Topic outline

 Return Loss
 Standing Waves on an Open Line
 Standing Waves on a Shorted Line
 Transmission-Line Input Impedance
 Input impedance variations for an open-circuited transmission line
 Input impedance variations for an short-circuited transmission line
 Transmission line summary
 Solutions to mismatch loading condition
a. Quarter-wave matching
b. Stub matching
c. Time-Domain Reflectometry
d. Smith Chart
 Special types of transmission lines
a. Microstrip
b. striplines
c. fiber optic cable
d. waveguide
 Q&As
 Would the VSWR be the same for load resistors of 100 ohms
and 25 ohms in a transmission line with a characteristics
impedance of 50 ohms. Prove.
 A transmission line with a characteristics impedance of 100
ohms has a minimum impedance of 45 ohms. What is SWR(dB)
 The voltage standing wave caused by a mismatched load has a
maximum value of 50 volts and a minimum value of 30V. What is
the SWR(dB).
 The forward power in a transmission line is 150 Watts and the
reverse power is 20 Watts. Calculate the SWR on the line.
 Would the VSWR be the same for load resistors of 100 ohms
and 25 ohms in a transmission line with a characteristics
impedance of 50 ohms. Prove.

Z L = 100Ω
VSWR = Z L / Z o = 100 / 50 = 2.0
Z L = 50Ω = Z o / Z L = 50 / 25 = 2.0

 The answer is yes. They have both 2.0 VSWR

 A transmission line with a characteristics impedance of 100
ohms has a minimum impedance of 45 ohms. What is SWR(dB)

Zo 100
VSWR = = = 2.22
Z min 45
VSWR( dB ) = 20 log VSWR = 20 log 2.22 = 6.92dB
 The voltage standing wave caused by a mismatched load
has a maximum value of 50 volts and a minimum value of
30V. What is the SWR(dB).

Vmax 50
VSWR = = = 1.67
Vmin 30
SWR ( dB ) = 20 log VSWR = 20 log 1.67 = 4.44dB
 The forward power in a transmission line is 150 Watts and the
reverse power is 20 Watts. Calculate the SWR on the line.

Pr = Γ 2 Pi
20
Γ= = 0.365
150
1 + Γ 1 + 0.365
SWR = = = 2.15
1 − Γ 1 − 0.365
Return Loss
Return loss
• It is the loss of power in the signal returned/reflected by a
discontinuity in a transmission line or optical fibre.

• This is normally expressed in decibels(dB).

• If all the power was transferred to the load, then there would
be an infinite return loss

• Typically return loss is used in circuit applications, whereas

VSWR is used in association with feeders / transmission
lines.
• .
• Return loss is normally calculated as follows:

1
R = 20 log 
Γ
Exercise#1

1. If the return loss is 20 dB, find the

equivalent SWR.
Answer#1:

1
R( dB ) = 20 log 
Γ
1
20dB = 20 log 
Γ
Γ = 0.1
1 + Γ 1 + .1
SWR = = = 1.2
1 − Γ 1 − .1
 Exercise#2
Question#2
2. An attenuator has a loss of 3 dB. If a
power of 5W is applied to the attenuator,
find the output power
Answer#2:

 Pout 
R = 10 log 
 Pi 
 Pr 
− 3dB = 10 log 
 5W 
Pr = 2.5Watts
 Standing Waves on an Open Line
Standing Waves on an Shorted Line
Standing Waves on an Open Line
 When incident waves of voltage and current reach an open
termination, none of the power is absorbed; it is all reflected
toward the source. ( no external load)

 Maximum VSW at open end, Minimum VSW- λ/4 from the

open-end

 Maximum ISW λ/4 from the open-end, Minimum ISW at open

end VSW-
 Vmax
Z = At the open end
I min

Vmin One-quarter wavelength

Z =
I max from the open
Standing Waves on a Short Line
 As with the open line, none of the incident power is absorbed
by the load when a transmission line is terminated in a short
circuit.
 However, with a shorted line, the incident voltage and current
waves are reflected back in the opposite manner.
 Vmin
Z = At the short end
I max

Vmax One-quarter wavelength

Z =
I min from the open
 For a transmission line
terminated in either a short
or an open circuit, the
reflection coefficient is 1 (the
worst case), and the SWR is
infinity (also the worst-case
condition)
Input impedance (Zin)
• It is simply the line impedance seen at the beginning
of the transmission line

• Zin equal to neither the load impedance ZL nor the

characteristic impedance Zo. Zin ≠ ZL and Zin ≠ Zo
Transmission-line input impedance
• The input impedance (Zin) for a lossless line seen
looking into a transmission line that is terminated in
a short or an open can be resistive, inductive, or
capacitive, depending on the distance from the
termination.
  The impedance at any point on a lossless transmission
line is given by the equation

Z L cosθ + jZ o sin θ
Z = Zo
Z o cosθ + jZ L sin θ
Z L + jZ o tan θ
Z = Zo
Z o + jZ L tan θ

 Where
 Z= impedance looking toward the line
 ZL= load impedance
 Zo= characteristic impedance of the line
θ = distance to the load in degrees (for example, a quarter-wavelength would be 90 degrees)
Exercises!!!
 Prepare 1 whole sheet of bondpaper
 Exercise#3
Example#1
Calculate the impedance looking into a 50Ω line 1 m
long, terminated in a load impedance of 100 Ω, if the
line has a velocity factor of 0.8 and operates at a
frequency of 30MHz.
 Answer#3:
 First, we need the length of the line in degrees. At
30 MHz with a velocity factor of 0.8, the wavelength
is Z L + jZ o tan θ
Z = Zo
L Z o + jZ L tan θ
φ = ( 360 )
λ 100 Ω + j ( 50 Ω ) tan 45°
1meter Z = 50 Ω
50 Ω + j (100 Ω ) tan 45°
φ = ( 360 )
3 x108 x .8 100 Ω + j ( 50 Ω )
30 x10 6 Z = 50 Ω
50 Ω + j (100 Ω )
φ = 45° 100 Ω + j ( 50 Ω )
Z =
1+ j 2

Z = 40 Ω − j ( 30 Ω )
Solutions to mismatch loading
condition
a. Quarter-wave matching
b. Stub matching
c. Time-Domain Reflectometry
d. Smith Chart
Transmission line impedance matching

 Power is transferred most efficiently to a load when

there are no reflected waves, that is when the load is
purely resistive(zero reactance) and equal to Zo.

 Whenever the characteristic impedance of a

transmission line and its load are not matched (equal),
standing waves are present on the line, and maximum
power is not transferred to the load.

Standing waves cause power loss, noise radiation, and

ghost signals. Therefore, whenever possible, a
transmission line should matched to its load.
Quarter-wavelength transformers matching
Are used to match transmission lines to purely resistive
loads whose resistance is not equal to the characteristic
impedance of the line.

 Keep in mind that a quarter-wavelength transformer is

not actually a transformer but rather a quarter-wavelength
section of transmission line that acts as if it were a
transformer.

 A quarter-wave transformer is not a broadband

impedance-matching device; it is a quarter-wave at only a
single frequency.

 As with a transformer, a quarter-wave transformer is

placed between a transmission line and its load. It is
simply a length of transmission line one-quarter wave long.
 '
Z o = Zo Z L
 '
Z o = Zo Z L
 Exercise#4
Example#1
Determine the physical length and characteristic impedance for a
quarter-wave transformer that is used to match a section of RG-
8A/U (Zo=50 ohms) to a 150-ohms resistive load. The frequency of
operation is 150 MHz, and the velocity factor=1
.
Answer:
Answer#4:
8
c 3 x10 m / s
λ= = = 2m
f 150 MHz
λ 2m
= = 0.5m
4 4
 The characteristic of the 0.5m transformer is

Z 'o = Zo Z L
Z 'o = (50)(150) = 86.6Ω
 Stub Matching
• When load is purely inductive
or purely capacitive, it absorbs
no energy. The reflection
coefficient is 1, and the VSWR
is infinity.
• When the load is a complex
impedance (which is usually
the case), it is necessary to
remove the reactive
component to match the
transmission line to the load.
• Transmission-line stubs are
commonly used for this
purpose
• A Transmission-line stub is
simply a piece of additional
transmission line that is placed
across the primary line as
close to the load as possible.
 The susceptance of the stub is used to tune out the
susceptance of the load.

 In electrical engineering, susceptance (B) is the

imaginary part of admittance. The inverse of
admittance is impedance, and the real part of
admittance is conductance. In SI units, susceptance
is measured in siemens. Oliver Heaviside first
defined this property, which he called permittance, in
June 1887.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susceptance
 The general equation
defining admittance is given  The admittance (Y) is the
by inverse of the impedance (Z)
Y = G + jB 2
1 1  R   
Y = = =  2  + j  − X 
Z R + jX  R +X   R2 + X 
where  −X 
B =  2 
Y is the admittance, measured  R +X 
in siemens.
G is the conductance, measured where
in siemens. Z=R+jX
j is the imaginary unit, and Z is the impedance, measured in ohms
B is the susceptance, measured R is the resistance, measured in ohms
X is the reactance, measured in ohms.
in siemens.
 With stub matching, either a shorted or an
open stub can be used.
 However, shorted stubs are preferred
because open stubs have a tendency to
radiate, especially at the higher frequencies.
 A shorted stub is used to cancel the
susceptance of the load and match the load
resistance to the characteristic impedance
of the transmission line.
 A shorted section of transmission line can
look resistive, inductive, or capacitive,
depending on its electrical length.
 A transmission line that is one half-
wavelength or shorter can be used to tune
out the reactive component of the load.
The process of matching a load to a transmission line
with a shorted stub is as follows.
1. Locate a point as close to the
load as possible where the For a more explanation of stub
conductive component of the input matching, SMITH CHART is used.
impedance is equal to the
characteristic admittance of the
transmission line:
1
Yin = G + jB, whereG = What is SMITH CHART?
Zo
2. Attach the shorted stub to the point
on the transmission line identified in
step 1.
3. Depending on whether the reactive
component at the point identified in
step 1 is inductive or capacitive, the
stub length is adjusted accordingly

Yin = G − jB + jBstub
Yin = G
if
B = Bstub
SMITH CHART
 Mathematical solutions for transmission-line impedance are laborious.
Therefore, it is common practice to use charts to graphically solve
transmission-line impedance problems. Below is the formula for
determining the impedance at a given point on a transmission line:

 Z + jZ o tan β S 
Z = Zo  L 
 Z o + jZ L tan β S 

Where:
Z= line impedance at a given point
ZL= load impedance
Zo= line characteristic impedance
βS= distance from the load to the point where the impedance value is to be
calculated
 SMITH CHART
 Smith Chart is the most widely used
transmission-line calculator.
 The Smith chart is a special kind of
impedance coordinate system that
portrays the relationship of impedance
at any point along a uniform
transmission line to the impedance at
any other point on the line.
 Smith chart was developed by Philip H.
Smith at Bell Telephone Laboratories
and was originally described in an
article entitled “Transmission Line
Calculator” (Electronics, January 1939).
 Any impedance Z can be plotted on the Smith chart by simply
normalizing the impedance value to the characteristic
impedance (i.e., z= Z/Zo) and plotting the real and imaginary
parts.
 FOR EXAMPLE: a characteristic impedance Zo= 50 ohms and
an impedance Z= 25 ohms resistive, the normalized impedance
z is determined as follows:

Z 25
z= = = 0.5
Zo 50
 Exercise#5
A load ZL= 75+j50 ohms can be matched to a 50 ohms source
with a quarter-wave transformer. The normalized load
impedance z is
Answer#5:

75 + j 50
z= = 1.5 + j1
50
Time-Domain Reflectometry
 Metallic cables, as with all components within electronic
communications system, can develop problems that inhibit their
ability to perform as expected.

 Cable problems often create unique situations because cables often

extend over large distances, sometimes as far as several thousand
feet or longer.

 Cable problems are often attributed to chemical erosion at cross-

connect points and mechanical failure. When a problem occurs in a
cable, it can be extremely time consuming and, consequently,
quite expensive to determine the type and exact location of the
problem.
 A technique that can be used to locate an impairment in a metallic cable is called
Time-Domain Reflectometry (TDR).

 With TDR, transmission-line impairments can be pinpointed within several feet at

distances of 10 miles.

 TDR makes use of the well-established theory that the transmission line
impairment, such as shorts and opens, cause a portion of the incident signal to
return to the source. How much of the transmitted signal returns depends on the
type and magnitude of impairment.

 The point on the line where the impairment is located represents a discontinuity to
the signal.

 TDR operates in a fashion similar to radar. A short duration pulse with a fast rise
time is propagated down a cable, then the time for a portion of that signal to
return to the source is measured.

 The return signal is sometimes called Echo.

How to locate the distance of the impairment on the
cable?
 Knowing the velocity of propagation on the cable,
the exact distance between the impairment and the
source can be determined using the following
mathematical relationships
vxt
d =
2
Where
d= distance to the discontinuity (meters)
Vp= actual velocity (m/s)
t= elapsed time (seconds)
 Exercise#6:
A pulse is transmitted down a cable that has a velocity of
propagation of 0.8c. The reflected signal is received 1μs
later. How far down the cable is the impairment?
Answer#6:
vxt
d =
2
(0.8c )(1µs )
d =
2
d = 120m
 Exercise#7:
Using TDR (Time-domain reflectometer), a
transmission-line impairment is located 3000m from
the source. For a velocity of propagation of 0.9c,
determine the time elapsed from the beginning of the
pulse to the reception of the echo.
Answer#7:

2d
t=
v
2 x3000m
t= 8
= 22.22 µs
0.9(3 x10 m / s )
Coax cable testing with a step TDR
Microstrip and Stripline
Transmission Lines
 At frequencies below about 300 MHz, • Also, when the distance
the characteristics impedance of open between the source and load
and shorted transmission lines, such as ends of a transmission line is
those described earlier in this chapter, a few inches or less, standard
have little relevance. Therefore at low coaxial cable transmission
frequencies, standard transmission lines lines are impractical because
would be too long for practical use as the connectors, terminations,
reactive components or tuned circuits. and cables themselves are
simply too large.
 For high frequency (300 MHz- 3000MHz) • Both microstrip and stripline
applications, however, special use the traces (sometimes
transmission lines constructed with called tracks) on the PC board
copper patterns on a printed circuit board itself.
(PCB) called microstrip and stripline • The traces can be etched
have been developed to interconnect using the same processes as
components on PCB. the other traces on the board;
thus they do not require any
additional manufacturing
processes.
 Microstrip
• is simply a flat conductor separated
from a ground plane by an
insulating dielectric material.
• The ground plane serves as the
circuit common point and must be
at least 10 times wider than the top
conductor and must be connected
to ground.
• The microstrip is generally either
λ/4 or λ/2 long at the frequency of
operation and equivalent to un
unbalanced transmission line.
• Shorted lines are usually preferred
to open lines because open lines
have a greater tendency to radiate.
Microstrip
If the lines are etched onto the surface of the PC board
only, they are called Microstrip.
Microstrip
As with any transmission line, the
characteristic impedance of a
microstrip line is dependent on its
physical characteristics.
Therefore, any characteristic
impedance between 50 ohms
and 200 ohms can be achieved
with microstrip lines by simply
changing its dimensions. The
same is true for stripline.
Unfortunately, every configuration
of microstrip has its own unique
formula. The formula for
calculating the characteristic
impedance of an unbalanced
microstrip line such
Characteristic impedance of unbalanced
microstrip line

87  5.98h 
Zo = ln 
ε + 1.41  0.8w + t 

Where
Zo=characteristic impedance (ohms)
ε= dielectric constant (FR-4 fiberglass =4.5 and Teflon=3)
w= width of copper trace*
t= thickness of copper trace*
h= distance between copper trace and the ground plane (i.e. thickness of dielectric)
NOTE: * the dimension for w, t, and h can be any linear unit (inches, millimeters, and
so on) as long as they all use the same unit
Microstrip Balanced transmission line
Stripline

 Stripline is simply a flat

conductor sandwiches
between two ground planes.
Although stripline is difficult to d t h
manufacture than microstrip, it
is less likely to radiate; thus, w

losses in stripline are lower

than with microstrip.
 Again, the length of the
stripline is either λ/4 or λ/2
long , and shorted lines are
used more often than open
lines.
 Stripline
The characteristic impedance of a
stripline configured as
 
60  4d 
Zo = ln 
ε t  d t h
 0.67πw(0.8 + ) 
 h 
Where: w
w= width of conducting copper trace*
t= thickness of conducting copper trace*
d= dielectric thickness*
h= distance between copper trace and
the ground plane.*
NOTE: * the dimension for w, t, and h
can be any linear unit (inches,
millimeters, and so on) as long as they
all use the same unit
APPLICATION

RF Filters: Microstrip or stripline transmission lines are used to

connect the input and output ports of RF and microwave filters,
such as bandpass filters, low-pass filters, high-pass filters, and
band-stop filters.
Antennas: Microstrip transmission lines are commonly used to
feed signals to and from antennas, such as patch antennas,
microstrip antennas, and slot antennas. Stripline transmission
lines can also be used in antenna designs for specific
applications.
Mixers and Modulators: Microstrip or stripline transmission
lines are used to connect mixers and modulators in RF and
microwave systems, which are essential for frequency
conversion and modulation of signals.
 Thank you!!!

Prepared by: Jenadel DL. Antipolo, ECE

Subject Instructor