antenna losses

Dear friends,

I have a problem with my design. I want to know how to measure the losses of my antenna in HFSS or ADS?

I need to know this because in my Active antenna design, I get about 7db gain of my LNA and I was wondering how much is the antenna losses? because if it is greater than 7db, I have no receiver in fact!

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Make sure the antenna is matched to the LNA, ie: Zamp = R+jX = Zant= R -jX

Assuming you have an HFSS model with solutions, you can plot the real and imaginary impedances of your antenna (load)

and you know the output impedance of LNA you designed (source)

so you can create a matching network with lumped elements


If your talking about the loses in the metal of the antenna I really wouldn't worry about it. I usually create all my metal objects from vacuum and assign PEC(Perfect Electric Conductor). Maybe 2% Different Result with alot less simulation time, but this all depends on what frequencies the antenna is for...