Ground plane

In electrical engineering, a ground plane is an electrically conductive surface, usually connected to electrical ground.

Antennas
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Common types Dipole Fractal Loop Monopole Satellite dish Television Whip
Components Balun Block upconverter Coaxial cable Counterpoise (ground system) Feed Feed line Low-noise block downconverter Passive radiator Receiver Rotator Stub Transmitter Tuner Twin-lead
Systems Antenna farm Amateur radio Cellular network Hotspot Municipal wireless network Radio Radio masts and towers Wi-Fi Wireless
Safety and regulation Wireless device radiation and health Wireless electronic devices and health International Telecommunication Union (Radio Regulations) World Radiocommunication Conference
Radiation sources / regions Boresight Focal cloud Ground plane Main lobe Near and far field Side lobe Vertical plane
Characteristics Array gain Directivity Efficiency Electrical length Equivalent radius Factor Friis transmission equation Gain Height Radiation pattern Radiation resistance Radio propagation Radio spectrum Signal-to-noise ratio Spurious emission
Techniques Beam steering Beam tilt Beamforming Small cell Bell Laboratories Layered Space-Time (BLAST) Massive Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) Reconfiguration Spread spectrum Wideband Space Division Multiple Access (WSDMA)

The term has two different meanings in separate areas of electrical engineering.

In antenna theory, a ground plane is a conducting surface large in comparison to the wavelength, such as the Earth, which is connected to the transmitter's ground wire and serves as a reflecting surface for radio waves.
In printed circuit boards, a ground plane is a large area of copper foil on the board which is connected to the power supply ground terminal and serves as a return path for current from different components on the board.

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