A Critical Note on the Engineering Model of Radiating Antenna in Homogeneous Medium: Field Regions and Transition Zone Boundaries

Although radiating antenna field configuration and propagation principles in homogeneous media were theoretically established long ago, certain issues in their practical implementation proved full of twists and turns due to the complexity of the physical processes and mathematical intricacies. Those may and often do result in confusion with multiple definitions of antenna near and far field regions and the various “rules of thumb” criteria for their boundaries, contradicting each other to the frustration of practicing engineers. This may lead to erroneous interpretation of measurement results as well as technical difficulties and financial losses in important practical applications. The purpose of this work is to address this kind of issues regarding the formulation and implementation of the engineering model of the radiating antenna field. Based on the well established physical and mathematical underpinnings we elucidate the origins of and physical mechanisms behind the arising problems, as well as their potential effect on development of modern technologies. We also look at ideas for potential improvements and standardization in these areas.