6.

Radiation Patterns for Linear Antennas

Consider a straight metal wire, of length L, carrying a variable current I, Fig. A2.1. An elementary
length of wire, of length dz, radiates, according to (1.7.22), (1.7.21) and (1.7.13), a complex amplitude
of the electric field intensity:
~
~ I ( z )k 2 exp(− jkr )
dE = − exp( jkδ cos θ cos θ p ) sin θ dz (A2.1)
4πε c jω r

in the direction given by u θ . In this case

z ⎧ 0, z≥0
θp =⎨ (A2.2)
θ ⎩π z < 0.

I(z) r y
L By integrating (A2.1) between –l and l with

ϕ L
l= (A2.3)
x 2

the far field radiated by the antenna can be obtained. For this, it
Fig. A2.1. Linear antenna. is necessary to know the current distribution in function of z.
This problem does not admit en exact analytical solution.
However, according to experimental results, the following
approximate solution may be used. The solution is inspired by the transmission lines theory. We
suppose the antenna is fed at its middle, at z=0.
In Fig. A2.2 a transmission line, of characteristic impedance Zc and length l, which connects a
generator to a load is represented. Fig. A2.3 represents the conceptual process of passing from the
transmission line terminated in open circuit to the linear antenna symmetrically fed. We accept that the
value of the current in the antenna is equal, at every point with that of the current in the transmission

i(z)

Zg
u(z) Zs

eg

i(z)

z=0 z=l z

Fig. A2.2. Transmission line, of length l, connecting a

generator to a load.

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line, at the corresponding point.
A standing wave pattern takes place on the line. and the only possibility for energy dissipation is in the
generator internal resistance, if the line is supposed lossless. This is in contradiction with the fact that
energy is radiated in space by the antenna. Furthermore, any wire used for constructing the antenna
has a certain diameter, which is non-zero. In spite of these facts, experience shows that this simplified
model gives accurate results in what concerns the radiation patterns.

Fig. A2.3. Equivalence between transmission line and linear antenna.

According to transmission line theory, the complex amplitude of the current in Fig. A2.2 is

eg e jβ (l − z ) − Γ s e− jβ (l − z )
i ( z ) = , (A2.4)
Z g + Z c e jβ l − Γ s Γ g e− jβ l

where

Zs − Zc Z g − Zc
Γs = , Γg = (A2.5)
Zs + Zc Z g + Zc

are the reflection coefficients at the load and at the generator respectively;
2π
β= (A2.6)
λ

is the phase constant (the line is supposed lossless) and Zc is the characteristic impedance. We take the
wavelength on the line equal to the wavelength of the radiated field, so that β = k . For a line ended in
an open circuit we have Γ s = 1 . After some algebraic manipulations we get
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 ~ 2 je~g 1 ⎡ 2π ⎤ ~ ⎡ 2π ⎤
i ( z) = sin ⎢ (l − z )⎥ := I 0 sin ⎢ (l − z )⎥ . (A2.7)
⎣λ ⎣λ
jβ l − jβ l
Z g + Zc e − Γge ⎦ ⎦

The complex amplitude of the current for an antenna with l = λ / 4 is represented in Fig. A2.4 and for
~
an antenna with l = 5λ / 8 in Fig. A.2.5. In both cases we have taken I 0 = −1, λ = 1 in arbitrary units,
so that the result is a real quantity.

Fig. A2.4. Complex amplitude of the curent in a half-wavelength

dipole.
Consider again (A2.1). Remembering that the propagation medium is lossless, we can substitute
ω = ck , where c = 1 / ε c μ c is the phase velocity of electromagnetic signals and k = 2π / λ .
Furthermore, we have the relation between the wavelength in a certain medium λ and the free-space
wavelength λ0: λ = λ0 / ε r in the case of non-magnetic media ( μ c = μ 0 ). (A2.1) becomes:

~
~ j 60πI ( z ) exp(− jkr )
dE = exp( jkδ cos θ cos θ p ) sin θ dz [ V/m] . (A2.8)
λ0 r

We have
~
~ ~ j120πI 0 sin θ
l l
E= ∫−l
dE =
λ0 r 0 ∫
exp(− jkr ) sin[ k (l − z )] cos[kz cos θ ]dz [V/m] , (A2.9)

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where we have taken into account that all functions of z that appear in the equation are even. The
above integral can be easily calculated by transforming the products of trigonometric functions into
sums. Finally we get
~
~ j120πI 0 sin θ cos(kl cos θ )) − cos(kl )
E= exp(− jkr ) =
λ0 r k sin 2 θ
~ (A2.10)
60 I 0 cos(kl cos θ )) − cos(kl )
= j exp(− jkr )
r εr sin θ

(with orientation given by u θ ). It can be verified that the maximum of the expression that depends on
θ from the equation above is obtained for θ = π / 2 . Therefore, the radiation pattern is

cos(kl cos θ ) − cos(kl )

f (r ,θ , ϕ ) = . (A.2.11)
[1 − cos(kl )] sin θ

It can be noticed that the diagram does not depend on ϕ, so that a cylindrical symmetry is present
(with respect to the z axis) as does the source of the field also.

Fig. A2.5. Complex amplitude of the current ia a linear antena of length

5λ/4.
The MATLAB® code linvert.m, generates the vertical radiation pattern of a linear antenna of
arbitrary length. The polar coordinates are associated to the plan defined by a given ϕ and ϕ+π. An
example is presented in Fig A2.6.

%program linvert.m
%traseaza diagrama de radiatie verticala

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%a unei antene filare de lungime L
clear
lambda=10;
k=2*pi/lambda;
L=5/4*lambda; %lungimea antenei
l=L/2;
Rez=1000;
theta=linspace(0+eps,pi-eps,Rez);
f=abs((cos(k*l*cos(theta))-cos(k*l))...
./((1-cos(k*l))*sin(theta)));
theta1=theta-pi/2;

figure(4)
polar(theta1,f,'k')
hold
polar(theta1+pi,f,'k')
hold

Fig. A2.6. Vertical radiation pattern for a length 5λ/4.

The code lin3d.m calculates the 3D radiation pattern of a linear antanne of arbitrary length. An
example is presented in Fig. A2.7.

%program lin3d.m
%traseaza diagarama de radiatie tridimensionala
%a unei antene filare de lungime l
clear
lambda=10;
k=2*pi/lambda;
L=5/4*lambda; %lungimea antenei
l=L/2;
Rez=100;
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theta=linspace(0+eps,pi-eps,Rez)';
f=abs((cos(k*l*cos(theta))-cos(k*l))...
./((1-cos(k*l))*sin(theta)));
phi=linspace(0,2*pi,Rez);
repf=repmat(f,1,length(phi));
reptheta=repmat(theta,1,length(phi));
repphi=repmat(phi, length(theta),1);
Xf=repf.*sin(reptheta).*cos(repphi);
Yf=repf.*sin(reptheta).*sin(repphi);
Zf=repf.*cos(reptheta);
%diagrama de radiatie in 3d
figure(5)
colormap('gray')
surf(Xf,Yf,Zf)
axis equal
xlabel('x')
ylabel('y')
zlabel('z')

Fig. A2.7. 3D radiation pattern of an antenna of length 5λ/4.

The same results can be obtained with the programs for element dipoles radiation. For
example, by approximating the integral in (A2.9) by means of a Riemann sum, the data in
drad3d.mmust be modified as follows:

%program drad3d
%interferenta dipolilor in spatiu;
%diagrame de directivitate 3d
%foloseste matrici tridimensionale
clear
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lambda=10; %lungimea de unda in metri
L=5/4*lambda;
l=L/2;
P=51; %numarul de diviziuni ale liniei
%neaparat un numar impar
I0=1; %amplitudinea complexa a curentului
x=-(P-3)/2:(P-3)/2; %la capete curentul e zero
Ld=L/(P-1); %lungimea unui dipol
x=x*Ld;
N=length(x); %un numar impar
I1=I0*sin(2*pi/lambda*(l-x((N+1)/2:N)));
I2=I1(length(I1):-1:2);
I=[I2 I1]; %curentii prin dipoli
E1=I*Ld; %foarte aproximativ deocamdata
E1=E1';
Etc…

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