
APPLICATION NOTE
Nordic VLSI ASA - Vestre Rosten 81, N-7075 Tiller, Norway - Phone +47 72 89 89 00 - Fax +47 72 89 89 89
Revision: 1.2
Page 1 of 16
February 2000
Small loop antennas
1.
For RF designers developing low-power radio devices for short-range applications,
antenna design has become an important issue for the total radio system design.
Taking the demand for small size and low cost into account in the development of
such radio modules, a small-tuned loop antenna on the same printed circuit board as
the radio module is a good solution.
General
An overview of the basics for electrically small loop antennas is presented. The
overview is mainly based on reference [1]. An effective shunt-matching technique for
loop antennas, the T-match, is also discussed.
Four different loop antennas for 433 MHz have been fabricated, and impedance and
gain measurements have been made on these antennas in an antenna laboratory.
2.
Electrically small loop antennas are antennas where the circumference is less than
about one-tenth of a wavelength [1]. The field pattern of such loop antennas is similar
to that of an infinitesimal dipole with a null perpendicular to the plane of the loop and
with its maximum along the plane of the loop.
Loop antenna basics
This chapter describes the geometry and the electrical equivalent circuit for a
rectangular loop antenna. Physical dimensions for the antenna is used to calculate the
components in the antenna equivalent circuit and the antenna efficiency.
The T-matching method is presented in order to match the impedance of the antenna
to a transmitter/receiver.
Formulas for range calculation is also presented in order to make the designer of radio
modules for short range applications able to calculate either the range for a device or
the power needed for a specified range.
nAN400-03