ards

NBS

Discussion of Errors in Gain

Measurements of Standard

Electromagnetic Horns

351

R. W. BEATTY

Q

/'

*»T OF

V

Q

4-

*°*CM Of *

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Bureau of Standards
THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

The National Bureau of Standards1 provides measurement and technical information services

essential to the efficiency and effectiveness of the work of the Nation's scientists and engineers. The

Bureau serves also as a focal point in the Federal Government for assuring maximum application of the physical and engineering sciences to the advancement of technology in industry and commerce. To

accomplish this mission, the Bureau is organized into three institutes covering broad program areas of research and services: THE INSTITUTE FOR BASIC STANDARDS . . . provides the central basis within the United

States for a complete and consistent system of physical measurements, coordinates that system with the measurement systems of other nations, and furnishes essential services leading to accurate and uniform

physical measurements throughout the Nation's scientific community, industry, and commerce. This

Institute comprises a series of divisions, each serving a classical subject matter area: —Applied Mathematics—Electricity—Metrology-—Mechanics —Heat—Atomic Physics—Physical

Chemistry—Radiation Physics—Laboratory Astrophysics2—Radio Standards Laboratory,2 which

includes Radio Standards Physics and Radio Standards Engineering—Office of Standard Refer- ence Data. THE INSTITUTE FOR MATERIALS RESEARCH . . . conducts materials research and provides

associated materials services including mainly reference materials and data on the properties of materials. Beyond its direct interest to the Nation's scientists and engineers, this Institute yields services which are essential to the advancement of technology in industry and commerce. This Institute is or- ganized primarily by technical fields: —Analytical Chemistry—Metallurgy—Reactor Radiations—Polymers—Inorganic Materials—Cryogenics2—Materials Evaluation Laboratory—Office of Standard Reference Materials.

THE INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED TECHNOLOGY . . . provides technical services to promote the use of available technology and to facilitate technological innovation in industry and government. The

principal elements of this Institute are: —Building Research—Electronic Instrumentation—Textile and Apparel Technology Center

Technical Analysis—Center for Computer Sciences and Technology—Office of Weights and Measures—Office of Engineering Standards Services—Office of Invention and Innovation—Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information.3

1 Headquarters and Laboratories at Gaithersburg, Maryland, unless otherwise noted; mailing address Washington, D. C,

20234.

2 Located at Boulder, Colorado, 80302.

3 Located at 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Virginia, 22151.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Alexander B. Trowbridge, Acting Secretary

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS • A. V. Astin, Director

NBS TECHNICAL NOTE 351

ISSUED MARCH, 1967

DISCUSSION OF ERRORS IN GAIN MEASUREMENTS

OF STANDARD ELECTROMAGNETIC HORNS

R. W. BEATTY

Radio Standards Laboratory

Institute for Basic Standards

National Bureau of Standards

Boulder, Colorado

NBS Technical Notes are designed to supplement the Bureau's regular publications program. They provide a means for making available scientific data that are of transient or limited interest. Technical Notes may be

listed or referred to in the open literature.

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 20402

Price: 30 cents

Table of Contents

Page

1. Introduction 1

2. Brief Description of Method 3

3. Assumptions Made 4

4. Minimum Antenna Separation 6

5. Analysis of the Gain Measurement 8

6. Analysis of the Comparison Technique ...... 12

7. Conclusions 15

8. Acknowledgement 16

9. List of Symbols 17

10. Appendix A ........... 20

10. 1 Relationship of Effective Aperture

Area to Gain 20

11. Appendix B 24

11. 1 Effective Aperture Areas of Arbitrarily

Terminated Antennas 24

12. Appendix C 26

12. 1 Effective Aperture Areas of

Electromagnetic Horns 26

13. References 28

14. Bibliography 30

15. Figure Captions 31

in
ABSTRACT

In setting up a calibration service for measuring the gain

of standard electromagnetic horns, one needs a reference horn

in which one has developed a high degree of confidence. Although

it is possible to calculate the gain of horns of certain design,

confidence can be increased by carefully measuring the gain.

This note examines a method for measuring the gain of two

identical horns, listing the assumptions made in making such

a measurement. The theory of 2 -port waveguide junctions is

applied to the analysis of the measurement technique. The

method is shown to be essentially an attenuation measurement

which has additional sources of error. Although these errors

are not analyzed and evaluated in this note, the problem is

perhaps more clearly stated than it -was previously. The mismatch error in comparing two horns as receiving antennas is

analyzed. Data is given on the aperture efficiency of standard

horns which indicates that improvements in the design of such

horns are feasible. It is concluded that, at present, an uncertainty limit of the order of tenths of decibels seems realistic,

but hundredths of decibels seems unattainable until further

refinements are made both in the standard horns themselves

and in the measurement techniques.

KeyWords: antennas, calibration, comparison, effective aperture,

electromagnetic horns, gain, measurement, microwave, mismatch

errors, Rayleigh distance, standard gain horns.

IV
DISCUSSION OF ERRORS IN GAIN MEASUREMENTS

OF STANDARD ELECTROMAGNETIC HORNS

R. W. Beatty

1. Introduction

In measuring the gain of an antenna such as an electromagnetic

horn, comparison methods are widely used in which the gain relative to

some accurately known standard antenna is determined. A standard

horn may be constructed, following a certain design, and the gain

may be calculated. Based upon comparisons between calculated

and experimental values, the maximum uncertainty in this calculated gain has been estimated to be within ± 0. 3 decibel [Slayton,

1954].

In order to increase one's confidence in the gain of the standard

antenna, it is usually measured by a direct method. One well-known

method [IEEE Standard, no. 149, 1965] employs two identical antennas,

one used to transmit and the other used to receive. The gain is

determined from the ratio of transmitted to received power, the

aperture separation, and the wavelength.

If such a gain measurement is to be useful in increasing

confidence in the calculated gain, the uncertainty in the measurement

must lie within the limits ± 0. 3 decibel. Although it is difficult to

analyze the errors and be certain of the limits of uncertainty, this

is necessary if accurate results are required.

In recent measurements in Canada [jull and Deloli, 1964], an

estimated probable error of ± 0. 02 decibel was quoted for measurements at several frequencies in each of the bands Z. 8 - 3.5 GHz,

6. - 7. GHz, and 12.4 -14.5 GHz (Gc/s or 10 cycles per second).

At the Bell Telephone Laboratories in the U.S.A. it was estimated
[Chu and Semplak, 1965] that errors from all sources caused a

total uncertainty well within ± 0. 1 decibel at a frequency of 4. 08 GHz.

At the National Bureau of Standards, a calibration service for

measuring gains of standard electromagnetic horns has not yet been

established. However, some work has been done on the investigation

of different techniques and measuring arrangements, and on the

analysis of errors. The setting of final uncertainty limits must

await the actual evaluation of limits of all of the various error components, and this has not been completed.

In the following, a version of the identical antenna method is

briefly described and the assumptions made in a measurement are

listed and discussed. The theory of 2-port waveguide junctions is

applied to analyzing the errors in the method caused by reflection

(mismatch errors). The analysis is extended to obtain an expression

for mismatch error in the comparison of two horns as receiving

antennas.

The power gain g, (see G, in the list of symbols) is the

directional gain or directivity d, multiplied by the efficiency r) when transmitting. Thus the power gain includes the effect of

dissipative losses in the antenna and requires that one define the

physical boundaries of the antenna. One boundary is the aperture

plane and the other is a terminal surface in the waveguide feed. This

terminal surface may be arbitrarily chosen, but there is then a

different power gain corresponding to each choice. In contrast,

The theory of 2-port waveguide junctions was also applied in the determination of antenna gain from scattering cross- section measurements by

Garbacz [1964]. His technique is quite interesting but at present does

not seem to promise high accuracy in gain measurement.
the directivity does not depend upon the location of this reference

plane.

The directivity is sometimes defined as a function which depends

upon the direction. In this note, d refers to the directivity in the

a,xial direction in which the directivity function for standard horns

is maximum.

The directivity as defined in the list of symbols is the directivity

when transmitting. The directivity when receiving is defined in a similar way with reference to the receiving pattern. If nonreciprocal

elements are excluded, which is usually true for standard horns,

the directivity is the same whether receiving or transmitting.

2. Brief Description of Method

The method as described in the [ 1965] IEEE Standard is modified

slightly in order to spell out precisely what is measured and to

facilitate a more rigorous 6 analysis. * Instead of the ratio of P to P

r t (transmitting antenna with power P and the other receiving power

of amount P ), a ratio of initial to final load powers is used to

determine the gain. In the initial condition, the load is connected

directly to the signal source (alternately, connection may be made

by means of a long section of waveguide to avoid the need for moving

either signal source or load during a measurement), and in the final

condition the signal source feeds the transmitting antenna and the

load terminates the receiving antenna. The antennas are linearly

polarized in the same direction and their main beams are colinear

so that maximum power is received. The above conditions are

indicated in figure 1. Standard electromagnetic horns are usually

linearly polarized and once calibrated can be used in a comparison
method [Clayton and Hollis, 1966] to determine polarization characteristics of other more complicated antennas.

The measurement of antenna gain is thus essentially a measurement of insertion loss or more precisely a measurement of substitution loss [Beatty, 1964]. (The final 2-port is substituted in

place of the initial Z-port. ) Note that the initial 2-port can represent

either a long section of waveguide and the two waveguide joints by

which it is connected to signal source and load, or it can represent

a single waveguide joint if the load is initially connected directly

to the signal source.

3. Assumptions Made

It is important to take a careful look at the assumptions made in

the measurement of antenna gain by this method, because violation of

any one of the assumptions may cause some uncertainty in the result.

The following list may not be complete, but is intended to include

all of the basic assumptions. Note that it would be very difficult to

satisfy conditions 4 and 5 simultaneously and hence, compromises

are usually made.

1. Sinusoidal time variation of the electromagnetic field

quantities E & H. (Modulation may exist, but is an

undesired complication. ) Strictly, this implies a single

frequency. (The spectral width of the signal source

should be quite narrow. )

2. Single mode propagated in waveguides at terminal surfaces

1 and 2 (see figure 1).

3. Medium is lossless, linear, reciprocal, and isotropic.

(Normally, these conditions are closely approximated by

air. )
4. The antennas are in free space (there are no surrounding

objects). It usually requires considerable effort and

expense to closely approximate this condition.

5. The antennas are sufficiently separated so that:

a) the receiving antenna is in the far field (static

field and induction field are negligible),

b) the unperturbed field at the receiving location is

essentially uniform in amplitude and phase over the

aperture (in addition to sufficient separation, the

free space condition is helpful), and

c) the energy scattered by the antennas produces

negligible effects.

6. The antenna separation r is clearly defined. (This

is facilitated if the apertures are planar and perpendicular to the antenna axes. )

7. The antennas are linearly polarized and are oriented

so that their axes are colinear; their directions of

polarization are the same; and their apertures face one

another and would coincide if brought together without

rotation about the axis.

8. The signal source and receiver have the same characteristics for the initial condition as for the final condition

of the measurement. (This requirement is satisfied

if they are stable during the measurement. )

9. The signal source and load are non- reflecting at their

terminal surfaces 1 and 2 as in figure 1 r^ = r = o\
10. The antennas are linear, reciprocal, and (especially

with regard to dimensions) stable.

11. The antennas are identical. (This is not required if a third antenna is employed. )

4. Minimum Antenna Separation

It is probably best to determine the effects of insufficient antenna

separation by making a series of gain measurements with the separation

gradually varied in steps [Jakes, 1951]. However, one can calculate

a "minimum separation" based upon variation of phase of the plane

wave front over the aperture of the receiving antenna. This is useful

in designing a test arrangement.

The phase of the wave reaching the edge of the aperture of the

receiving antenna is delayed from that reaching the center because of the

extra length 6, which the wave must travel. This is shown in figure 2.

Depending upon what phase variation is considered permissible, one may

derive a relationship for the "minimum separation" r . If 8 = — , m 4

2

r = — , and is called the "Rayleigh Distance " [Hansen, 1964} It

tends to separate the Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction regions (in

2a

2

optics). A minimum separation of —-— has been used, but it was

A. recognized that this did not put the receiving antenna far enough into

2

the Fraunhofer region. Braun [ 1953] found that for a separation of 4 — ,

the measured gain was 0.2 decibel below the correct value (16 decibels)

2

and for 8 —— , 0. 1 decibel below. The amount depended upon the
gain measured. He published calculated curves for correcting the

measured gains of pyramidal horns. Thus a convenient separation

2

may be chosen and a correction applied to the measured result.

A graph is shown in figure 3 which gives the minimum separation

2

r =10 —— in feet (20 times the Rayleigh distance), vs. the operating

frequency in GHz for antennas of different gains. The gains (G ) are

based upon a circular aperture with uniform field distribution. In

practice, an antenna with the same gain will have a larger aperture,

so that the minimum distances obtained from the graph should be

multiplied by the ratio of the apertures, which in practice will give

factors from 2-5.

Instead of the minimum separation as determined from figure 3,

a separation giving a convenient insertion loss may be desired. Losses

of approximately 10-30 decibels are convenient to measure and

correspond (at 10 GHz) approximately to the separations shown in

figure 4.

It can be seen from figure 3 that at 10 GHz, a separation of 12 feet

is 20 times the Rayleigh distance if G is 21 decibels. An actual

antenna with the same aperture size might have a gain of 18 decibels.

(See Appendix C for a discussion of effective aperture areas of

actual antennas. ) It can be seen from figure 4 that the measured

2 According to Chu and Semplak, Braun's assumptions about the received

power are questionable, since the power in the transmitted wave was

averaged over the receiving aperture. Using Hu's transmission formula,

[Hu, 1958] , they have employed a digital computer to calculate correction

ratios for the far-zone gain of pyramidal horns measured at relatively

short distances. Their measured gain of 20. 11 decibels at 4. 08 GHz

agrees closely with the calculated gain of 20. 15 decibels.
insertion loss at 10 GHz will be approximately 27 decibels.

The curves of figures 3 and 4 are useful in making rough

estimates but are not intended for use in accurate gain measurements.

5. Analysis of Gain Measurement

Consider the measurement arrangement of figure 1, and assume

that the initial 2-port is such that a = b and b, = a . In the

ideal case in which the generator and load are non-reflecting the

measured substitution loss L is the attenuation of the final 2-port:

(1)

where superscripts i and f refer to initial and to final conditions,

respectively.

Note that

*P *P

£ Li P *P — 1 1 i f 1 ,_. = T, . J— . — = T, T, J— . (2)

P

L

P

l PL

P

l The first factor on the right in (2) is the efficiency of the initial 2-port.

It is very nearly unity if the load is initially connected directly to the

signal source. However if a long section of waveguide is used to

initially connect the source and load, then - 10 log,- ( %, J = ai

where aSL is the attenuation in decibels of the section of waveguide

having a length S.

The second factor on the right in (2) is the efficiency of the

3 final 2-port. It can be expressed in terms of the antenna parameters

3

See Appendices A and B for discussion of effective aperture

relationships.
(gain and reflection coefficients), the antenna separation r, and the

wavelength X. as follows, making reference to figure 1 and to the list

of symbols given later, and assuming that r = F = 0. It is also

assumed that the antennas are separated far enough so that interaction

and diffraction effects can be safely neglected:

P

L

= S

2

A

2^

r O-is22 i>4^0-is22 i 2

)

4irr \ ' 4irr v '

%lKTM*'

ri-\s\ Z\ (3)

a 2 V 22

4irr v

Bat kiM-^H- W

fp

«*» ^^(^(l-IS^I2

). (5)

1 This is one form of the free- space transmission formula [Schelkunoff

and Friis, 1952] . The third factor on the right in (2) is the (conjugate) mismatch

loss. Assuming that for the initial 2-port T = T = 0, the mismatch

1 i-i loss can be calculated from [ Beatty, June, 1964]

1 = i- s„r , (6) \
where S = T under the condition r = 0. For antenna No. 1

radiating into free space, |S | is related to its VSWR cr by

' s

iil =^-rr- < 7 )

The reciprocal of (2) is then written as follows:

fp

L HH( x Wi- ls..l

2Yi- IS l 2

|s ^ n' A

1 " |s

22 l )• (8)

L ^1

The measured substitution loss is then given by substituting (8) in (1).

If the antennas are identical, g = g = g, and S = S = T . The

measured substitution loss is then

L = - 20 loj

i g +201°gio(

1

l

£

)

+ 201og

1 o(

1 _

| |. |2 )' ai - (9)

The gain is written

' A

In order to obtain the expression given in the [ 1965] IEEE Standard,

one must assume that the antennas are non-reflectingb (F . = 0), and

A

that the load is initially connected directly to the generator (a>$. = 0).

It is certainly possible in principle to incorporate a tuner in the

antenna and adjust it at the operating frequency to achieve the condition

r = 0, but this may not always be desirable for one reason or another.

Thus (10) should be used to calculate the gain from the measured

substitution loss. If the antenna reflections are appreciable but are

neglected in the calculation of gain, the result will be too low by

the amount

10
V=101°sio(771^) =lolog i°^2

- (11)

A graph of the mismatch correction according to (11) is given in

figure 5.

If the signal source and load do not satisfy the conditions

r - T = 0, the mismatch error can be evaluated by the same methods G L

used in attenuation and insertion loss measurements. At the present

time, errors from connectors or waveguide joints at the insertion

point are probably small compared with other components of error.

The analysis of their effect on this type of measurement has been

published [Beatty, December 1964] and is available if needed.

If the two antennas are not identical, the gains g and g may still

be determined by introducing a third antenna having a gain g .

Note that the product g,g 9 can be determined from (8). In a

similar way, the products g,g_ and g„g can be determined from

measurements like the one described, using equations similar to (8).

We can then calculate the ratio of g to g from the measured products

J. L*

g 2 g

3

and g

2 g

3

- Thus

(12)

g

2 g

3

g g

g *~--lth'

^ ' (13)

It is desirable to closely approach the condition g = g = g so that

additional errors introduced by the above procedure can be kept small.

11
Depending upon the separation used and the accuracy required, it may be necessary to make a number of gain measurements with

different spacings so that one can determine the interaction effect

and average it out. In principle, one can incorporate a tuner into

the antenna and adjust it so as to eliminate or at least minimize

scattered radiation from the receiving antenna in the direction along

the axis. If this were done, the interaction effect could be practically eliminated. This technique would be expected to be less

effective for shorter separations because one cannot eliminate

scattering in all directions by this technique, [Harrington, 1964]

and the transmitting antenna would subtend a larger angle if the

separation were decreased.

One can choose a separation greater than the Rayleigh distance

in making gain measurements and this places the receiving horn in

the Fraunhofer region. However this does not free one completely

of Fresnel region effects. For example the variation of phase across

the aperture of the receiving antenna due to path length differences

does not cease as one goes into the Fraunhofer region, but only

diminishes. Various authors [for example, Soejima, 1963] have

dealt with methods of correcting the near field gain measurements

to obtain the far field gain. In most cases they assume a certain

aperture illumination or type of horn design.

6. Analysis of the Comparison Technique

Once we have determined the gain of a standard antenna and have

developed maximum confidence in the result, it may be used in a comparison technique to calibrate other standard antennas. In one version

of this technique, an antenna system is used such as in figure 1,

12
and the antenna to be calibrated is simply substituted in place of the

reference antenna which is in the receiving position, keeping everything else unchanged.

To a good approximation, the ratio of the powers absorbed by the

load under these two conditions equals the ratio of the antenna gains.

If the power ratio is determined, and the gain of the reference antenna

is known, we can calculate the gain of the antenna to be calibrated.

If we use this approximate relationship to determine the gain,

the result will be in error because of the interaction of load and

antenna reflections. The amount of this mismatch error may be

determined as follows.

The power absorbed by a load connected to the receiving antenna

is P - S A, and (see Appendix B)

A = A M , , _ , Z

l - r

ArL

(14)

But M 4tt

thus P T = g S —

1 - r

L

|1 F

A

r

L

(15)

If we substitute the antenna to be calibrated (antenna C) in place

of the reference antenna (antenna R), and do not change the load, the

ratio of powers P to P absorbed by the load is

L/C LR

LC

LR ! R

i-|r

c

l

i - rR

1 - - r rR L

1 - r r

C L

(16)

13
where the subscripts R and C refer to antennas R and C,

respectively.

The gain G of the antenna being calibrated is

G

c

=GR+ 10 1og

1() LC

LR,

+ 10 loi R

10

r

1 - r

G

r

L

1 - r

R

r

L

(17)

The last term on the right is the mismatch error. In order to

evaluate it completely, one would need to know both phases and

magnitudes of r , r~> and r . However, if only the magnitudes R G L

were determined by VSWR measurements, one could calculate bounds

between which this error must lie. A similar approach has been used

for mismatch errors in power measurements [ Beatty and MacPherson,

1953] and the same relationships apply.

Usually the load reflection coefficient T may be made small by

the adjustment of appropriate tuners. If the load is non- reflecting

r = ), (17) becomes

G

cj r =0

=GR

+ 101°g 10i _ +101ogl0

The mismatch error term is now easier to evaluate, requiring

only the VSWR's of the two antennas.

If it is permitted to tune antennas R and C for the condition

r = r = 0, the mismatch term will ideally vanish, and we will

have the simple relationship

(18)

(19)

14
Such a tuning would be frequency sensitive and would require

readjustment each time a new frequency was considered. Thus it

might not be used in some cases.

The ratio of P to P in decibels may be determined by LC LR

connecting a calibrated variable attenuator between the signal source

and the transmitting antenna and adjusting it to return the load power

to the same value after substituting antenna C for antenna R as described. The change in attenuation equals the desired power ratio

in decibels.

It is apparent that this comparison technique is subject to fewer

sources of error than the identical antenna method, but many of the

same assumptions are made, particularly with regard to antenna

separation and free -space conditions.

7. Conclusions

The well-known method discussed in this note is recommended

for use in measuring the gain of a standard electromagnetic horn

which would then be used as a reference in calibrating other horns in

a comparison process. It is anticipated that the comparison technique

would be simpler and subject to less error than the method discussed

here.

One can justify greater effort in measuring the reference horn

than in a method to be used for routine calibrations of many horns.

Thus it is worthwhile to take a close look at the sources of error

which are present in this method.

Since the measurement of gain by this technique is essentially

an attenuation measurement, it is subject to the usual errors one

would encounter in measuring the attenuation of a fixed pad plus

additional errors which arise due to violation of the assumptions

15
made. In particular, errors due to violation, of the free-space

condition and the uniform plane wave at the receiving antenna aperture

are difficult to evaluate and should receive greater attention. At

present, one has difficulty in measuring the attenuation of a fixed

pad to an uncertainty less than 0.5 percent of the attenuation value, or 0. 05 decibel, whichever is greater. It would therefore seem difficult

to do any better with measurements of antenna gain. It appears that the

design of horns intended for use as standard horns should be improved,

to reduce their scattering and their VSWR.

Reduction of scattering would reduce errors due to multiple

reflections between antennas, (interaction effects. ) Reduction of the

VSWR would not only reduce the error or correction mentioned in

this note, but would reduce the mismatch error in the "attenuation"

measurement. VSWR's of commercially available standard gain

horns range from 1. 15 to 1. 25. A goal of 1. 02 or better would be

worthwhile for standard horns. At present, pyramidal horns, for

which the gain can be calculated, and for which corrections are

available for near field measurements of the far field gain, do not

seem to have the best VSWR and scattering characteristics. (See

Appendix C. ) In the comparison technique, mismatch errors should

be considered. They can be eliminated by making the load and the

antennas non-reflecting.

8. Acknowledgement

The author is indebted to D. M. Kerns, R. R. Bowman,

G. E. Schafer, and R. C. Baird for helpful discussions; and to

D. R. Belsher and G. H. Fentress for supplying data on

standard horns.

16
9. List of Symbols

a - Amplitude of voltage wave at port 1 incident upon initial

1

r i

2

2

2'

2-port waveguide junction

f - Amplitude of voltage wave at port 1 incident upon final a

i 2-port waveguide junction

b , b 1 - Amplitudes of emergent voltage waves at port 1 corre1 , i

spondxng to a and a above

a - Amplitude of voltage wave at port 2 incident upon initial

2-port waveguide junction

fa - Amplitude of voltage wave at port 2 incident upon final

2-port waveguide junction

b o

, b - Amplitudes of emergent voltage waves at port 2 corref sponding to i and a above

2

r - Voltage reflection coefficient of equivalent source at port 1 G

r - Voltage reflection coefficient of equivalent load at port 2

r P , P - Net power input at port 1 to initial and final waveguide

junctions, respectively

i f P , P - Power absorbed by load under initial and final conditions,

respectively

P . - Total power radiated by antenna no. 1

<£ - Power radiated per unit solid angle in axial direction

S - Unperturbed radiated power flux per unit area at aperture

*i

of antenna no. 2 | S = —

17
r - Distance between apertures of transmitting and receiving

antennas

T| - Efficiency (ratio of PTM, to P ) of antenna no. 1 when

transmitting

D - Directional gain (expressed in decibels) in axial direction

for antenna no. 1. D, = 10 log,^d , , where d, is the

1 B 10 1 1

ratio of the radiation intensity $ to the average radiation

intensity f P -7- 4ir ). It can be determined by

integration of the radiation pattern.

r . - Voltage reflection coefficient of equivalent source at

2i &

port 2

G - Power gain (expressed in decibels) in axial direction for

antenna no. 1. G = 10 log g , g = T| .d . (Referred

to an isotropic radiator) t| , is the efficiency (ratio of

total radiated power to the net power input) of antenna

no. 1 when transmitting.

A - Effective aperture area of an antenna. It is the power

absorbed by a load connected to that antenna divided by

the unperturbed power density S at the antenna aperture

plane.

A - Maximum aperture area of antenna no. 2. It is the power

delivered to a conjugately matched load connected at

terminal surface no. 2 divided by the unperturbed power

flux per unit area S . (incident plane wave linearly

c* polarized and antenna oriented for maximum received

signal)

18
<x - Voltage standing-wave ratio

S - Reflection coefficient of antenna no. 1 when radiating

into free space

X. - Wavelength of unperturbed plane wave

a - Attenuation constant of waveguide expressed in decibels

per unit length

• r L - Substitution loss, the ratio of powers P to P

absorbed by the load when the final 2-port is substituted

for the initial 2-port between the signal source and the

load.

The above list of symbols and definitions is in harmony with the IEEE

Standard No. 149 [January 1965] "Test Procedures for Antennas. "

19
10. Appendix A

10. 1 Relationship of Effective Aperture Area to Gain

The effective aperture area A is a convenient quantity which

gives the power absorbed by a load connected to the receiving antenna

if one knows the unperturbed power density S at the aperture plane. It follows that A depends upon where one chooses the terminal surface to

separate the receiving antenna and its load. It is apparent that A also

depends upon the angle between the polarizations of the incident wave and

of the receiving antenna, and upon the load and antenna impedances.

A complete definition has been given by Tai [ 1 96 1] . However in this

note, it is assumed that the polarizations are aligned for maximum

received power, and that the load impedance is the conjugate of the

antenna impedance. Under these conditions, the effective aperture area

is maximum A, ,, as noted in Appendix B. M

The relationship A, , = -— g can be derived in two steps:

A

l g l (1) The relationship —— = is derived for any two (reciprocal) antennas

2 g2

(2) The relationship A = -— g is derived for a particular kind of

antenna - a thin half -wave dipole.

This derivation has value here because the assumptions and

necessary conditions are brought out.

In the first derivation, consider the 2 -port representation

f shown in figure 1. The efficiency r\ of the final 2 -port is

£ gl A

2 /. ',_ ,2 \ - t-t (

i - Hz n • < 2o » 4 tt r

f If we interchange the generator and load, the efficiency r\ of the final

2-port is

20
8

2

A

1

4tt r O-^2

)

(21)

It follows that

A. n. A.

1

22

(22)

1 - S

11

where the superscript £ has been dropped for simplicity. Note that

the desired relationship between the effective aperture areas and the

gains is obtained if r\ f 1- |S | ] = rl ? (l ~ |S | 1 . To investigate

further, we write ri and r\ in terms of the scattering coefficients

of the 2-port as follows [Kerns and Beatty, 1967] :

z Is I 2Z

01 '^l 1

i 02 1 11

(2 3)

\~- Z

02

01

12

1- S

22

(24)

The ratio is

21

'l2

2 i |2

11 - |bS

22'

1- S

11

(2 5)

21
If nonreciprocal elements are excluded from the 2 -port, then the condition SZ = SZ holds [Kerns and Beatty, 196 7] . It follows that

A g

ir-T (26)

2 S2

In the second derivation consider a thin half-wave dipole for

which the impedance Z at the center is [Kraus, 1950]

Z = 30 | S, (2tt) + j Si (2tt) = RA

+ J XA("S

1 (27T

Z = 30

I v + in (2tt ) - Ci (2tt ) + j Si (2tt )

Z = 73. 13 + j 42. 5 ohms. (27)

The directive gain can be shown to be

d =^ = 1.641. (28) RA

The maximum effective aperture area can be shown to be

2 2 2

30 X. \ , \ ._ Q. AM

= 7i; = ^d = I7 g - (29)

A

This holds for the half -wave dipole, and because of (26), it holds for

any (reciprocal) antenna.

In addition to accounting for the power absorbed by the load,

one can account for the scattered power SA and the power dissipated

s in the antenna SA by defining other "aperture areas" A and A

[Kraus, 1950] . This is feasible in the absence of multiple reflections,

but is of questionable value in a rigorous analysis since it might encourage unduly simple (and incorrect) interpretations of the actual situation.

One also finds in the literature an effective aperture area defined as

22
X. d/4 tt , -where d is the directivity. This is of questionable value

because it gives the available power (power delivered to a conjugately

matched load) from a lossless antenna having the same impedance and

directivity as the actual antenna.

Kraus [ 1950] has defined a collecting aperture A and the

physical r aperture A , where A = A, , + A + A.,, and A is the ' p c M s d p

physical area of the mouth of the horn. Presumably, all but A could

be affected by the load connected to the antenna and it is understood that

the same load, a conjugately matched load, applies to each.

It might be useful to define a scattering cross-sectional area

A corresponding to a non-reflecting load (T = 0) connected to the

s C J-j antenna. It would be characteristic of the antenna itself since none of

the scattered power could be considered as re-radiated upon reflection

from the load. This scattered power would have a different "radiation

pattern" from that of the horn when transmitting while the power reradiated upon reflection would have the same radiation pattern.

23
1 1 . Appendix B

11. 1 Effective Aperture Areas of Arbitrarily Terminated Antennas

It can be shown as follows that the effective aperture area A

of an antenna terminated in a load having a voltage reflection coefficient

r equals

J_i

A = A (h^q t^f) M J ^ ' (30)

iVi

1h-r r r

A L

1

where A, , is the maximum effective aperture area (obtained when the M

load impedance provides a conjugate match to the antenna impedance).

Equivalent expressions have been derived by C. T. Tai [ 1961] , whose impedance mismatch factor g (not to be confused with power gain

g in this paper) is expressed in terms of impedances, and G. Borgiotti

[ 1964] , whose formula for the equivalent area of an antenna is essentially

the same as (30) except that he uses the directive gain d instead of the

power gain g.

Consider the The'venin equivalent circuit of a receiving antenna

as shown in figure 9. It can be shown [Kerns and Beatty, 1967] that the

power delivered to the load is

2

> P = —

2

• A

1_ l r

£iA ^J*) i—i tt (31) L 4Z

o |i-r r | 2

1 A L

' where Z is the real characteristic impedance of the waveguide by means

of which the load is connected to the antenna. When the load is conjugately matched to the antenna, R = R and X = -X , or T = T . J—/ A. L-i A. l—i A. Then

pm = A;- (32)

24
The effective aperture area is defined so that P = SA. It is apparent

that the unperturbed power density S is not changed by changing V . Thus PA P

LI 1 . LI . ., orA . ^ . (33) L2 2 L2

If PT _, is the available power P, , and A_ is the maximum effective L2 M 2

area A,, ,, then M

A = fc

^ ' <34>

M

and (30) follows upon manipulation of (31), (32), and (33). Since P

can never be greater than P,,, it follows that A cannot be greater

than A, ,. M

25
12. Appendix C

12. 1 Effective Aperture Areas of Electromagnetic Horns

It is interesting to compare the effective aperture areas of

electromagnetic horns to their actual aperture areas. This was done

for some commercially available standard gain horns and the results

are shown in figures 6 and 7. The effective aperture areas were obtained

2 . by multiplying the power gain by X /4tt in each case. Notice in figure 6 that horn A has a higher aperture efficiency

(effective aperture area divided by actual aperture area) than horn B.

The designs of the horns are quite different as shown in the (to scale)

sketches. Apparently, the smoothly tapered throat of horn A reduces

scattering and improves the aperture efficiency. The reduction of scattering is desirable in a standard gain horn because this reduces interactions between antennas when they are calibrated in the manner discussed

in this note.

Minimum scattering closely corresponds to maximum aperture

efficiency when the dissipative losses are relatively small. This in

turn corresponds to maximum gain for a given aperture area. The

maximum gain is obtained when the aperture illumination is uniform.

Hence, a design principle for reducing scattering is to try to produce

constant-phase, uniform illumination of the aperture when transmitting.

This will result in reduced scattering when the antenna is receiving.

The aperture efficiency characteristic of horn C shown in

figure 7 is similar to that of horn B, which has a similar design.

The gain of horn B relative to G , the gain of a horn of the same

actual aperture area but having uniform illumination, is shown in figure 8.

It is seen that the gain of the actual horn is 3 to 5 decibels lower than the

maximum gain possible for a horn having the same aperture area. It is

suspected that the discrepancy is caused mostly by scattering (over half

26
the incident power is scattered) and perhpas less than 0.2 decibel is

caused by dissipation. There is as yet no direct evidence to support

this viewpoint, but it seems reasonable.

27
13. Refe rences

Beatty, R. W. (June 1964), Insertion loss concepts, Proc. IEEE, 52 , no. 6, 663-671.

Beatty, R. W. (December 1964), Effects of connectors and adapters on

accurate attenuation measurements at microwave frequencies,

IEEE Trans, on I&M, 13_, no. 4, 272-284.

Beatty, R. Wo and A. C. MacPherson (September 1953), Mismatch

errors in microwave power measurements, Proc. IRE, 41 , no. 9, 1112-1119.

Borgiotti, G. (November 1964), Calculation of directivity and equivalent

area in terms of reaction, IEEE Trans, on A&P, 12 , no. 6,

(c), 785-786.

Braun, E. H. (January 1953), Gain of electromagnetic horns, Proc. IRE,

41, no. 1, 109-115.

Chu, T. S., and R. A. Semplak (March 1965), Gain of electromagnetic

horns, BSTJ, 527-537.

Clayton, L., and S. Hollis (January 1966), Antenna polarization analysis

by amplitude measurement of multiple components, Microwave

Journal, 8_, no. 1, 35-41.

Garbacz, R. J. (1964), Determination of antenna parameters by

scattering cross-section measurements, Proc. IEE (London),

111 , 1679-1686.

Hansen, R. C. , Editor (1964), Microwave scanning antennas , (Academic

Press, New York, N.Y.).

Harrington, R. F. (1964), Theory of loaded scatterers, Proc. IEE

(London), 111 , no. 4, 617-623.

Hu, M. K. (1958), Near-zone power transmission formulas, IRE Nat'l.

Convention Record, 6_, part 8, 128-135.

IEEE Standard (1965), Test procedures for antennas, no. 149.

28
Jakes, W. C. , Jr. (February 1951), Gain of electromagnetic horns,

Proc. IRE, 39>, no. 2, 160-162.

Jull, E. V.j and E. P. Deloli (July 1964), An accurate absolute gain

calibration of an antenna for radio astronomy, IEEE Trans, on

A&P, L2, no. 4, 439-447.

Kerns, D. M., and R. W. Beatty (May 1967), Basic theory of waveguide

junctions and introductory microwave network analysis , (Pergamon Press, New York, N.Y.).

Kraus, J. D. (1950), Antennas , (McGraw-Hill Book Co. , Inc., N.Y.),

260.

Schelkunoff, S. A., and H. T. Friis (1952), Antennas, theory, and

practice , (John Wiley and Sons, Inc. , N. Y. ). Slayton, W. T. (1954), Design and calibration of microwave antenna

gain standards, U. S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington,

D.C., Report No. 4433.

Soejima, T. (June 1963), Fresnel gain of aperture aerials, Proc. IEE

(London), 110 , no. 6, 1021-1027.

Tai, C. T. (March 1961), On the definition of the effective aperture of

antennas, IEEE Trans, on A&P, 9, no. 2, (c), 224.

29
14. Bibliography

Blass, J. (1963), Handbook of microwave measurements, Antenna

measurements, III, chapter XXII, (Polytechnic Press of P. I. B. , Brooklyn, N. Y. ), 1027-1043.

Hollis, J. S. (February I960), Antenna measurements, Microwave

Journal, 3, no. 2, 39-46.

Jasik, H. (1961), Antenna engineering handbook, (McGraw-Hill Book

Co. , Inc. , New York, N. Y. ). Jordan, E. C. (1950), Electromagnetic waves and radiating systems,

(Prentice -Hall, Inc. , N. Y. ). Silver, S. (1949), Microwave antenna theory and design, (McGraw-Hill

Book Co. , Inc. , New York, N. Y. ).

30
15. Figure Captions

Fig. 1 Idealized model representing system of transmitting and

receiving antennas. Initially the source and receiver may

be connected together directly, or by a long section of waveguide, represented by the initial 2-port waveguide junction.

Finally, this may be replaced by the antenna system as

shown. The meanings of the symbols are given in a list in

the note.

Fig. 2 Diagram illustrating variation of phase of radiation over the

aperture of the receiving antenna. The minimum separation

r corresponds to the maximum permissible change 6 in

path length. a

Fig. 3 Minimum separation r = 10—r— of antennas of gain G . a = largest aperture dimension, and G = gain of antenna

having uniform illumination over circular aperture of

diameter a.

Fig. 4 Calculated attenuation of send-receive system of identical

antennas versus separation of antennas in feet, for antennas

having gains from 15-30 decibels.

Fig. 5 Calculated antenna mismatch correction to gain in decibels

versus magnitude of antenna reflection coefficient.

Fig. 6 Aperture efficiencies versus frequency of two commercially

available standard gain horns at X-band frequencies

(8. 2 - 12. 4 GHz).

Fig. 7 Aperture efficiency versus frequency of a commercially

available, pyramidal design, standard gain horn at K-band

frequencies (26. 5-40 GHz).

31
Fig. 8 Gain versus frequency of commercially available, pyramidaldesign, standard gain horn at X-band frequencies compared

to theoretically maximum gain for horn of the same aperture

area.

Fig. 9 Equivalent circuit of receiving antenna terminated by a load.

32
Q.

CM CVI zo

t-oz

~3

UJoO

UJ><5

a:o< zoHoz3

UJoo

ui><

lo:o

QCM

O

ft ^ -^

t?

t_

33
(2

> Z

UJfcf

q: <

CVJ

z

!= <

5 UJ

t/) l- 2 Z

< <

34
1000 1000

FIG. 3

35
S138I03CI - sscn NOiiniusens

<z

z

z

UJ

9-

i-uim

z

o

t-<

UJ

If)

*

o

S138I03Q - sscn NOiiniusans

36
S138I03Q

—u

S139ID3Q

37
AON3IOIdd3 3urua3dv

3 CO CO csj CD <=

1 1 1

1/

1

1 1 ~r T"

/

—

J CD i

Z

ceo

I —

i

i i 1 1 1

i i i

N

X

I >O

L±J 3 _ O

too

CO Csj

A0N3IDIdd3 3d01d3dV

38
A0N3IDI333 3UniU3dV

N

X

o

I >-o

z

UJ3

s

6

ADN3IDU33 3dfUd3dV

39
en

_l

UJCDO

UJo

<

e>

10 II 12

FREQUENCY - GHz

13

en

_iUJ

COo

UJo

<

CD

14

FIG. 8

40
-I q:

<

x

<

<?

41


U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20230

POSTAGE AND FEES PAID

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

OFFICIAL BUSINESS