5/25/2015

Antennaarray(electromagnetic)Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Antennaarray(electromagnetic)
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Anantennaarrayisasetofindividualantennasusedfor

transmittingand/orreceivingradiowaves,connectedtogether
insuchawaythattheirindividualcurrentsareinaspecified
amplitudeandphaserelationship.Thisallowsthearraytoact
asasingleantenna,generallywithimproveddirectional
SignintoyourWajamaccountand
characteristics(thushigherantennagain)thanwouldbe
discoverwhatyourfriendshaveshared
obtainedfromtheindividualelements.Theresultingarrayin
factisoftenreferredtoandtreatedas"anantenna,"
particularlywhentheelementsareinrigidarrangementwith
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respecttoeachother,andwhentheratioofcurrents(andtheir
phaserelationships)arefixed.Ontheotherhand,asteerable
arraymaybefixedphysicallybuthaselectroniccontroloverthe
relationshipbetweenthosecurrents,allowingforadjustmentof
theantenna'sdirectionalitywithoutrequiringphysicalmotion.
Thearrayuseselectromagneticwaveinterferencetoenhancethe
radiativesignalinonedesireddirectionattheexpenseofother
directions.Itmayalsobeusedtonulltheradiationpatterninone
particulardirection,especiallyforareceivingantennaintheface
ofaparticularinterferingsource.

Classifications

MammutphasedarrayradarWorld
WarII

AnantennaarraymaybeclassifiedasParasiticorDriven.[1]The
bestknownparasiticarrayistheYagiUdaantenna,consistingof
severalelementsbutonlyoneofwhichhasanelectrical
connectiontothetransmitterorreceiver.Theotherelementsare
electromagneticallycoupledtothatelement(andtoeachother)
throughproximity,andaretunedsothattheircurrentswillbein
theappropriatephasestoenhancethedirectionalityofthe
resultingarray.
Amultibandtelevisionreception

Adrivenarrayimpliesthatalloftheelementshaveanelectrical
antennaintheUnitedStates
connectiontothetransmitterorreceiver,throughcircuitrythat
tailorstheirrespectivecurrentstothesameend.Onecommon
exampleisthelogperiodicdipolearrayfrequentlyusedasarooftopTVantenna.Drivenarrays,in
whichalltheradiatingelementsareconnectedtotheenergysource,havesmallerlossesthanparasitic
arrays.
Drivenarraysoften(butnotalways)consistofelementswhichareidenticalfrequentlythesearejust
halfwavedipoleorquarterwavemonopole(vertical)elements.Theresultingarrayinheritsthe
characteristicsofthatbasicelement,buttheresultingarraybehaviourisdeterminedmorebythe
geometricalarrangementoftheelementsandthephases(andsometimesamplitudes)whicheachis
assigned.Typicallytherewillbeanumberofidenticalelementsequispacedalongonedirection.Inthat
case,anendfirearrayisoneinwhichtheintendeddirectionalityisinthedirectionofthearray.A
broadsidearrayhasitsintendeddirectionalityatrightanglestothearraydirection.Ofcoursethereare
alsomorecomplexarrayspossibleinwhichtheseclassificationsdonotapply.
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5/25/2015

Antennaarray(electromagnetic)Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Sometimesabroadsidearrayconsistsofidenticalelementsarrangedvertically.Inthiscase,the
directionalpatternoftheresultingantennainthehorizontalplanemaybeunchangedfromthatofa
singlesuchelement.Howeverbyaddingthoseadditionalelements,theantennapatterninthevertical
planeisalteredinordertosupplyagreateramountofpowerinhorizontaldirections(inorderto
communicatewithterrestriallocations)attheexpenseofdirectionsaimedmoretowardtheskyor
groundwhicharenotuseful.Consequentlythegainoftheantennaisincreasedwithoutsacrificing
directionalitytowardsanyintendedstations.[2]

Characteristics
Themainpurposeofcreatingafixedantennaarrayisanincreaseintheantenna'sdirectionalgainan
arrayconsistingofNidenticalelementscanachieveanincreaseingainofuptoafactorofNif
optimallyfed.Aparasiticarraydoesnotachievesuchanincreasesincetherearemoreconstraintsonthe
distributionofcurrentsattainablethroughpassivecoupling.
Useofarraysforincreasingantennagainareanalternativetosocalledapertureantennas,inwhichthe
gainisachievedusingasinglegeometricstructure,moreakintoanopticalfocusingdevice.Designs
suchasthehornantennaandparabolicdishantennabecomemorepracticalathigherfrequencies
(shorterwavelengths)whereasantennaarraysmaybepracticalatanywavelength.Atlowerfrequencies,
whererigidlyturningalargestructuremaybeunfeasible,anarraymaybemadesteerable(ormayjust
betunedtooptimizeaparticularradiationpattern)throughelectronicadjustmentoftheelements'
relativephases.ThisprincipleisoftenusedinAMbroadcast,wheretwoormorelargefixedtowers
(verticalmonopoles)maybe"phasedup"tocreateadesiredradiationpatternobviouslysuchstructures
cannotbemovedonceerected!

References
1. NavyElectricityandTrainingSeries.Module11MicrowavePrinciples.
Sloan,FTCMFrankE.(1998).Chapter3MicrowaveAntennas
(http://www.rarmy.com/coleman/neets/NEETSv11Microwave.pdf)(FREEPDFDOWNLOAD).U.S.
Navy.
Thisarticleincorporatespublicdomainmaterial(http://www.news.navy.mil/privacy.asp)from
websitesordocumentsoftheUnitedStatesNavy.
2. Swarte,V.V.(1993,Reprint2006).Electromagneticfieldsandwaves(http://books.google.com/books?
id=Rbqie5eQwwcC&pg=PA396&dq=antenna+array#v=onepage&q=antenna%20array&f=false).NewDehli:
NewAgeInternationalLimited.pp.396,397,.ISBN8122404685.Checkdatevaluesin:|date=(help)

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