Antennas’ Figures of Merit

An antenna’s “figures of merit,” or “antenna parameters,” are all the objective, measurable characteristics of an antenna. These are the figures by which an engineer can judge the suitability of a particular antenna for any given application. An antenna’s figures of merit may include descriptions of its physical form, such as its dimensions or conformability, but more often we focus on the performance characteristics of the antenna, such as its radiation pattern, maximum gain, efficiency, frequency of operation, bandwidth, and input impedance, among others. For this course, we will be focusing on two major antenna parameters: antenna efficiency and antenna bandwidth. This course was developed by Kathryn Leigh Smith, Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, in partnership with Ansys.