566

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON - 4 h ~ m -am 3 ~ PROPAGATIOX

VOL.

AP-14,NO. 5

SEPTEMBER

1966

REFERENCES aperture distribution and the feed line reflection lobes can be reduced by means of tuning devices in the proper [l] M. Y . Silberberg and J. P. Campbell, Space vehicle applications of self-containedDoppler radar, Natl. Conf. on Aeronautical arms of the transducers attached to the feed lines. Electronics, pp. 10&109, 1959. The beampositions were close to those predicted. The [2] H. Saltzmann and G. Stavis, A dual beam planar antenna for Janus type Doppler navigation systems, 1958 IRE Natl. Conv. shift in beam directions can be compensated for by a Rec., pt. 1, pp. 243247. [3] A. J. Simmons, 0. M. Giddings, XI. Diamond, and J. Gindsberg, small change in the waveguide width.

4 multiple-beam two-dimentional waveguide slot array, 1963 I E E E Innternatl. Cono. Rec., pt. 1, pp. 56-69. [4] F. J. Goebels and T. S. Fong, Four independent beams from a L~CKNOWLEDGMENT single h e a r array, IEEE Trans. on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 4P-13, p~,. 683-691, September 1965. Theauthors wish to expresstheirappreciationto [j] R. L.. Fogeh Orthogonal mode transducers and waveguide step Dr. Wolfgang Kummer, for his guidance and encourage- transltlons, Microwave Lab., Hughes Aircraft Co., Culver City, Calif.. Tech. Memo 467. March 1957. ment in this program; to Dr. ,4. T. Villeneuve, for his [6] s. Silver, ~ l ~ u r m a z Antenna ~e TheoryandDesign. New York: analysis of waveguidedistortionandmodeisolation; McGraw-Hill, 1948, pp. 182-188. [7] S. P. Morgan, Mode conversion losses in transmission of circular and to C. H. Nonnemaker, for his assistance in making electric naves through slightly non-cylindrical guides, J . -4ppl. the measurements. P h p . , vol. 21, pp. 329-338, April 1950.

Directive Gain and Impedance of a Ring Array of Antennas

G. 3 1 . ROYER,
~ M B E RE , EE

Absfmcf-Ring arrays can be made so that they concentrate the radiated power in the plane of the ring and are also omnidirectional (or nearly so) in this plane. This paper deals with ring arrays which exhibit these properties. For antenna lengths which are equal to and less than X/4, graphs are includedwhichshow,ormakeit easyto calculate, antennaimpedance, the ratio of maximumto minimumdirectivegain i n the plane of the ring, and the mean directive gain in the plane of the ring.

I. INTRODUCTION
HE RING ARRAY, as considered in this paper,

Pages2 and Chireix3 have shown that (if the radius of the ring is not too large, and the current phase changes a t least once through360 round the ring) the horizontal directive gain (e = 90) is greater than thatof one of the constituent monopole antennas isolated from the array. Thearraymaythereforebesuitedasanazimuthly omnidirectional, antifading antenna. This paper investigates the properties of ring arrays for which

1) the serrations in the horizontal field pattern are small consists of identical cylindrical monopole antennas 2) the mean horizontal directive gain is greater than which are mounted perpendicular to a perfectly conducting ground plane, and are equally spaced around that of one of the monopoles from the array.

the circumference of a circle (see Fig. 1). The amplitude of the currents in all the antennas in the array is the same, but the phase changes progressively round the ring. The total phase change for one revolution around the ring is an integral multiple of 360. If there were an infinite number of antennas in the array, the field strength would be independent of a. However, for practical arrays with a finite number of antennas, the field pattern, 0 constant, is serrated (see Fig. 2). If desired, this variation in field strength can be kept small by a proper choice of the numberof antennas in the array, the radius of the ring, and the number of 360 phase changes of current round the ring.

For antenna lengths which are equal to and less than hi4, graphs are included which show, or make it easy to calculate,antennaimpedance,theratio of maximum to minimumhorizontaldirectivegain,andthemean horizontal directive gain. Hickman4s5s6has computed antenna impedances for
H. Page, Radiation resistance of ring aerials, Wireless Engineer, pp. 102-109, April 1948. 2, Ring-aerialsystems, WirelessEngineer, pp. 308-315, October 1948. 3 H. Chireix, Antennas 2 Rayonnement Zenithal Reduit, LOnd&Elec., vol. 15, pp. M M 5 6 , 1936. C. E. Hickman, Current distribution and terminal impedance of a circular antenna array, M.S. thesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, $ugust 1960. 5 , Firstorderimpedances of acircularantennaarray, Scientific Rept. 5, Dept. of Elec. Engrg., University of Tennessee, Knoxville, March 1963. 6 C. E. Hickman, H. P. Keff and J. D. Tillman, The theory of single-ring circular antenna array, Conzmutz. and Electronics, May 1961.

Manuscript received September 9, 1965; revised March 31, 1966. The authoris with the Defence Research Board,Ottawa, Canada.

ROYER: RING ARRAY OF ANTENNAS

567

11. FAR ELECTRIC FIELD

Some symbols are defined below (see also Fig. 1):
s = number of antennas in the ring a =radius of the ring p = 29a/X

ANTENNA NUMBER

Fig, 1. Geometry of ring array.

4.

0, and are the coordinates of the far field ff=@--n/2 y,=29x/s--a; a+y, and a locate the antenna numbered x -2rxnls is the current phase in the antenna numbered x, compared to that in the antenna numbered s; n is an integer H = height of each antenna in the array 9=dG, which was set equal to 1207r for computing the impedance characteristics of the array p = 2a/X. Currents andfields appear, in general, as complex rms quantities. Refer to Fig. 3 and consideraverticalcylindrical antenna on a perfectlyconductinghorizontalground plane. If the current is considered to be sinusoidally disI,

Fig. 2.

Normalizedhorizontal field pattern, 8=90, s=7, n=2, g=3.0.

Fig. 3.

Geometry of monopole antenna.

ring arrays where the elements of the array are halfwave dipoles. I n H i c k r ~ a n , ~ extensive an set of tables of modified zeroth-order impedance was compiled. In the computation of modified zeroth-order impedances, it is assumed that the current is sinusoidally distributed on the antennas. This is only approximately true. A less extensive set of tables of modified first-order impedances is shown in Hickman,j where antenna half-length/antenna radius = 75. These impedances were obtained by an iterative process, and should agree more closely with experimental results than the zeroth-order solutions. I t was pointed out that there was no great difference between the solutions, and that, for many applications, modified zeroth-order impedances are sufficiently accurate. In this paper, the current is assumed to be sinusoidally distributed on the antennas. Knudsen7ns has investigated ring arrays where the elements of the array are not perpendicular to, but are dipoles located in, the plane of the ring. T h e dipoles are either normal or tangential to the ring. He has shown that these arrays can also be made to have a high directive gain in the planeof the ring.
H. L. Knudsen, (The field radiated by a ring quasi-array of a n infinite number of tangential or radial dipoles, Proc . IRE, vol. 41,
7

tributed on the antenna,

I=

1 0 sin [p(H - 2) 1 sin @H

( 1)

where lo is the current at the base of the antenna, then i t is well known that the far electric field is givenby

Ee

jvIoe-jor
=

2 ~ sin r PH

[I

cos (PHcos e) - cos p H sin 0

-1.
1.

(2)

Refer now to Fig. 1. Using (a), the electric field due to the antenna in the array numbered x is
jqIoe-jn(r*a)e-jorz

EeZ,=

~ T Y ,sin

PH

cos ( p H cos e) - cos p H

sin e
I

( 3

I n the far field, r , can be replaced by nator, and by

Y

in the denomi-

- a siny,sinO
all of the

in theexponent.Theelectric field due to antennas in the array becomes

8

Es

=
Z = l

Ee,

* -, Radiation from ring quasi-arrays, IRE Trans. m Antennas a d Propagation, vol. AP-4, pp. 452-412, July 1956.

pp. 781-789, June 1953.

= j&e-i(BTt.no)

[2
-1

ej(n s i n ( w ) sin

O-n-rs)

568

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS A h ? PROPAGATION

SEPTENBER

where
Eo
=

?r0[COS @a cos e) - cos p a ] 2 ~ sin r @a)sin e

IT'hen O<n<s/2, ( 6 ) , written with the tions arranged in increasing order, is

Bessel func-

(3

Eo = j s E o e - j ~ + n ( * * / 2 1

[Jn(qsin e)

Page2 has shown thatthefunction in thesquare brackets in (4) can be expressed in terms of Bessel functions. When this is done, Eo becomes

Eo = j g ~ o e - j I B + n ( Q - - / 3 ) 1

r
k=O

+ (- 1) *nJs-n(q sin 8)ejs(m-r/2) + J,+,(q sin + (-1)2"n~2,-,(q sin + - 1.

O)e-js('p-T/2)

e)ej2s(+r/2)

(10)

sin e ) e - j k s ( + w / z )

(- ~ ) k * n ~ ~ ~sin - ~,)e+Jzs(+-rr/2) (q
k=l

].

(6)

I t will now be shown that if, for a given value of s, the antenna impedance and field pattern properties of a ring array are known for the values of n shown in (7), then these properties are easily determined for all positive and negative integer values of n.
0

For small values ofq sin 0, the lowest-order Bessel function is dominant. 4 s a result, the series of Bessel function terms is nearly independent of a. Therefore, when p is sufficiently small, the field pattern (8 constant) is almost circular. Note that when

n = s/2

( 1 1 )

5 n 5 s/2 0 5 n 5 (s - 1)/2

s an even number.

s an odd number.

(7)

In the derivation of ( 6 ) , the phase of the current in the antenna numbered 1, compared to that in the antenna numbered s, was made equal to

the first and second Bessel function terms in (10) are of the same order, which makes the field pattern deeply serrated. The vertical field pattern (normalized by the valueof Eo when 0 = 90, p is small, and 0 I n <s/2) can be approximated by

r
The normalized vertical field pattern of one of the monopole antennas in the array is

-2 a a / s .

(8)

An array with the same impedance and the same, or (as will be shown in the next paragraph) almost the same, radiation pattern could have the following current phases in antenna 1:
zk [2mn 2 2 ~ a / s ] ,

?n = 0, I , 2 . . . .

Enor.

COS

( p a COS e) - COS pa
sin 0 1 - cos /3H

1.

Let the equivalent value n be nl

and

nl

5 [msf n].

(9)

Substitution of the values of n defined by (7) into (9) makes it possible for nl to range over all positive and negative integers. We therefore need to consideronly those values of n given by (7). Consideration of (8) shows that, when 0 5 n <s/2, the current phase in antenna1 lags t h a t in antenna s by an angle whose absolutevalue is equaltoor less than 180'. I n otherwords,thecurrentphasecan beconsidered t o be decreasing ina counter-clocku-ise direction around the array. However, for some of the equivalent values of n, defined by (9), the currentphase in antenna 1 leads that in antenna s. Hence, the phase is decreasing in a clockwise direction. When this is true,

Since J,, ( q sin e) = 0 when 0 = 0, (n#O), and increases in value as 0 increases t o 90' [provided q is not greater than that value which makes Jn(q) equal to its first maximum],thehorizontaldirectivegain of the ring array is greater than that of one of the constituent antennas isolated from the array. When n = 0, the lowestorder Bessel function term in (10) is J & sin e), which does not increase, but decreases in value as 8 increases from Oo to 90' ( q sufficientlysmall). The horizontal directive gainof the arraywhen
?Z

(1 2)

will therefore be less than that of one of the antennas from the array. As a result of (7), (11), and (12), the impedance and directive gain properties have been computed only for those arrayswhere n is given by
0

< 12 < s/2.

E(el, a)

Eye1, -a)

Page2 has shown that, when O<n<i/2, p is small, and s exceeds n by an even number, there will be a field pattern (0 constant) maximum when

where E(B1, C P ) and E'(&, a) are, respectively, the field patterns for 0 I n I s / 2 and the equivalent value of n.

1966

ROYER: RING M A Y OF ANTENNAS

1312IIn- I

569

10-

**A

WHEN n IS 1 , 2 8 3 USE SCALE AT LEFT WHEN n IS 4,5&6 USE SCALE A T RIGHT

6 . 0

5.5
5.0
4.5

9-

B
I

8-

4.0
3.5
3 . 0

= 0

7-

<
2
g

? ? l

654-

2.5 d

2 .o
1 . 5
1.0

32-

0.5
0.0

q [RADIANS)

Fig. 4 . Radiation resistance/nurnber of antennas in the array when H/X=

(i.e., Rl/s).

and a field pattern minimum when

1 . 0

0.9 0.225

When s exceeds n by an odd number, the maximum occurs when

0.8 0.200

'I;
d

0.250

and a minimum occurs when

@=2-1+-~
S

2mn

m=0,1,2,.-..

(14b)

This can be seen by considering only the two lowestorder Bessel function terms in (10) and assuming that those of higher order are small enough to be ignored.

0.0

'

.02

.Oh

.06

.OS

./O

.Ih .lh
H /A

.I&

$3

.2b

.dz

24

, 2 1 6

I I I. RADIATION RESISTANCE
When EOis as given by ( 6 ) , the radiation resistance, referred to the base of each antenna in the array, becomes

Fig. 5 . Curves which, when used in conjunction with Figs. 4,6, and 7, make it possible to compute the radiation resistance and mean horizontal directive gain when /A <

a.

R=

qs* sls+*l!? x12 2(1. sin p=)2S,,,, 1-0

[COS

( p a COS e) - COS p a ] * 1 A jwde sin e

Jks+,,(q sin
e)e-JIS(*-r/*)

(1s)

where
cf

A =
k=O

I t is necessary to integrateonly form 9 = T/? to @ = T / S + ~ / 2 , because of the periodicnature of EO as 9 is varied. Equation (15) was numerically integrated on a computer,andtables (shown inRoyerg) of radiationresistance were obtained. Figure 4 and part of Fig. 5 were plotted using the information in these tables, Figure 4
9 G. 3 1 .e y e r , "Directivity and impedance of a phased ring array o f antennas, M.S. thesis, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, June 1964.

(- I ) ~ * ~ J ~ ~ sin -e ~) e(+ jP ks(+r12).

k=l

570

IEEE TWSACI'IONS ON ANTEhThJASAND PROPAGATION

SEPTEMBER

is a plot of the radiation resistance, divided by s, when

The information in the tables was used to plot Figs.

6 and 7 and part of Fig. 5. Maximum horizontal direcH = h / 4 (i.e., Rl/s). isindeI t was found that the ratioR/Rl, where R is the radi- tivegain/minimumhorizontaldirectivegain ationresistance when theantennasareshorterthan X/4, was nearly independent of n, q, and s. R/R1 as a function of H/X is shown in Fig. 5. The errorin the data used toplot R/R1 inFig. 5 wasfoundnever to be greaterthan3percentovertherangeofarguments dealt with in this paper. The curves for radiation resistance, as well as those showing the directive gain and reactance properties of the array, range from the value of q where R 1 = lQ,t o the value q where either the mean horizontal directive gain becomes less than 3, or the maximum divided by the minimum horizontal directive gain becomes greater than 4 . The radiation resistance for antennas where
H

pendent of antenna height. The mean horizontal directivegainisplottedfor the caseswhere H / h = t and H/A+O. These mean directives are called, respectively, i% and D,. I t was found that

\vas nearly independent of n, q, and s. This ratio appears in Fig. 5 and can be used with the data in Figs. 6 and 7 to compute D when H/X < $:

V. REACTANCE
Let Z,, be the mutual impedance for the antennas numbered s and x . Z,, is the self impedance, and2, is the impedance, for antenna s. The voltage at the baseof antenna s is givenby

< X/4

can be computed using Figs. 4 and 5 :

(Rl/s)

(SI(RIRJ.
@I,

v,= ISZS, + 11ZS1 +

01 beto

+ IZZS, +
z,

+ rs-lZs,S-,.

IV. DIRECTIVE GAIN

Define directive gain in the direction

Due toelectrical and physical symmetry,

2, =

D(%, 61)

4~(radiation intensity, watts/steradian, in the direction a1, e,)

=

Total power radiated

By combining the above definition and Eo as givenby (6), we obtain

where

and, therefore,
2, = VS/L

Equation (16) was used to compute tables9 showing the directive gain propertiesof the array. Thefollowing mere computed: a) Mean horizontal directive gain, which is defined to be = $ [maximum directive gain (8= 90') minimum directive gain(0 = 90') 1. b)Maximumdirectivegain (0 =90')/minimumdirective gain (0 = 90').

Since

2, is given by

The values of @ a t which the maximum and minimum directive gains were computed were those defined by Define induced impedance to be (13a, b) and (14a, b). These are approximate equations, but in no case were they in error by as much r/(lOOs) as radians.

1966

ROYER: RING !&RAY

OF A N E N N A S

571

-MEAN HORIZ. DIRECTIVE GAIN

Fig. 6.

Mean horizontal directive gain when H / X = : (Le., Dl), and when H/X-+O, (i.e., DJ. Also maximum horizontal directive gain/minimum horizontal directive gain, whichis independent of antenna height. IZ ranges from 1 t o 3.

573

IEEE TRbhSACI'IONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION

SEP"3ER

35

- 30
00

r
0

25

2 : :20
W

C Y

a
W
0

15

1 0

5'

0.

-5'

-10.

Fig. 8.

Induced reactance: n ranges from 1 t o 3 .

40-

35-

30E r

25-

2
0

E 20W 0 3

1 5 -

10-

5-

L
Fig. 9.
Induced reactance: R ranges from 4 to 6.

1966

ROYER: RING ARR4Y OF ANTElvhTTciS

573

Due tophysical symmetry,

zsz

zs,s-x.

The current phase in the antenna numbered s - x , compared to that in antenna number s, is
- 2ma
S

(s

- x)

-2

~ nS

+ 25mfl.x

When s is an odd number, (17) can therefore be written

(s-1)/2

Zi=
z= 1

zsz(ef(2rnz/s)

+ e - j ( 2 z n x / s '1

and the induced reactance becomes

Induced reactance instead of self reactance has been plotted,because(assuming that the current issinusoidally distributed on the antennas and the spacing between antennas is large with respect to their thickness) inducedreactanceisnearlyindependent of antenna thickness. The total reactance, however, does depend critically on antenna thickness, and therefore presenting this would have necessitated a much larger number of graphs. I t should be noted that the induced reactance is frequently much smaller than the self reactance (particularly when the antennas are short), and so can often be ignored.

VI. DISCUSSION I t has been shown that there is no point in considering arrays with values of n not in the following intervals. When s is an even number, the induced reactance is 0
0

5 n 5 s/2
5 n. 5
(s - 1)/2

n even n odd,

If the current is assumed to be sinusoidally distributed on the antennas, X,, can be expressed in terms of sine and cosine integrals (see JordanlO). Tables showing X i were c ~ m p u t e dSome .~ of the information in the tables appears in Figs. 8 and 9. Plots of induced reactance are shown only for those arrays which appear to be the most promising. To get the total reactance for an antenna, add the self reactance to the induced reactance,

as an array with n in the intervals can be found which has the same impedance and almost the same radiation pattern characteristics. The properties of arrays where n = 0 and n = s / 2 have not been computed, because when f z = 0, the horizontal directive gain is low, and when n = s / 2 , the horizontal field pattern is deeply serrated. Therefore, graphs are shown only for values of n in the interval
0

x,= x,, + xi.

The self reactance of cylindrical antennas has been considered by many authors. Brown and Woodward1' have measured i t experimentally.One of thegraphsfrom their workll also appears in Jasik.l"
10 E. C. Jordan, ElectrotnagtzeticTraces a d RadiatingSystems. Englewood Clifis, N. J.: Prentice-Hall,1950, pp. 352-353. 11 G. H. Brown and 0. M. \Voodward, "Experimentallydetermined impedance characteristics of cylindrical antennas," Proc. IRE, vol. 33, pp. 257-262, Bpril 1945. 12 H. Jasik, -4ntema Engineerhg H a d b o o k . New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961, pp. 3-5.

< ?a < s/2.

Increasing the value of n in the above interval increases thehorizontaldirectivegain.However,for a given s, the closer n approaches s / 2 , the more serrate the horizontal field pattern becomes. A result of this is that, the greater the horizontal directive gain desired, the larger is the numberof antennas required. T h e horizontal directive gain can also be increased by decreasing q, the radius of the ring in radians. However, the value to which q can be decreased is limited by the fact that the radiation resistance approaches zero as p approaches zero.