Chapter 6

Reader antenna

6.1 Characteristic of antenna

1.Gain and radiation pattern 2. Effective aperture 3.Polarization 4.Impedance 5.Bandwidth 6.Size and cost

6.2 Fundamental of antenna operator

6.2.1. Definition
The effective aperture of the antenna, the area over which it collects power from an incoming signal, is also proportional to the antenna gain. The received power is proportional to the power density at the receiving antenna multiplied by the effective aperture, so a high-gain transmitting antenna is also a good receiver The forward-link-limited range (the distance at which the tag receives enough power to operate) is proportional to the square root of the reader antenna gain, as is the reverse-link-limited range The effective isotropic radiated power, EIRP, is the power that would need to be transmitted equally in all directions to provide the same power density U as a real antenna does in the direction of maximum gain. Thus:

EIRP = PTX(dBm)+GTX(dBi)
The electric field of a linearly polarized wave always points in one direction (vertically, for example) at all times and places The electric field due to a circularly polarized wave rotates around the axis of propagation each RF cycle at any point along the Wave

6.2.2 Gain
A dipole induces a voltage on another antenna located perpendicular to its axis, but no voltage along the axis Intermediate cases: the voltage depends on the sine of , the angle between the receiving antenna and the axis of the transmitting antenna Radiation Pattern of Ideal Dipole

The maximum directivity : 1,5(very short dipole)-1,7(1/2 wavelength) The received power at the tag is directly proportional to the gain of the reader antenna, and that the received power at the reader is proportional to the square of the reader antenna gain: to get longer range ,it is helpful to have more gain than a dipole can provide How do we make the antenna pattern more directive? Use more antennas: + The total voltage on a receiving antenna is due to the sum of the voltages from the two antennas(ideal) + delay=> diff the phase

V (r) = Vleft+Vright= Vright(1+cos((2 d/ )*sin ( ))) +. = +. = then V(r)=2*V(right) then V(r)=0 when d/ >1/2

Therefore ,the voltage not only depend on the uniform of the dipole but also depend strongly on the distance between two the dipoles. The two element array produces a narrow but symmetric pair of beams. In practical applications, wed often like to produce a single beam that helps us address only the region of interest and avoid reading tags in other places. How can we do this? +put a nice big fat piece of metal behind the array as a reflector

If the array is 1/4 of a wave from the reflector, the reflected wave is in phase with that from the array and adds to it, at least along the direction of the beam. In the other direction, the reflector (if it is big enough) substantially blocks the beam. More useful if we use parabolic reflector, but it is more complex.

6.2. Polarization
A dipole oriented along that field will receive the maximum possible signal; the dipole oriented perpendicular to the field will receive no signal at all.

The Electric Field is Proportional to the Part of the Vector Potential that is Perpendicular to the Direction of Propagation

No Voltage is Induced on a Receiving Antenna Orthogonal to the Electric Field

Many tag antennas are long and thin and behave rather like a dipole; this means that a tag oriented perpendicular to the electric field of a linearly polarized reader antenna will receive no voltage and will not be read. Solution change the direction of the electric field with time ==> creat circularly polarized wave. There are many ways to produce a circularly polarized wave: 1.Excite two orthogonal antennas a quarter-wave out of phase

2.From the point of view of an RFID reader, by varying the polarization on a much longer time scale

6.2.3 Impedance and Bandwidth

1. Impedance

An antenna looks like an R-L-C circuit The inductance and capacitance are both roughly proportional to the length of the dipole; at very low frequencies, the inductance has little effect and the capacitance stores little charge, so the dipole looks like an open circuit When frequency increases, the inductive reactance increases and the capacitive reactance decreases; at some resonant frequency, they are equal in magnitude and opposite in sign and neutralize each other, so that the antenna looks electrically like a pure resistance. The simple equivalent circuits with fixed component values are only valid over narrow frequency ranges

To get good power transfer between a resistive electrical source and a resistive load, the source and load resistances should be equal: the source and load impedances should be matched

2.Bandwidth The frequency range over which an antenna remains well matched to the source is the antenna bandwidth The impedance of RLC circuit: The change in impedance per hertz near resonance is just proportional to the inductive reactance:

Zant = j Lant+1/j Cant+Rrad

Zant 2j ( res)Lant+Rrad. | Iant| = V/|Zant|

The edges of the band:

4(

edge

res)^2 *(L ant)^2=

(Rrad )^2 |(

edge

res)|

= Rrad/(2*L ant)

BW (GHz) = Rrad /(2 Lant)

This is the bandwidth of the antenna in figure (a) Similarly, the bandwidth of the antenna in figure 6-b is: BW (GHz) =1/(2 CantRrad) 6.2.4 The patch antenna A very popular antenna for RFID reader applications is the patch or panel antenna .Consists of a metal patch suspended over a ground plane. The assembly is usually contained in a plastic radome, which protects the structure from damage (as well as concealing its essential simplicity). Patch antennas are simple to fabricate and easy to modify and customize

+ size: +half wavelength long and larger ground plane

+radiates a linearly polarized wave +gain: +2 dB of gain from the directivity relative to the vertical axis of the patch + with ground plane :7-8dB +The beam width is about 65 and the gain is about 9 dBi

+the forward link-limited read range will be about 10 times less backwards than forwards +Bandwidth: Equivalent RLC circuit: figure. A parallel inductor, capacitor, and resistor. + R= 130160 (about) Since the radiation resistance isnt terribly close to 50 , a bit of matching is needed; this is often accomplished by displacing the feed point of the antenna away from the edge a bit The impedance of the transmission line (equivalent to impedance of the circuit) sqrt (Lant/Cant)= Zline Z0d/W (1) The capacitor: res =1 / (LantC ant) (2) from (1)(2) Cant = W/( resZ0d)

=(1/ )Cparallel plate

The fractional bandwidth:

f/fres= (Z0/Rrad).(d/W)
Ex: a square patch at 900 MHz .W=16cm,d=1,6cm B=230Mhz. more calculation the capacitance and the practical issue of matching to the antenna B=150Mhz sufficient to cover the whole international operation region

6.3 Antenna for fixed readers

6.3.1 Doors and Portals
We often use four antenna for this purpose as show in above figure The characteristics that are important for antennas in fixed applications are: 1.gain:we need to reduce the power of the reader to obtain more gain 2.bandwitdth: the antenna need to be more matched to the reader or cable over the band we wish to use 3.beam shape the single beam may not necessarily be symmetrical. We may want a fan beam (e.g. tall and thin) so that we can limit the read zone to the extent of the

doorway and avoid seeing tags in a truck, or read only tags that are outside the door. 4.polarization the choice of polarization is dominated by our choice of tag antenna type and orientation When the tag orientation is not controlled, a circularly polarized antenna must be used

For example, in the portal configuration: We use four antennas which has 6-dB beam width of about 120 degree. We obtain the 3 square meter area which is cover by system

6.3.2 Nhi u v s s p

t(collocation)

Tn hi u ph n x t a tag r t y u v d b ch ng b i tn hi u t a reader . V d : nh hnh bn

S nh h ng c a nhi u ph thu c vo s l ng ph v s s p x p v t l c a reader antenna. S p x p cc reader ph i c coi tr ng nh m t bi ton c a qu trinh thi t k h th ng. Cch t t nh t gi m nhi u l t t cc thi t b gy nhi u khi khng c n thi t. i v i RFID chng ta c th turn off a reader khi khng c a tag no trong vng c a n.Ngoi ra c u hnh c a a antenna c ng c s d ng gi m nhi u.

6.3.3 C u hnh c a antenna b ng truy n(Conveyor antenna configuration)

Conveyor antenna c g n vo gi g n ho c xung quanh conveyor. V tr va h cho c th c c tag m i v tr v h ng. ng c a antenna c ch n sao

6.4 Antenna cho

c c m tay hay di

ng (antenna for handlheld or portable reader)

Trong tr ng h p ny, antenna yu c u kch th c v kh i l ng c ch tr ng h n antenna cho cc thi t b c nh. N yu c u ph i nh , nh ,ch u l c t t nh ng v n m b o v cc y u t k thu t nh gain , polarization Khi s d ng, handlheld antenna r t g n v i tay c a chng ta, tay ta s nh h ng t i i n dung c a t m kim lo i ( capacitance). trnh hi n t ng trn , ng i ta s d ng antenna cn b ng(balance antenna). C u t o nh hnh sau:

A dipole antenna c th cn b ng nh ng chi u di c a n l 16cm ta c th nen n nh l i b ng cch b cong nh hnh sau:

915 Mhz , n khng kh thi trong th c t do

Sau khi b b cong th R c a antenna b gi m so v i khi th ng, by gi R g n b ng L v C, d n antenna b gi m(ch cn 2,2dB). Ta c th t ng dy c a dy t ng bandwidth.

n bandwith c a

Ngoi ra cn c 2 cch c s d ng r ng di t ng gain c a compact antenna. Th nh t l Yagi-Uda antenna(ph h p v i antenna dy) c s d ng cho thi t b c m tay.hnh sau:

Th 2 l s d ng patch antenna nh ng hnh sau:

c lm nh

i so v i patch antenna s d ng trong cc thi t b c

nh .

A Patch Antenna Can be Made Smaller by Using a Shorted Quarter-wave Patch in Place of a Half-wave Structure.

6.6 .Cables and connector

M t anteena t t s khng h u ch n u tn hi u khng th truy n t i n hay l y t n ra. M t s u creader c trang b antenna tch h p nn u n i hay dy d n l khng c n thi t .Nh ng h u h t u c c nh c n nhi u antenna nn yu c u s l p t m m d o trong nh ng antenna ny. Chng ta c th s d ng m i hn n i cc thi t b nh ng chng r t kh tch ra khi mu n l p t l i h th ng, do connector va cables ng vai tr r t quan tr ng. Nhi u ,s hao h t tn hi u x y ra trn h u h t cables v connectors. Ta c th kh c ph c b ng cch t ng cng su t truy n nh ng b cng su t khuch i s t h n, tiu th nhi u DC h n. Ng i ta ch y u s d ng coexial cabling lm connectors v pht x t lo i ny r t nh .