BEG4109: Transmission Lines and Wave guides

Transmission lines: Distributed parameters, types of transmission lines, calculation of line

parameters. Voltage and current relations on radio frequency, line termination, i.e., by zero
load, infinite impedance, by some resistance and complex impedance. Input impedance of
transmission line. Power and power capacity and reflection losses on unmatched line.

Transmission line as resonant circuit. Field and circuit concept correlation. Antennas:
Antenna action, short electric doublet, radiation from a current element. Thin linear
antenna, thin linear antenna in space. Current distribution on resonant and non- resonant
antenna. Effect of ground image antenna. Directive gain, linear arrays of n-isotropic point
source of equal amplitude and spacing. Continuous array, multiplication of patterns. End-
fire arrays, broad band antenna principle. Practical transmitting and receiving antennas.

Transmission Lines – Basic Theories

1 Introduction
A transmission line is a two-port network connecting a generator circuit at the sending end
to a load at the receiving end.
At high frequencies, the wavelength is much smaller than the circuit size, resulting in
different phases at different locations in the circuit. Quasi-static circuit theory cannot be
applied. We need to use transmission line theory.

The propagating modes along the transmission line or waveguide may be classified
according to which field components are present or not present in the wave. The field
components in the direction of wave propagation are defined as longitudinal components
while those perpendicular to the direction of propagation are defined as transverse
components.

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Assuming the transmission line or waveguide is oriented with its axis along the z-axis
(direction of wave propagation), the modes may be classified as:
(1) Transverse electromagnetic (TEM) modes - the electric and magnetic fields are
transverse to the direction of wave propagation with no longitudinal components [Ez = Hz
= 0]. TEM modes cannot exist on single conductor guiding structures. TEM modes are
sometimes called transmission line modes since they are the dominant modes on
transmission lines. Plane waves can also be classified as TEM modes.
(2) Transverse electric (TE) modes - the electric field is transverse to the direction of
propagation (no longitudinal electric field component) while the magnetic field has both
transverse and longitudinal components [Ez = 0, Hz . 0].
(3) Transverse magnetic (TM) modes - the magnetic field is transverse to the direction of
propagation (no longitudinal magnetic field component) while the electric field has both
transverse and longitudinal components [Hz = 0, Ez . 0].

TE and TM modes are commonly referred to as waveguide modes since they are the only
modes which can exist in an enclosed guiding structure.
TE and TM modes are characterized by a cutoff frequency below which they do not
propagate. TE and TM modes can exist on transmission lines but are generally undesirable.
Transmission lines are typically operated at frequencies below the cutoff frequencies of TE
and TM modes so that only the TEM mode exists.

(4) Hybrid modes (EH or HE modes) - both the electric and magnetic fields have
longitudinal components [Hz . 0, Ez . 0].

Unlike in circuit theory, the length of a transmission line is of utmost importance in

transmission line analysis.

2 Common Types of Transmission Lines

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We focus on studying the coaxial and the two-wire transmission lines.
We use the following distributed parameters to characterize the circuit properties of a
transmission line.

These parameters are related to the physical properties of the material filling the space
between the two wires.

where μ, ε, σ = permittivity, permeability,

conductivity of the surrounding medium.

For the coaxial and two-wire transmission lines, the distributed parameters are related to
the physical properties and geometrical dimensions as follows:

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3.2 Equations and solutions
Consider a short section Δz of a transmission line (dropping the primes on R’, L’, G’, C’
hereafter) :

Using KVL and KCL circuit theorems, we can derive the following differential equations for
this section of transmission line.

For sinusoidal varying voltages and currents, we can use phasor forms.
V(z) and I(z) are called phasors of v(z,t) and i(z,t). In terms of phasors,
the coupled equations can be written as:

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After decoupling,

γ is the complex propagation constant whose real

part α is the attenuation constant (Np/m) and
whose imaginary part β is the phase constant
(rad/m). Generally, these quantities are functions
of ω.

Solutions to transmission line equations:

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4 Transmission Line Parameters
From the solutions to the transmission line equations, it can be shown (using the coupled
transmission line equations) that:

Z0 and γ are the two most important parameters

This ratio is called characteristic impedance Z0. of a transmission line. They depend on the
distributed parameters (RLGC) of the line itself
and ω but not the length of the line.

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Summary of TL equations

Parameter Equation

Propagation constant

Wavelength

Phase Velocity

Phase Velocity (for Lossless)

for
Characteristic impedance

Reflection coefficient

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 Standing wave ratio

Input impedance

Example

Practice Quiz

Reflection in Transmission Lines

Whenever an electromagnetic wave encounters a change in impedance, some of the signal
is

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transmitted and some of the signal is reflected. The interface between two regions of
different impedances is an impedance boundary that is;
 A signal traveling along a transmission line has voltage and current waves related by
the characteristic impedance of the line.
 Signal reflections occur at impedance boundaries
 As it travels down the line, a signal has delay associated with it

Reflection occurs because of the following cases:

1) When the load end is open circuited
2) When the load end is short-circuited
3) When the line is not terminated in its characteristic impedance

When the line is either open or short circuited, then there is not resistance at the receiving
end to absorb all the power transmitted from the source end. Hence all the power incident
on the load gets completely reflected back to the source causing reflections in the line.
When the line is terminated in its characteristic impedance, the load will absorb some
power and some will be reflected back thus producing reflections.

A source and a load are connected with a coaxial cable. Reflections occur at the boundary
between the source and the cable because of impedance differences. Reflections also occur
at the boundary between the load and the cable

A source and a load are connected with a coaxial cable. Reflections occur at the boundary
between the source and the cable because of impedance differences. Reflections also occur
at the boundary between the load and the cable.

Knowing reflection Coefficient standing wave ratio can be calculated as:

Standing wave
In real systems, however, mismatched impedances cause some of the power to be reflected
back toward the source (like an echo). Reflections cause constructive and destructive
interference, leading to peaks and valleys in the voltage at various times and distances
along the line.

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 If the transmission is not terminated in its characteristic impedance ,then there will be two
waves traveling along the line which gives rise to standing waves having fixed maxima and
fixed minima.

Standing wave ratio

The ratio of the maximum to minimum magnitudes of voltage or current on a line having
standing waves called standing waves ratio.

SWR is encountered frequently in communications work. It is relatively easy to measure

and can be used to estimate other quantities such as the magnitude of Γand ZL. Knowledge
of the SWR can be important because the RF losses in a transmission line increase as the
SWR increases. This is especially true in coaxial transmission lines, which are generally not
used when the SWR will be above 3.0.
Parallel conductor ladder line, whose dielectric is primarily air, can be used at SWR's of as
high as 12.0 without problems.

where

PF is the forward RF power

PR is the reflected RF power
Example
A resonant transmission line carries 81 watts in the forward direction and 9 watts in the
reverse
direction. What is the SWR on the line?

Example 2:
A transmission line whose characteristic impedance is 300 ohms is terminated in a load
resistance of 100 ohms.
What is the SWR?

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