TOPIC 3 :

TRANSMISSION LINE (PART II)

 Objectives

• Introduction to transmission line

• Transmission line equivalent circuit
• Transmission line characteristics
• Incident and reflected waves / Mismatch line
• Standing waves
• Impedance Matching
• Waveguides

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 3.7 Incident And Reflected Waves

• Incident voltage - Voltage that propagates from the source

toward the load
• Reflected voltage - Voltage that propagates from the load
toward the source

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 3.8 Resonant and Non resonant
Transmission Lines
1. Non resonant
• Transmission line with no reflected power
• If it is infinite length of the transmission line or Zo=ZL

2. Resonant
• Some of the incident power is reflected back towards the
source, energy present on the line would reflect back and
oscillate between the source and load ends similar to the
way energy is transfer back and forth between the
capacitor and inductor in an LC tank circuit.

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 3.9 Reflection Coefficient
• The reflection coefficient is a vector quantity that represents
the ratio of reflected voltage to incident voltage or reflected
current to incident current. Mathematically :
Er I r
 
Ei I i
• Reflected power never exceed the incident power since
reflected power is a portion of incident wave that was not
absorbed by the load:
0   1
where   1 when E r  Ei
  0 when E r  0
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 3.10 Standing Wave
• Matched line – occur when all the incident power is
absorbed by the load and

ZO  Z L

• Mismatched line – occur when some of the incident power

is absorbed by the load, and some returned (reflected) to
the source.
ZO  Z L

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Standing waves of TL terminated with a load

Vmax

Vmin

λ/4

λ/2

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Transmission line of length l connected on one end to a generator circuit and on
the other end to a load ZL. The load is located at z = 0 and the generator terminals
are at z = −l.

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 Expressions for incident and reflected signal

• Total voltage and current under lossless TL:

𝑉 𝑧 = 𝑉𝑜 + 𝑒 −𝛽𝑧 + 𝑉𝑜 − 𝑒 𝛽𝑧
𝑉𝑜 + 𝑉𝑜 −
𝐼 𝑧 = 𝑒 −𝛽𝑧 − 𝑒 𝛽𝑧
𝑍𝑜 𝑍𝑜
• At z = 0,
𝑉𝐿 = 𝑉𝑜 + + 𝑉𝑜 −
𝑉𝑜 + 𝑉𝑜 −
𝐼𝐿 = −
𝑍𝑜 𝑍𝑜

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• Load impedance can be written as:
𝑉𝐿
𝑍𝐿 =
𝐼𝐿
• Substitute expression for VL and IL in the above expression
(and manipulating the variables) result in:
𝑉𝑜 − 𝑍𝐿 − 𝑍𝑜
=
𝑉𝑜 + 𝑍𝐿 + 𝑍𝑜
• Reflection coefficient is the ratio of reflected to incident
voltage, hence:
𝑉𝑜 − 𝑍𝐿 − 𝑍𝑜
Γ= + =
𝑉𝑜 𝑍𝐿 + 𝑍𝑜

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• These are stationary waves pattern produced on the TL as the
incident and reflected waves pass each other. The two
traveling waves set up an interference pattern.
– The maximum value of the standing wave corresponds to the position
on the line at which the incident and reflected waves are in phase
therefore add constructively
– The minimum value of the standing wave corresponds to the position
on the line at which the incident and reflected waves are out of phase
therefore add destructively
• Distance between minima is half wavelength (λ/2).
• Distance between maxima is also half wavelength (λ/2).
• Distance between minima and maxima is quarter wavelength
(λ/4).

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• Standing-wave ratio (SWR or VSWR) is defined as the ratio of
the maximum voltage to the minimum voltage or the
maximum current to the minimum current of a standing wave
on a transmission line.
• Also called VSWR (Voltage Standing-Wave Ratio).
Mathematically, SWR is given by

Vmax
SWR 
Vmin

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V max Occur when the incident and reflected waves are in
phase
Vmin Occur when the incident and reflected waves are
1800 out of phase.

Therefore :

Vmax Ei  Er
SWR  
Vmin Ei  Er

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• 𝑺𝑾𝑹 = 𝟏 when there is no reflected wave (Er = 0), This
condition occurs when Zo = ZL and is the ideal situation.

• 𝑺𝑾𝑹 = ∞ when the incident and reflected waves are

equal in amplitude (a total mismatch). This is the worst-case
condition.
1  SWR  
where,
SWR  1 when E r  0
SWR   when E r  E i
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• 𝑺𝑾𝑹 = 𝟏 when there is no reflected wave (Er = 0), This
condition occurs when Zo = ZL and is the ideal situation.

• 𝑺𝑾𝑹 = ∞ when the incident and reflected waves are

equal in amplitude (a total mismatch). This is the worst-case
condition.
1  SWR  
where,
SWR  1 when E r  0 0
SWR   when E r  E i  1
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• The standing wave ratio can also be written in terms of  :
Ei  E r

• Substituting into equation…

Vmax Ei  Er Ei  Ei Ei 1    1   
SWR   SWR  SWR  
Vmin Ei  Er Ei  Ei Ei 1    1   

• Cross multiplying gives

SWR  1

SWR  1
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• Open termination - none of the power is absorbed; all are
reflected back towards the source. The incident voltage wave
is reflected in exactly the same manner as if it were to
continue down an infinitely long line.

• Shorted termination - the incident current is reflected 1800

reversed

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 3.10.1 Standing Wave on an Open Line

Voltage and current standing waves on a transmission line

(Open circuit)
Vmax
The maximum impedance at the open end Z max 
I min

The minimum impedance one-quarter Vmin

wavelength from the open Z min 
I max
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• It can be seen that the voltage standing wave has a maximum
value at the open end and a minimum value one-quarter
wavelength from the open line

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3.10.2 Standing Wave on an Shorted Line

Voltage and current standing waves on a transmission line

(Shorted circuit)
Vmin
The minimum impedance at the short end Z min 
I max

The maximum impedance one-quarter Vmax

wavelength from the short end Z max 
I min
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• It can be seen that the voltage standing wave has a minimum
value at the short circuited end and a maximum value one-
quarter wavelength from the shorted line

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AJB 40204 RADIO FREQUENCY THEORY 22
Incident and reflected waves on a transmission line terminated in an open circuit

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 Exercise 6

A 75  source is connected to a 50  load with a 75 

transmission line. All impedances are resistive. The resultant
standing wave has a minimum voltage of 25 V. Calculate the SWR
for the transmission line and the maximum voltage (Vmax).

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 Exercise 7

A 50 Ω lossless line connects a signal of 1GHz to a load of 120 Ω.

The first voltage minimum at the load has a value of 0.5 V.
Calculate:
i. The voltage reflection coefficient (0.411)
ii. SWR (2.4)
iii. The value of the first voltage maximum from the load (1.2V)

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 Exercise 8

A lossless transmission line is terminated in a load resistance

ZL=50 Ω with 1/3 of the incident wave is reflected. Determine
the:
i. Reflection Coefficient (1/3)
ii. SWR (2)
iii. The characteristic impedance, Z0 (25 Ω)

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 Exercise 9

Why it is important that the line is matched?

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 Exercise 9

Why it is important that the line is matched?

When the characteristic impedance of a TL and its load are not

matched,
(i) maximum power is not transferred to the load
(ii) standing waves are present on the line

Standing waves cause power loss, dielectric breakdown, noise,

radiation and ghost signals. Therefore whenever possible a
transmission line should be matched to the load

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 3.11 Transmission-Line Impedance
Matching
• Power is transferred most efficiently to a load when there are
no reflected waves, that is when Zo = ZL
• Standing waves are present on the line, and maximum power
is not transferred to the load when Zo ≠ ZL
• Standing waves cause power loss, dielectric breakdown, noise,
radiation, and ghost signals.
• Two common techniques to match a transmission line to a
load:
i. Quarter-wavelength transformer matching
ii. Stub matching.

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 3.11.1 Quarter-wavelength Transformer
Matching
• The quarter-wavelength transformers are used to match TL to
purely resistive loads whose resistance is not equal to the
characteristic impedance of the line.
• The 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.

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• Therefore, a transmission line one-quarter wavelength long
acts as a step-up or step-down transformer, depending on
whether ZL is greater than or less than ZO.

• ZL = Zo : It acts as a transformer with a 1:1 turns ratio.

• ZL > Zo : It acts as a step-down transformer.
• ZL < Zo : It acts as a step-up transformer.

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 Transmission line Quarter-wavelength
with characteristic transformer
impedance, Zo

Source Load

λ/4
𝑍′𝑜 = 𝑍𝑜 𝑍𝐿

where:
Z’o = Characteristic impedance of a quarter wavelength transformer
Zo = Characteristic impedance of the TL that is being matched
ZL = load impedance

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 Example

Find the physical length and Zo’ for a quarter-wave transformer

that is used to match a section of 75Ω transmission line to a
300Ω load. The frequency of operation is 200 MHz.

c 3x108 m / s
    1.5 m
f 200 MHz

 1.5
  0.375m
4 4

Zo  Zo Z L  150 
'

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 Exercise 10

Match a 300 Ω load to a 75 Ω signal source at a frequency of

50MHz.

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 3.11.2 Stub matching
• When a load is purely inductive or purely capacitive, it
absorbs no energy. The reflection coefficient is 1 and SWR is
infinity.
• When the load is a complex impedance, a stub can be used
to match the TL.
• 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 (cancel out) the susceptance of the load.
• 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.

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Shorted stub impedance matching

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• Given ZL = RL + j XL . Matching network has to:
– Transform the real part of the load from RL (at the load) to
Z0 at MM’.
– Transform reactive part from XL (at the load) to zero at
MM’

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 In-parallel insertion of a short-circuited stub

Inserting a reactive element with admittance Ys at MM′ modifies Yd to Yin.

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 3.12 Waveguide Principles In Microwave
Technology
• In Section 3.3, we have looked at some examples of TL (open-wire,
twin lead, twisted pair, coaxial line).
– These are transmission lines that support transverse
electromagnetic (TEM) modes.
– These types of TL satisfy the TEM requirement that E and H
and the direction of propagation are always orthogonal to one
another.
• Another mode is called the higher-order modes.
– E and H may be orthogonal to the direction of operation but
not both simultaneously.
– At least one component of E or H is along the direction of
propagation
• Among the higher-order transmission lines, the two most
commonly used are optical fibre and the metal waveguide.
• Waveguides are used to direct and control transmission
signals.
• A standard waveguide is a hollow metal tube or rectangle that
distributes electrical inductance at its walls and capacitance in
the space between the walls.
• Waveguides are usually more effective when handling high
frequency signals in which wavelengths come near the
dimensional cross-sections.
• Unlike coaxial and stripline systems, waveguides are highly
shielded and can provide isolation between nearby signals.
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• That is why waveguides are the most efficient way to transfer
electromagnetic energy.
• They are constructed from conductive material and may be
rectangular, circular, or elliptical in shape, as shown in below

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AJB 40204 RADIO FREQUENCY THEORY 42
• In addition, they have the capacity to handle high
transmission peaks with relatively low levels of signal loss
along microwave frequencies.

• Waveguides contain a single conductor, eliminating the

problem of spacing between multiple conductors, and rely on
air as a dielectric, reducing the need for consistency in the
dielectric material.

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 3.13 Disadvantages of waveguide
• Expensive than alternative forms due to the higher cost of
waveguide materials, such as silver and copper, and the relatively
low-volume production processes involved in manufacturing
waveguide components.
• Designs for lower microwave frequencies tend to be larger and
bulkier than those built for antenna-based applications, and most
waveguides cannot pass DC current when transmitting radio
frequency signals.
• As a performance improvement measure, gas can be used to
pressurize a waveguide and increase its peak power capacity before
it’s overloaded. Copper or aluminium waveguides can also be
coated with an inner lining of silver to lower resistance loss.

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• These methods help offset some of the disadvantages of waveguide
technology and enable it to be applied in a wide range of
microwave systems.
• Waveguides are difficult to install because of their rigid, hollow-pipe
shape. Special couplings at the joints are required to assure proper
operation. Also, the inside surfaces of waveguides are often plated
with silver or gold to reduce skin effect losses. These requirements
increase the costs and decrease the practicality of waveguide
systems at any other than microwave frequencies.

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 3.14 Waveguide Transmission Principles
 Rather than conducting a signal, a waveguide functions as a unit for
channelling and controlling the flow of electromagnetic energy.
Because it is a single-conductor system, its electrical distribution
properties are distinct from those of two-conductor transmission
lines.
 In the standard wave flow arrangement among two-conductor
transmission systems (in the TEM mode), signal wavelength tends
to be larger than the cross-sectional dimensions of the transmission
line
 At higher microwave frequencies, transmission lines with cross-
sections short enough to sustain a microwave signal often suffer
from significant power loss and low voltage ratings, making them
less effective in a wide range of applications. In these cases, a
waveguide can provide the needed performance characteristics.
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• When an electromagnetic wave moves along a hollow cylindrical or
rectangular waveguide, only the electric field or the magnetic field
will be transverse to the wave’s direction.
• The non-transverse field will remain perpendicular, but form a
continuous loop or flux line on the longitudinal axis of wave motion.
• This transmission mode can efficiently handle high-frequency
microwave signals, in which the wavelength approaches the cross-
sectional dimensions of the waveguide. Signals normally enter and
exit a waveguide through specialized coupling devices, such as a
dipoles or half-dipoles, which are antenna-like units composed of
stub wires.

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 3.15 Waveguide Design
• Although they serve as an alternative to other transmission line
systems, waveguides can also be applied in coordination with other
signal devices.
– Many waveguides can be coupled with coaxial cables through
the use of antenna probes, while a transition device known as
an E-plane can form a connection between a waveguide and a
microstrip.
– In addition, waveguide parts, such as twists and switches, are
often equipped with coupling flanges that allow them to be
connected into specific shapes for applications in ships, aircraft,
or other specialized microwave transmission environments.
– Waveguide couplers may be used to connect multiple units or
provide termination, and flexible waveguides can be installed to
bridge non-standard gaps between waveguides. 48
• There are also several types of secondary waveguide components,
including:
– Amplifiers : Microwave amplifiers are designed to increase
frequency signals and produce high-power transmission waves.
Amplifiers, such as klystrons, are used for broadband and
satellite communications networks.
– Attenuators : Serve the reverse purpose of microwave
amplifiers, inhibiting or reducing signal and power gain in a
transmission. They are useful when voltage needs to be lowered
or power dissipated during operations.

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 – Circulators : Electronic devices that maintain signal routes. They
are normally composed of ferrite and feature three ports. Signal
energy moves from one port to the next in a predetermined
sequence.
– Isolators : An isolator is closely related to a circulator device.
When a port in a circulator is terminated, the signal in the
remaining ports can only travel in one direction, allowing certain
components to be separated from a transmission chain.

• Other peripheral components, such as mixers and adapters, further

increase a waveguide’s versatility, making it more effective in a
wider range of high-frequency microwave applications.

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