M & A Module - 3
M & A Module - 3
M & A Module - 3
With the introduction of Monolithic microwave integrated circuits(MMIC)- microstrip lines and
coplanar strip lines have been used extensively.
MICROSTRIP LINES
Microwave integrated circuits with microstrip lines are commonly used with the chips. the
microstrip line is also called and open strip line. the radiation loss in microstrip line is a
problem, particularly at such discontinuities as short circuit posts,corners and so on. However,
the use of thin, high dielectric materials considerable reduces the radiation loss of the open strip.
A microstrip line has an advantage over the balanced strip line because the open strip because
the open strip has better interconnection features and easier fabrication.
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The the characteristic impedance of a microstrip line is a function of the strip line width,
thickness, the distance between the line and the ground plane, and the homogeneous dielectric
constant of the board material. The method is to derive the characteristic impedance equation of
a microstrip line is called a comparative or an indirect method.
The well-known equation of the characteristic impedance of a wire over ground transmission
line is given by
For a homogeneous dielectric medium, the propagation delay time per unit length is
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The effective and relative dielectric constant for a microstrip line can be related to the relative
dielectric constant of the board material.
The empirical equation is expressed as
The cross section of a microstrip line is rectangular, so the rectangular conductor must be transformed
into and equivalent circular conductor.
Empirical equation for the transformation is,
d = 0.67 (0.8 + 1/w )
where d = diameter of the wire over ground
w = width of the microstrip line
t = thickness of the microstrip line
The limitation of the ratio of thickness to width is between 0.1 and 0.8.
Characteristic impedance equation for a narrow micro strip line is given by,
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Limitations of equation
Most microstrip lines are made from boards of copper with a thickness of 1.4 or 2.8mils.
The narrowest widths of lines in production are about 0.005 to 0.010 in
Line widths are usually less than 0.0 20 in.
Since the dielectric constant of the materials used does not vary excessively with
frequency, the dielectric constant of a microstrip line can be considered independent of
frequency.
Losses in microstrip line
For non magnetic dielectric substrate two types of losses occur in the dominant microstrip
mode
i) dielectric loss in the substrate
ii) ohmic skin loss in the strip conductor and the ground plane
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The sum of these two losses may be expressed as losses per unit length in terms of an attenuation
factor α. From ordinary transmission line theory, the power carried by a wave travelling in the
positive z direction is given by ,
i) Dielectric losses
When the conductivity of a dielectric cannot be neglected, the electric and magnetic fields in
the dielectric are no longer in time phase.
The dielectric attenuation constant is given by,
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Since the micro strip line is a non-magnetic mixed dielectric system, the upper dielectric above
the micro strip Ribbon is air, in which no loss occurs.
An expression for the attenuation constant of a dielectric substrate,
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If the loss tangent, is independent of frequency, the dielectric attenuation per wavelength is
also independent of frequency. If the substrate conductivity is independent of frequency, as
for a semiconductor, the dielectric attenuation per unit is also independent of frequency.
In a micro strip line over a low loss dielectric substrate, the predominant sources of losses at
microwave frequencies are the non-perfect conductors.
The current density in the conductors of a microstrip line is concentrated in a sheet that is
approximately a skin depth thick inside the conductor surface and exposed to the electric
field. both the strip conductor thickness and the ground plane thickness are as you to be at least
three or four skin depths thick.
The micro strip conductor contributes the major part of the ohmic loss. The conducting
attenuation constant of a wide microstrip line is given by,
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The ratio of radiated power to total dissipated power for an open circuited microstrip line is
Where λ0 = c/f
The radiation factor decreases with increasing substrate dielectric constant. So,
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The ratio of the radiation resistance to the real part of the characteristic impedance Z0 of the
microstrip line is equal to a small fraction of the power radiated from a single open circuit
discontinuity.
The radiation loss decreases when the characteristic impedance increases.
For lower dielectric constant substrates, radiation is significant at Higher impedance levels.
For higher dielectric constant substrates, radiation becomes significant until very low
impedance levels are reached.
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A parallel strip line consists of two perfectly parallel strips separated by a perfect dielectric slab
of uniform thickness.
The plate width is „w‟, the separation distance is „d‟ and the relative dielectric constant of the
slab is ԑrd .
If the width „w‟ is much larger than the separation distance „d‟, the fringing capacitance is
negligible.
Thus the equation for the inductance along the two conducting stress can be written as,
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Where
Rs is the conductor surface resistance in Ω/square and is the conductor conductivity in ʊ/cm.
The shunt conductance of the strip line is
Characteristic impedance
The is characteristic impedance of a lossless parallel line is
The characteristic impedance of a lossy parallel strip line at microwave frequencies(R<<wL and
G<<wC) can be approximated as
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Attenuation losses
The propagation constant of a parallel strip line at microwave frequencies can be expressed by
Substitution of the distributed parameters of a parallel strip line into equation ( 2) yields
attenuation constant for the conductor and dielectric losses
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A coplanar strip line consists of two conducting strips on one substrate surface with one strip
ground as shown in figure.
The coplanar strip line has advantages over the conventional parallel strip line because its two
strips are on the same substrate surface for convenient connections.
In microwave integrated circuits the wire bonds have always presented reliability and
reproducibility problems. The coplanar strip lions eliminate the difficulties involved in
connecting the shunt elements between the hot and ground strips. As a result, reliability is
increased, reproducibility is enhanced and production cost is decreased.
the characteristic impedance of a coplanar strip line is
Where I0 is the total peak current in one strip and Pavg is the average
power following in the positive z direction. The average following power can be expressed as
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A partially shielded strip line has its strip conductor embedded in a conductor embedded in a
dielectric medium and its top and bottom ground planes have no connection.
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Antenna Basics
An antenna is considered as a return of transition between a transmission line and space.
Antennas radiate/ couple/ concentrate/ direct electromagnetic energy in the desired/ assigned
direction.
There are two types of antennas,
i) isotropic ( Omni- directional) antenna
ii) anisotropic ( directional)
While choosing an antenna, many electrical and structural aspects are to be taken into
account. These aspects include radiation pattern, gain, efficiency, impedance, frequency
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characteristics, shape, size, weight and look of antennas. The High efficiency and high gain are
the basic requirements for transmitting Antennas, whereas low side lobes and large signal to
noise ratio are the key selection criteria for receiving antenna.
Principal of Radiation
A radio antenna may be defined as the structure associated with the region of transition between
a guided wave and a free space wave or vice versa.
Principle: Under time varying conditions, Maxwell‟s equations predict the radiation of EM
energy from current source (or accelerated charge). This happens at all frequencies, but is
insignificant as long as the size of the source region is not comparable to the wavelength. While
transmission lines are designed minimize this radiation loss, radiation into free space becomes
main purpose in case of Antennas. The basic principle of radiation is produced by accelerated
charge. The basic equation of radiation is
I L = Q V (Ams-1) (1)
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wave since currents on the transmission line flow out on the antenna but fields associated with
them keep on going. From the circuit point of view, the antennas appear to the transmission lines
as a resistance Rr, called Radiation resistance.
As Receiving Antenna: Active radiation by other Antenna or Passive radiation from distant
objects raises the apparent temperature of Rr. This has nothing to do with the physical
temperature of the antenna itself but is related to the temperature of distant objects that the
antenna is looking at Rr may be thought of as virtual resistance that does not exist physically but
is a quantity coupling the antenna to distant regions of space via a virtual transmission line.
The two wire transmission line is connected to a radio frequency generator. Along the uniform
part of line, energy is guided as a plane transverse electromagnetic mode(TEM) wave with little
loss.
From the circuit point of view, the antenna appear to the transmission line as a resistance
Rr, called the radiation resistance. it is not related to any resistance in the antenna itself but it is a
resistance coupled from space to the antenna Terminals. Radiation resistance Rr may be
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thought of as a virtual resistance that does not exist physically but is a quantity coupling the
antenna to distant regions of space via a virtual transmission line.
Radiation pattern
The radiation pattern or antenna pattern is the graphical representation of the radiation properties
of the antenna as a function of space. That is, the antenna's pattern describes how the antenna
radiates energy out into space (or how it receives energy). It is important to state that an antenna
can radiate energy in all directions, so the antenna pattern is actually three-dimensional. It is
common, however, to describe this 3D pattern with two planar patterns, called the principal
plane patterns. These principal plane patterns can be obtained by making two slices through the
3D pattern, through the maximum value of the pattern. It is these principal plane patterns that are
commonly referred to as the antenna patterns. Radiation pattern or Antenna pattern is defined as
the spatial distribution of a „quantity‟ that characterizes the EM field generated by an antenna.
The „quantity‟ may be Power, Radiation Intensity, Field amplitude, Relative Phase etc
Always the radiation has Main lobe through which radiation is maximum in the z direction and
Minor lobe (side and back lobes) in the x and y direction. Any field pattern is presented by 3D
spherical coordinates or by plane cuts through main lobe axis. Two plane cuts as right angles are
called as principal plane pattern. To specify the radiation pattern with respect to field intensity
and polarization requires three patterns:
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i. The θ component of the electric field as a function of the angles θ and Φ or Eθ(θ,Φ) in V/m
ii. The Φ component of the electric field as a function of the angles θ and Φ or EΦ(θ,Φ) in V/m
iii. The phases of these fields as a function of the angles θ and Φ or δθ(θ,Φ) and δΦ(θ,Φ) in
radian or degree.
Normalized field pattern: It is obtained by dividing a field component by its maximum
value. The normalized field pattern is a dimensionless number with maximum value of unity
EΦ(θ,Φ) n= EΦ(θ,Φ) / EΦ(θ,Φ) max
Half power level occurs at those angles (θ,Φ)for which Eθ(θ,Φ)n =0.707 = 1/ .
At distance d>>λ and d>> size of the antenna, the shape of the field pattern is independent of the
distance.
Normalized power pattern: Pattern expressed in terms of power per unit area is called power
pattern. Normalizing the power with respect to maximum value yields normalized power patterns
as a function of angle which is dimensionless and maximum value is unity.
Pn(θ,Φ)n = S(θ,Φ)/ S(θ,Φ)max
Where, S(θ,Φ) is the Poynting vector = [ Eθ2(θ,Φ) + EΦ2(θ,Φ) ] / Z0 (W / m2)
S(θ,Φ)max is the maximum value of S(θ,Φ), W/m2
Z0 is the intrinsic impedance of free space = 376.7Ω. = 120ᴨ Ω
Decibel level is given by dB = 10 log10 Pn(θ,Φ)
Half power levels occurs at those angles (θ,Φ) for which P(θ,Φ)n =0.5= 1/ 2
Pattern Lobes and Beamwidths:
The radiation pattern characteristics involve three dimensional vector fields for full
representation,
but the scalar quantities can be used. They are:
1. Half power beam-width HPBW
2. Beam Area, ΩA
3. Bema Efficiency, εM
4. Directivity D, Gain G
5. Effective Aperture, Ae
6. Radiation Intensity
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Antenna Beamwidth:
Antenna Beam-width is the measure of directivity of an antenna. The antenna beamwidth is the
angular width expressed in degrees which is measured on the major lobe of the radiation pattern
of an antenna.
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HPBW:
The angular width on the major lobe of radiation pattern between two points where the power is
half of the maximum radiated power is called Half Power Beam-width. Here the power decreases
to half of its maximum value.
At the half power points, field intensity is 1/
HPBW = 2Ө
FNBW:
When the angular width is measured between the first nulls or first side lobes it is called First
Null Beam Width.
FNBW = 2Ө
The factors affecting beam width are:
1. Shape of the radiation pattern.
2. Dimensions of antenna.
3. Wavelength.
Beam width defines the resolution capability of the antenna, i.e., the ability of the system to
separate two adjacent targets.
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Beam Area
The beam solid angle of an antenna is given by the integral of the normalized power pattern over
a sphere (4π steradians).
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Beam area ΩA is the solid angle through which all of the power radiated by antenna would
stream if P(θ, Φ) maintained its maximum value over ΩA and was zero.
Total power radiated = P(θ, Φ) ΩA watts
Beam area is the solid angle ΩA is often approximated in terms of the angles subtended by the
Half Power points of the main lobe in the two principal planes(Minor lobes are neglected)
ΩA= θHP ΦHP
Radian and Steredian: Radian is plane angle with its vertex a the center of a circle of radius r
and is subtended by an arc whose length is equal to r. Circumference of the circle is 2πr
Therefore total angle of the circle is 2π radians.
Steredian is solid angle with its vertex at the center of a sphere of radius r, which is subtended
by a spherical surface area equal to the area of a square with side length r, Area of the sphere is
4πr2. Therefore, the total solid angle of the sphere is 4π steredians.
The infinitesimal area ds on a surface of a sphere of radius r in spherical co-ordinates (with θ
as vertical angle and Φ as azimuth angle) is
ds = r2 sinθ dθ dΦ
By definition of solid angle: ds = r2 dΩ
Hence, dΩ = sinθ dθ dΦ
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Radiation Intensity
Definition: The power radiated from an Antenna per unit solid angle is called the Radiation
Intensity. “U” Units: Watts/steradians or Watts/ square degree
Poynting vector or power density is dependent on distance from the antenna while Radiation
intensity is independent of the distance from the antenna. The normalized power pattern can also
be expressed as the ratio of radiation intensity as a function of angle to its maximum value.
Pn(θ,Φ)n = S(θ,Φ)/ S(θ,Φ)max = U(θ,Φ)/ U(θ,Φ)max
Beam Efficiency
The total beam area ΩA consists of the main beam area ΩM plus the minor lobe area Ωm .
ΩA = ΩM + Ωm
The ratio of main beam area to the total beam area is called the beam efficiency εM
εM = ΩM / ΩA
The ratio of minor lobe area to the total beam area is called stray factor εm
εm = Ωm / ΩA
Directivity D and Gain G
From the field point of view, the most important quantitative information on the antenna is the
directivity, which is a measure of the concentration of radiated power in a particular direction. It
is defined as 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 is equal to the
total radiated power divided by 4π. If the direction is not specified, the direction of maximum
radiation is implied.
Mathematically, the directivity (dimensionless) can be written as
D= U (θ ,φ)max/ U (θ ,φ)avg = P (θ ,φ)max/ P (θ ,φ)avg
The directivity is a dimensionless quantity. The maximum directivity is always ≥ 1.
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Gain:
Any physical Antenna has losses associated with it. Depending on structure both ohmic and
dielectric losses can be present. Input power Pin is the sum of the Radiated power P rad and losses
Ploss
Pin=Prad + Ploss
The Gain G of an Antenna is an actual or realized quantity which is less than Directivity D due
to ohmic losses in the antenna. Mismatch in feeding the antenna also reduces gain. The ratio of
Gain to Directivity is the Antenna efficiency factor k (dimensionless)
𝐺 = 𝐾𝐷, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 0 ≤ 𝐾 ≤ 1
Directivity and Gain: Directivity and Gain of an antenna represent the ability to focus it‟s beam
in a particular direction. Directivity is a parameter dependent only on the shape of radiation
pattern while gain takes ohmic and other losses into account.
Effective Aperture
Aperture Concept: Aperture of an Antenna is the area through which the power is radiatedor
received. Concept of Apertures is most simply introduced by considering a Receiving Antenna.
Let receiving antenna be a rectangular Horn immersed in the field of uniform plane wave as
shown.
Let the Poynting vector or power density of the plane wave be S watts/sq –m and let the area or
physical aperture be Ap sq-m.
But the Field response of Horn is not uniform across Ap because E at sidewalls must equal zero.
Thus effective Aperture Ae of the Horn is less than Ap.
Aperture Efficiency is as follows:
εap=Ae/Ap
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The effective antenna aperture is the ratio of the available power at the terminals of the antenna
to the power flux density of a plane wave incident upon the antenna, which is matched to the
antenna in terms of polarization. If no direction is specified, the direction of maximum radiation
is implied.
Effective Aperture (Ae) describes the effectiveness of an Antenna in receiving mode, It is the
ratio of power delivered to receiver to incident power density.
It is the area that captures energy from a passing EM wave an Antenna with large aperture (Ae)
has more gain than one with smaller aperture(Ae) since it captures more energy from a passing
radio wave and can radiate more in that direction while transmitting.
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----(1)
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If the current distribution of the dipole were uniform, it‟s effective height would be l Here the
current distribution is nearly sinusoidal with average value 2/π=0.64(of the maximum) so that
it‟s effective height is 0.64l .It is assumed that antenna is oriented for maximum response.
If the same dipole is used at longer wavelength so that it is only 0.1λ long, the current tapers
almost linearly from the central feed point to zero at the ends in a triangular distribution. The
average current is now 0.5 & effective height is 0.5l
Radiation Efficiency
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Antenna temperature
The antenna noise can be divided into two types according to its physical source:
- noise due to the loss resistance of the antenna itself; and
- noise, which the antenna picks up from the surrounding environment The noise power per
unit bandwidth is proportional to the object‟s temperature and is given by Nyquist‟s relation.
where
TP is the physical temperature of the object in K (Kelvin degrees); and k is Boltzmann‟s constant
(1.38x10-23 J/K
A resistor is a thermal noise source. The noise voltage (rms value) generated by a resistor R, kept
at a temperature T, is given by
Where,
k is Boltzmann‟s constant (1.38x10-23J/K). And B is the bandwidth in Hz
Often, we assume that heat energy is evenly distributed in the frequency band Δf. Then, the
associated heat power in Δf is
The receiver also has a temperature TR associated with it and the total system noise temperature
(i.e., Antenna + Receiver) has combined temperature given b
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Broadband antennas with FBW as large as 40:1 have been designed. Such antennas are referred
to as frequency independent antennas. For narrowband antennas, the FBW is expressed as a
percentage of the frequency difference over the center frequency.
The characteristics such as Zi, G, Polarization etc of antenna does not necessarily vary in the
same manner. Sometimes they are critically affected by frequency Usually there is a distinction
made between pattern and input impedance variations. Accordingly, pattern bandwidth or
impedance bandwidth are used. Pattern bandwidth is associated with characteristics such as
Gain, Side lobe level, Polarization, Beam area. (large antennas) Impedance bandwidth is
associated with characteristics such as input impedance, radiation efficiency (Short dipole)
Intermediate length antennas BW may be limited either by pattern or impedance variations
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depending on application If BW is Very large (like 40:1 or greater), Antenna can be considered
frequency independent.
THE RADIO COMMUNICATION LINK
The usefulness of the aperture concept is well illustrated by using it to derive the important Friis
transmission formula published in 1946 by Harald T. Friis (1) of the Bell Telephone Laboratory.
If the antenna has gain Gt , the power per unit area available at the receiving antenna will be
increased in proportion as given by
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Now the power collected by the lossless, matched receiving antenna of effective aperture
Aer is
Substituting this in the previous equation yields the Friis transmission formula
The fields around an antenna may be divided into two principal regions, one near the antenna
called the near field or Fresnel zone and one at a large distance called the far field or Fraunhofer
zone. Referring to Fig. 2–17, the boundary between the two may be arbitrarily taken to be at a
radius
R=2L2/λ
L = maximum dimension of the antenna, m
λ = wavelength, m
In the far or Fraunhofer region, the measurable field components are transverse to the ra- dial
direction from the antenna and all power flow is directed radially outward. In the far field the
shape of the field pattern is independent of the distance. In the near or Fresnel region, the
longitudinal component of the electric field may be significant and power flow is not entirely
radial. In the near field, the shape of the field pattern depends, in general, on the distance.
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PTO
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