Antenna Types and Communication Protocols

This assignment delves into the world of antennas, examining three primary types: directional (Yagi and Horn), semi-directional, and omni-directional (cellular). It discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each type, considering factors like gain, directivity, size, and complexity. Furthermore, the assignment compares two prominent communication protocols – Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) – highlighting their mechanisms for separating signals and maximizing bandwidth utilization.

Running head: ASSIGNMENT
Assignment
[Student Name Here]
[Institution’s Name Here]
[Professor’s Name Here]
[Date Here]

ASSIGNMENT 2
Question one
Types of antenna
Antenna performs the same functionality regardless of the type or mode of operation. In
essence, they transform electric power into electromagnetic waves (and vice versa) that are
ferried in free space. However, based on their operation design and structure they do exist in
different modes (Reckeweg, 2011).
Three major types of antennas exist; directional antennas such as Yagi antenna that propagate
signals in one direction, semi-directional antennas that are restricted in certain directions and
Omni-directional antennas (e.g. cellular antennas) that propagate signals in any direction.
Yagi antennas: these antennas are designed to have a high gain ratio that results in high
levels of directivity. They are therefore used to focus radio signals in specific directions,
moreover, they have good signal to noise ratios
Strengths:
1. Their design structure enables them to have a high gain.
2. This design and gain also result in good directivity.
3. They are simple to design and install (radio-electronics, 2017).
Weaknesses
1. They have a limited gain ratio, 20dB.
2. Secondly, they tend to be long if they are needed for high gain functionalities.
Horn antennas (directional antennas) – similar to Yagi antenna, however, these antennas
are designed with a hollow structure whose aperture increase towards the exit plane. This
aperture forms a flare-like section that focuses signals in the desired direction. This design

ASSIGNMENT 3
enables them to have high gains as compared to other directional antennas. Furthermore, they
also have high directivity levels (Reckeweg, 2011).
Strengths
1. Their design enables them to have high gains and directivity levels.
2. This design also reduces the signal losses.
3. Furthermore, they have better impedance matching levels.
Weaknesses
1. Based on their aperture (flare) requirements, they are difficult to design.
2. Moreover, they are also difficult to install.
Cellular antennas (Omni-directional antennas) – these types of antennas are very common
today owing to the prevalence of mobile devices. In all, these antennas propagate signals in
all directions which allow them to maintain a small size structure.
Strengths:
1. Simple to design and install.
2. Secondly, they can amplify multiple signals from different sources.
3. They also have an optimal boosting capability (Carr, 2012).
Weaknesses:
1. They have low signal gains thus can only transmit/receive signals at short distances.
Future of medium and long distance transmissions
Cellular antennas are designed to be small and thus are usually convenient for mobile
devices which themselves are small in size. Furthermore, Omni-directional antennas lack the

ASSIGNMENT 4
capability to focus signals in specific directions which increase the signal losses (Carr, 2012).
However, directional antennas can focus signals in specific directions which can facilitate the
transmission of signals over long distances. Therefore, in the future, directional antennas will
be dominant in the market owing to their design that may be miniaturised with time.
Question two
CDMA and FDMA
CDMA (Code division multiple access) is a telecommunication protocol that separates
communication signals based specific codes. In essence, multiplexing (the process of ferrying
multiple signals), is employed to maximise the bandwidth used. Now the multiple signals are
assigned or tagged with unique codes which facilitate their identification. After being tagged,
the signals are sent through channels having discrete frequencies for transmission. At the
receiver end, the signals are then reassembled according to the tags used, which differentiates
the multiple signals sent (corps, 2000).
On the other hand, FDMA (Frequency division multiple access) uses frequency to separate
the communication signals. Again to maximise on the available bandwidth multiplexing is
used, however, in this case, this bandwidth is divided based on frequencies and not codes.
Furthermore, the division is done using non-overlapping frequencies that are used by the
communicating parties. In addition to this, the communicating parties share common
satellites, however, each party is always assigned to a single and unique frequency (Zahra,
2015).

ASSIGNMENT 5
References
Carr, J. (2012). Directional or Omnidirectional antenna? . Joe Carr's Radio Tech-notes,
Retrieved 14 August, 2017, from: http://www.dxing.com/tnotes/tnote01.pdf.
corps, W. (2000). FDMA vs. TDMA vs. CDMA. Connecting Wireless, Retrieved 14 August,
2017, from: http://wirelessapplications.com/pdf/lf/FD_TD_CDMA.pdf.
radio-electronics. (2017). Yagi Antenna / Yagi-Uda Antenna. Antennas and propagation,
Retrieved 14 August, 2017, from:
http://www.radio-electronics.com/info/antennas/yagi/yagi.php.
Reckeweg, M. (2011). Antenna basic. Rhode & Schwarz, Retrieved 14 August, 2017, from:
https://home.zhaw.ch/kunr/NTM1/literatur/Rhode_Schwarz_Antenna_Basics.pdf.
Zahra. (2015). FDMA-TDMA-CDMA. Multiple access techniques in wireless
communication, Retrieved 16 August, 2017, from:
https://www.slideshare.net/SammarKhan2/fdmatdmacdma.