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HPBW or half power beamwidth refers to the angular width between the points at which the radiated power per unit area is one half of the maximum.

Similarly FNBW (First null beam width) refers to the angular width between the first two nulls as shown in Fig 7.3. By the term beam width we usually refer to 3 dB beamwidth or HPBW.

Directivity and gain:

We have already mentioned that an antenna does not radiate uniformly in all directions. Directivity function describes the variation of the radiation intensity. The directivity function is defined as,

=

If Pr is the radiated power, the gives the amount of power radiated per unit solid angle. Had this power been uniformly radiated in all directions then average power radiated per unit solid angle is .

Fundamentals of Antennas and Radiating systems

The main lobe contains the direction of maximum radiation. However in some antennas, more than one major lobe may exist. Lobe other than major lobe are called minor lobes. Minor lobes can be further categorized as side lobes and back lobes. Minor lobes represent radiation in the undesired direction and require to be minimized.