Transmission Lines

1. What are the types of transmission lines 

- parallel line (ladder line, twisted pair)

- Twisted Pair - it is a balanced medium both of the conductors are of equal size and
shape. Twisting the wires closely together improves the shielding (the ability to
reject unwanted signals), however, this also increases the high-frequency losses of
the line, mainly because the capacitance between the wires increases.

- Ladder Line - This line consists of two parallel conductors, separated by an

insulating material. You may have seen it on the back of your TV set in the form of
flat line. This type of line has a characteristic impedance between 200 and 600 Ω,
depending on how far apart we've spaced the conductors.

- coaxial cable - The word "coaxial" means "shared axis." Coaxial cable consists of a
center conductor that is inside a hollow outer metal tube. In between the two
conductors is the dielectric, which can be air, plastic, or some other insulating
material. The dielectric is there to insulate the two conductors from each other. It
also partially controls the electrical characteristics of the line. Coaxial line is an
unbalanced line. The two conductors are unequal, and the paths for current going in
and out are different.

- planar transmission lines (Microstrip and Stripline)

- Microstrip - A microstrip is a type of transmission line that consists of a
conductor fabricated on dielectric substrate with a grounded plane. It is
easily miniaturized and integrated with microwave devices making it a
popular choice of transmission line.
- Stripline is a type of transmission line based on planar microwave
circuitry. It typically consists of a conducting strip surrounded by dielectric
material and sandwiched between two conducting ground planes. ... Two
ground planes separated by a distance b are placed above and below the
stripline.
2. What is standing wave?
- a vibration of a system in which some particular points remain fixed while others
between them vibrate with the maximum amplitude.
- Standing waves are waves of voltage and current which do not
propagate (i.e. they are stationary), but are the result of interference between
incident and reflected waves along a transmission line. A node is a point on a
standing wave of minimum amplitude. An antinode is a point on a standing
wave of maximum amplitude.
- Standing wave, also called stationary wave, combination of two waves
moving in opposite directions, each having the same amplitude and
frequency. The phenomenon is the result of interference; that is, when waves
are superimposed, their energies are either added together or canceled out.

3. What is smith chart and how it is used?

- The Smith chart can be used to calculate admittances, a feature very useful
in designing impedance matching circuits. The normalized admittance occurs
on the reflection coefficient circle, diametrically opposite to the normalized
impedance.
- The Smith Chart is used to display an actual (physical) antenna's impedance
when measured on a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA). Smith Charts were
originally developed around 1940 by Phillip Smith as a useful tool for making
the equations involved in transmission lines easier to manipulate.