment, which in
turn relies on de correlation of the two receive ports to be quite high.
This de correlation is achieved by ensuring that the receive and receive diversity ports of a diversity
antenna are highly orthogonal to one another.
The orthogonality measurement requires both magnitude and phase measurements to be stored during
the testing process.
A more simplified approach to ensure orthogonality is to measure the cross-polar discrimination for
highly linearly polarized antennas.
The same set of antenna patterns in Figure 1 and Figure 2 are also used quite often to obtain the
polarization purity and the cross-polar discrimination (XPD) of the slant-45 dual-polarized antenna.
For this example, the bore site XPD is obtained by comparing A in Figure 1 to C in Figure 2, yielding a
value of 19 dB.
The XPD at 30 degrees is about 35 dB, whereas at the sector border (60 degrees), the XPD is back
down to 8dB.
Measuring the cross-polar discrimination off-bore site is also known as the polarization quality ratio
(PQR).
As the source and antenna-under-test are neither co-polarized nor cross-polarized off-bore site, the
use of an alternative set of orthogonal source positions may yield more insight into the polarization
purity of the slant-45 antenna off-bore site and, more importantly, at the sector border.