– 2 –
by
Data Sheet ANT-DB1-RMS-xxx
VSWR Graph
What is VSWR?
The Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) is a measurement of how well
an antenna is matched to a source impedance, typically 50-ohms. It is
calculated by measuring the voltage wave that is headed toward the load
versus the voltage wave that is reflected back from the load. A perfect
match will have a VSWR of 1:1. The higher the first number, the worse the
match, and the more inefficient the system. Since a perfect match cannot
ever be obtained, some benchmark for performance needs to be set. In
the case of antenna VSWR, this is usually 2:1. At this point, 88.9% of the
energy sent to the antenna by the transmitter is radiated into free space
and 11.1% is either reflected back into the source or lost as heat on
the structure of the antenna. In the other direction, 88.9% of the energy
recovered by the antenna is transferred into the receiver. As a side note,
since the “:1” is always implied, many data sheets will remove it and just
display the first number.
How to Read a VSWR Graph
VSWR is usually displayed graphically versus frequency. The lowest point
on the graph is the antenna’s operational center frequency. In most cases,
this will be different than the designed center frequency due to fabrication
tolerances. The VSWR at that point denotes how close to 50-ohms the
antenna gets. Linx specifies the recommended bandwidth as the range
where the typical antenna VSWR is less than 2:1.
VSWR Reflected Power
3:1
2:1
1:1
25%
11%
0%
CENTER 868.000MHz
CENTER 1 800.000MHz
SPAN 200.000MHz
