Transmission line equations at

radio frequencies

Dr Sankara Malliga G
Professor/ECE
 Standing Waves
• A standing wave is formed by the addition of incident and
reflected waves and has nodal points that remain stationary with
time.
• Voltage Standing Wave Ratio:
VSWR = Vmax/Vmin
• Voltage standing wave ratio expressed in decibels is called the
Standing Wave Ratio:
SWR (dB) = 20log10VSWR
• The maximum impedance of the line is given by:
Zmax = Vmax/Imin
• The minimum impedance of the line is given by:
Zmin = Vmin/Imax
or alternatively:
Zmin = Zo/VSWR
• Relationship between VSWR and Reflection Coefficient:
VSWR = (1 + |G|)/(1 - |G|)
G = (VSWR – 1)/(VSWR + 1)
Half and Quarter wave transmission
lines

• The relationship of the input impedance at the input of

the half-wave transmission line with its terminating
impedance is got by letting L = l/2 in the impedance
equation.
Zinput = ZL W

• The relationship of the input impedance at the input of

the quarter-wave transmission line with its terminating
impedance is got by letting L = l/4 in the impedance
equation.
Zinput = (Zinput Zoutput)0.5 W
Effect of Lossy line on voltage and current waves
• The effect of resistance in a transmission line is to
continuously reduce the amplitude of both incident and
reflected voltage and current waves.

• Skin Effect: As frequency increases, depth of penetration

into adjacent conductive surfaces decreases for boundary
currents associated with electromagnetic waves. This results
in the confinement of the voltage and current waves at the
boundary of the transmission line, thus making the
transmission more lossy.

•f is the frequency of the current

• is the resistivity of the material (in Ohms/meter; this is the inverse of conductivity),
• is the permeability of the material (a measure of the magnetism)
 TRANSMISSION LINE EQUATIONS A
RADIO FREQUENCIES
There are two main forms of line at high
frequency, namely
• Open wire line
• Coaxial line
• At Radio Frequency G may be considered zero
• Skin effect is considerable
• Due to skin effect L>>R
 Coaxial Cable
• used as a transmission line for radio frequency
signals, in applications such as connecting radio
transmitters and receivers with their antennas

• electromagnetic field carrying the signal exists

only in the space between the inner and outer
conductors
• without the power losses that occur in other
transmission lines, and provides protection of
the signal from external electromagnetic
interference.
 Coaxial Cable
• Coaxial cable differs from other shielded cable
used for carrying lower frequency signals such
as audio signals, in that the dimensions of the
cable are controlled to produce a repeatable
and predictable conductor spacing needed to
function efficiently as a radio frequency
transmission line.
 Open wire line
• have the property that the electromagnetic
wave propagating down the line extends into
the space surrounding the parallel wires
• have low loss, but also have undesirable
characteristics
• cannot be bent, twisted or otherwise shaped
without changing their characteristic
impedance, causing reflection of the signal back
toward the source
 Open wire line
• also cannot be run along or attached to
anything conductive, as the extended fields will
induce currents in the nearby conductors
• Coaxial lines solve this problem by confining the
electromagnetic wave to the area inside the
cable, between the center conductor and the
shield
• transmission of energy in the line occurs totally
through the dielectric inside the cable between
the conductors
 Open wire line
• In radio-frequency applications up to a few
gigahertz, the wave propagates primarily in the
transverse electric magnetic (TEM) mode, which
means that the electric and magnetic fields are
both perpendicular to the direction of
propagation
• above a certain cutoff frequency, transverse
electric (TE) and/or transverse magnetic (TM)
modes can also propagate, as they do in a
waveguide.
Transmission line equations at
radio frequencies

Dr Sankara Malliga G
Professor/ECE
 Decibel
• logarithmic unit of measurement that expresses the
magnitude of a physical quantity

• expresses a ratio of two quantities with the same unit, it

is a dimensionless unit

• one tenth of a bel, a seldom-used unit

 Neper
• logarithmic unit of ratio and not an SI unit

• used to express ratios, such as gain and loss

• used to express ratios of voltage and current amplitudes

in electrical circuits

• The value of a ratio in nepers, Np, is given by