An Introduction to Impedance Matching Using the
2020 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and North American Radio Science Meeting | 978-1-7281-6670-4/20/$31.00 ©2020 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/IEEECONF35879.2020.9329545
Analog Discovery Board
Steven S. Holland
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department
Milwaukee School of Engineering
Milwaukee, WI, USA
holland@msoe.edu
Abstract—This paper presents a simple, yet effective hands-on
introduction to impedance matching in the frequency domain
using the Digilent Analog Discovery Board. This experiment
avoids the need for expensive RF/Microwave test equipment,
by using basic low frequency measurement equipment that
is common to the typical electrical engineering laboratory (a
basic oscilloscope and signal generator setup can also be used).
Through this experiment, students observe the importance of
impedance matching first-hand, via measurements, and then
design and build a basic narrowband lumped LC impedance
matching network at low frequency and verify its performance.
I. I NTRODUCTION
Impedance matching is fundametal to an-
tenna/RF/microwave engineering as well as high speed
digital system design, yet to students it can often seem
abstract and difficult to understand. A major reason this
topic is so challenging is the expense of high frequency test
equpiment, such as Vector Network Analyzers, which often
precludes or limits laboratory experiments in impedance
matching. One popular alternative has been to utilize
software demonstration tools, [1]–[2], which provide intuitive
visualizations and easy manipulation, but lack the impact of
working with hardware.
Oscilloscopes have been creatively used to demonstrate
transmission line concepts mostly in the time domain, [3]–
[5], focusing on transient reflections and impedances. These
experiments provide effective hands-on measurements and can
be utilized alongside the work presented here. This paper
presents measurements of input impedance in the frequency
domain using the Digilent Analog Discovery Board [6], a
USB-based platform with a suite of electronic instruments,
though this experiment can also be implemented with a
typical bench signal generator and oscilloscope with manual
or automatic sync operation. The experiment first compares
the input impedance of a coaxial cable terminated in 50Ω and
150Ω, illustrating the effect of a mismatched load, and then
implements a basic LC matching network to match the 150Ω.
II. BASELINE I NPUT I MPEDANCE M EASUREMENTS
The measurement setup utilized throughout this work is
shown in the inset of Fig. 1a. The waveform generator
represents the output of the analog discovery board, connected
to a 20m length of RG-58 coaxial cable (Zo = 50Ω), which
is terminated in a load RL . One scope channel measures
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the total input voltage of the cable, while the second scope
channel indirectly measures current via a 5Ω current sense
resistor. The network analyzer operation mode of the Analog
Discovery is configured to sweep the signal generator from
f = 10kHz-10MHz, measuring the magnitude and relative
phase of the oscilloscope channels at each frequency step.
The input impedance to the cable can be calculated as Z ein =
Vtotal /Itotal = [Vch1 /(Vch2 /Rsense )] θ1 − θ2 .
e e 6
Fig. 1a shows the calculated Zin up to 10MHz when the
cable is terminated, and Zin is shown to vary little from 50Ω,
due to minimal reflections. Note that above 1MHz, lumped el-
ement parasitics are apparent. To avoid these parasitic effects,
this work focuses on low frequencies. Fig. 1b shows Zin when
RL = 150Ω, where the impedance varies significantly due to
reflections and illustrates how mismatch seriously impacts the
system, motivating the need for impedance matching. The core
concept that impedance is periodic on a transmission line is
affirmed with this observation. Finally, while the plots show
the measurements are not at the same fidelity of a VNA, the
measurement accuracy is sufficient for effective educational
usage.
III. I MPLEMENTATION OF THE M ATCHING N ETWORK
Having observed the effect of a mismatched load, students
now design and implement a basic matching network. For this
experiment, the basic lumped LC matching network shown in
the inset of Fig. 2(c) is utilized as it is simple to design [7]
and students can use standard lumped elements to implement
this filter in the 100kHz frequency range. More sophisticated
lumped element matching networks could also be utilized here,
but note that transmission line stubs or transformer sections
are much too large at this frequency range. Since ZL > Zo ,
the shunt element is placed closest to the load, and for this
example the designed network uses standard lumped values
of L = 100µH and C = 10nF. First the matching network
is connected directly between the signal generator and the
load, in order to best observe the impedance. Fig. 2a shows
the transformed Zin of this configuration, where the real
part passes near 50Ω and the imaginary party goes to 0Ω
at the center frequency, here approximately 125kHz (shown
by the vertical dashed line). Fig. 2b shows this impedance
on the Smith chart, where the locus passes inside the VSWR
< 2 circle and swings near center of the chart. Students can
APS 2020

Fig. 1. Input impedance measurements vs. frequency for a 20m RG-58
coaxial cable. (a) Zin for RL = 50Ω. (inset: Impedance measurement setup).
(b) Zin for RL = 150Ω.
correlate these impedance representations, and see directly that
the 150Ω “looks like” 50Ω over a narrow range of frequencies.
They can also observe the poor impedance match outside of
this frequency range (where it is worse than it was before!),
highlighting the performance trade. This is further confirmed
in Fig. 3a, which compares the input reflection coefficient of
the coaxial cable terminated in RL = 150Ω with and without
a matching network. A final key observation is the close
agreement between the matched |Γ| before and after the cable
is reinserted into the measurement, since the cable is low-
loss and Zo = 50Ω, thus the change in reflection coefficient
magnitude is minimal when transformed through the cable.
IV. C ONCLUSION
A simple impedance matching experiment was presented
that allows direct measurement of input impedance in the
frequency domain using only basic low-frequency test equip-
ment. The analog discovery is utilized here owing to its simple
frequency sweep abilities, but this experiment can be used with
the signal generators and oscilloscopes common to any typical
1984
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Fig. 2. Measured Zin when an LC matching network is inserted between the
source and RL . (a & b) Zin vs. frequency, directly connected to matching
network and load (no cable). (c) |Γ| vs. frequency for i) RL = 150Ω and
no matching network, ii) RL = 150Ω and with a matching network (but no
cable), and iii) RL = 150Ω with a matching network, fed by a 20m RG-58
coax cable. (inset: LC matching network utilized in this work.)
electrical engineering laboratory. The experiment provides a
hands-on exploration of impedance on a transmission line and
the opportunity to design and implement a matching network,
helping students connect abstract theory to practice.
R EFERENCES
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[6] Digilent Inc. learn.digilentinc.com.
[7] D. M. Pozar, Microwave Engineering, 4th Ed., Wiley, 2011.