Course syllabus
Lecture 1: Introduction to Antennas & Maxwell’s Equations (18 Feb 2025)
- Course overview, introduction to antennas and their role in wireless communication
- Maxwell’s equations and constitutive relations
| (a) Dipole current | (b) Electric field around the radiating antenna | (c) Electric field radiating further away from the antenna |
Lecture 2: Radiation from Current Sources (25 Feb 2025)
- Solution to the wave equation in spherical coordinates using field potentials
- Lecture 2 (slides 13-16)
- Lecture 2 (notes)
- Supplementary notes: Full derivation
- Numerical example: Field from a half wavelength dipole
- Matlab functions: Field_From_Half_Lambda_Dipole.m, EH_Field_From_J.m
Lecture 3: Fundamental Antenna Parameters (04 Mar 2025)
- Reactive near field, radiating near field, and far field region
- Power balance, total radiated power, radiation intensity, isotropic radiator
- Directivity, gain, polarization, and radiation resistance --- Example: Hertzian dipole
- Gain of various antennas
Lecture 4: Practical Antenna Measurements (Part 1, 13 Mar 2025)
- Measurement setup: anechoic chambers, network analyzers, and test ranges
- Measuring impedance, gain, radiation pattern, and polarization
- Frequency scaling, Friis equation, and phase center
Lecture 5: Radiation from Apertures (08 Apr 2025)
- Introduction of equivalent magnetic currents through duality
- Huygens source
- Boundary conditions, image theory, equivalence principle
- Radiation from aperture example via radiation integral (Fourier transform)
Lecture 6: The Receiving Antenna, Antenna Equivalent Circuits
- The Lorentz reciprocity theorem and the reaction concept
- The antenna in the receiving situation
- Equivalent circuits of transmitting and receiving antennas
- Mutual coupling between antennas
Lecture 7: Patch Antennas: Modeling & Design
- Introduction to microstrip patch antennas
- Design principles, feeding techniques, and bandwidth considerations
- Patch antenna modeling using transmission line and cavity models
Lecture 8: Array Antennas & Beamforming
- Principles of antenna arrays
- Array factor, beam steering, and grating lobes
- Max-gain beamformer
- Examples: Yagi-Uda and phased arrays
Lecture 9: Aperture Antennas & Reflectors
- Radiation from apertures and their characteristics
- Horn antennas and reflector antennas
- Applications in satellite and radar systems
Lecture 10: CST Studio Lab: Patch Antenna Simulation
- Introduction to CST Studio Suite for antenna modeling
- Simulating a patch antenna: setting up a model, defining boundaries, and analyzing results
- Understanding S-parameters and radiation patterns
Lecture 11: Practical Antenna Measurements (Part 2)
- Measurement setup: reverberation chambers
- Measuring radiation efficiency, total radiated power, antenna diversity
Lecture 12: Special Antenna Topics & Emerging Technologies
- Electrically small antennas, reconfigurable antennas, and metamaterials
- Antennas for IoT, 5G, and satellite communications
- Future trends in antenna research
Lecture 13: Summary, Applications & Open Discussion
- Recap of key concepts and real-world applications
- Open discussion on student projects and how antenna knowledge applies
- Q&A session and final remarks