Lecture 4

2.
Circuit Concepts and Transmission

Lines
Dr. Hassan Tariq Chattha

Department of Electrical Engineering
The University Engineering & Technology
(Lahore) Faisalabad Campus
Objectives of This Chapter
• Review the very basics of circuit concepts;

• Distinguish the lumped element system
from the distributed element system;
• Introduce the fundamentals of transmission
lines;
• Compare various transmission lines and
connectors.
2.1 Circuit Concepts
• Electric current I is a measure of the charge flow/
movement.
• Voltage V is the difference of electrical potential
between two points of an electrical or electronic circuit.
• Impedance Z = R + jX is a measure of opposition to an
electric current.
Lumped and Distributed Element Systems
• The current and voltage along a transmission line may

be considered unchanged (which normally means the
frequency is very low). The system is called a lumped
element system.
• The current and voltage along a transmission line are

functions of the distance from the source (which
normally means the frequency is high), thus the system
is called a distributed element system.
2.2 Transmission Line Theory
• A transmission line is the structure that forms all or

part of a path from one place to another for directing the
transmission of energy, such as electrical power
transmission and microwaves.
• We are only interested in the transmission lines for RF

engineering and antenna applications. Thus dielectric
transmission lines such as optical fibres are not
considered.
Transmission Line Model
A distributed element system is converted to a lumped one

Transmission line equation
Where the propagation constant:
Attenuation
const:
Phase
const:
The solutions are:
This is the characteristic impedance of the transmission line.

For a lossless transmission line, R = G =0, thus
The industrial standard transmission line normally has a

characteristic impedance of 50 or 75 Ω
Forward and reverse travelling waves
Velocity:
, so it is also called the wave number

Lossless transmission lines
• For a lossless transmission line, R = G =0,

Terminated Transmission Line
• Input impedance and reflection coefficient

Note: the power reflection coefficient is:
The input impedance
For the lossless case

Input impedance for special cases
• Matched case (G = 0):
• Open circuit (G = 1):
• Short circuit (G = -1):
• Quarter-wavelength case:
Example 2.1
A lossless
transmission line
with a characteristic
impedance of 50 
is loaded by a 75 
resistor. Plot the
input impedance as
a function of the line
length (up to two
wavelengths).
Input impedance for ZL = 75  and Z0 = 50  - a period function!

Return loss
• When the voltage reflection coefficient and power

reflection coefficient are expressed in logarithmic forms,
they give the same result, which is called the return loss
Example 2.5
A 75  resistor is connected to a low loss transmission
line with characteristic impedance of 50 . The
attenuation constant is 0.2 Np/m at 1 GHz.
a). What is the voltage reflection coefficient for l = 0 and
l/4, respectively?
b). Plot the return loss as a function of the line length.
Assume that the effective relative permittivity is 1.5.
Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR)
• The VSWR (also known as the standing wave ratio,
SWR) is defined as the magnitude ratio of the maximum
voltage on the line to the minimum voltage on the line
2.3 The Smith Chart and Impedance Matching
The Smith Chart
Example 2.7
Using a Smith
Chart to redo
Example 2.1,
and also display
the reflection
coefficient on the
Chart.
Impedance Matching
• Impedance matching is the practice of making the output

impedance of a source equal to the input impedance of the
load in order to maximize the power transfer and minimize
reflections from the load. Mathematically, it means the load
impedance being the complex conjugate of the source
impedance.
Ideally:
Generally speaking, resistors are not employed for impedance
matching The lumped matching networks can be divided into
three basic networks: L network, T network and pi () network.
Lumped T and P networks
T network which may

be viewed as another
reactance (jX2) added
to the L network
P network can be seen as

an admittance (jB2)
added to the L network
Example 2.8
A load with an impedance of 10-j100  is to be matched

with a 50  transmission line. Design a matching
network and discuss if there are other solutions
available.
Distributed matching networks
They can be formed by a quarter-wavelength transmission line, an
open-circuit/short-circuit transmission line, or their combinations.
Example 2.9
• A load with an impedance of 10-j100  is to be matched

with a 50  transmission line. Design two distributed
matching networks and compare them in terms of the
bandwidth performance.
A). a short circuit with a stub length l2 = 0.0325l;
B). an open circuit with a stub length l2 = 0.2825l.
Both have achieved a perfect matching at 1GHz but of different bandwidth
Frequency bandwidth limitation
• There exists a general limit on the bandwidth over which

an arbitrarily good impedance match can be obtained in
the case of a complex load impedance. It is related to the
ratio of reactance to resistance, and to the bandwidth over
which we desire to match the load.
• Take the parallel RC load impedance as an example,
Bode and Fano derived, for lumped circuits, a
fundamental limitation for it and it can be expressed as
Quality Factor and Bandwidth
• Quality factor, Q, which is a measure of how much

lossless reactive energy is stored in a circuit compared
to the average power dissipated.
where WE is the energy stored in the electric field, WM is the

energy stored in the magnetic field and PL is the average
power delivered to the load.
• Antennas are designed to have a low Q, whereas circuit
components are designed for a high Q.
where f1 and f2 are the
frequencies at which
the power reduces to
half of its maximum
value at the resonant
frequency, f0 and where
BF is the fractional
bandwidth. This
relation only truly
applies to simple
(unloaded single
resonant) circuits.
2.4 Various Transmission Lines
Two-wire Transmission Line
• Characteristic impedance (for lossless line):
Typical value is 300 Ω

• Fundamental mode
– Both the electric field and magnetic field are within the
transverse (to the propagation direction) plane, thus
this mode is called the TEM (transverse electro-
magnetic) mode.
• Loss
– the principle loss is actually due to radiation, especially
at higher frequencies. The typical usable frequency is
less than 300 MHz
• Twisted-pair transmission line
– the twisted configuration has cancelled out the
radiation from both wires and resulted in a small and
symmetrical total field around the line; but it is not
suitable for high frequencies due to the high dielectric
losses that occur in the insulation.
Coaxial Cable
Velocity in
a medium
• Fundamental mode:
– TEM mode below the cut-off freq
• Characteristic impedance:
The typical value for industrial standard lines is 50 Ω or 75 Ω,

do you know why?
• Loss
Cable examples
Microstrip Line
Effective relative permittivity:

thus
- determined by the capacity

• Characteristic impedance:
, W/d <1
, W/d >1
• Basic mode: quasi-TEM mode if the wavelength

larger than the cut-off wavelength:
• Loss
• Surface waves and cut-off frequencies

Stripline
• Characteristic impedance
• Fundamental mode: TEM mode if
• Loss
– Similar to that of microstrip, but little radiation loss
and surface wave loss.
Co-planar Waveguide (CPW)
where
where
Fundamental mode: quasi-TEM mode

Loss: Normally higher than microstrip
Waveguides
• There are circular and rectangular waveguides which

have just one piece of conductor, and good for high
frequencies (high pass, and low stop).
Standard waveguides
The frequency range is determined by the cut-off frequencies

of the fundamental mode and the 1st higher mode. The cut-off
wavelength for TEmn and TMmn modes is given by
• Fundamental mode: TE10 mode
Thus its cut-off wavelength is 2a, and the operational

wavelength should shorter than 2a.
• Waveguide wavelength: the period of the wave
inside the waveguide.
Comparison of transmission lines
2.5 Connectors
Male (left) and female (right) N-type connectors

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2.

Circuit Concepts and Transmission

Dr. Hassan Tariq Chattha

• Review the very basics of circuit concepts;

• The current and voltage along a transmission line may

• The current and voltage along a transmission line are

• A transmission line is the structure that forms all or

• We are only interested in the transmission lines for RF

A distributed element system is converted to a lumped one

Where the propagation constant:

This is the characteristic impedance of the transmission line.

The industrial standard transmission line normally has a

, so it is also called the wave number

• For a lossless transmission line, R = G =0,

• Input impedance and reflection coefficient

The input impedance

For the lossless case

• Matched case (G = 0):

• Open circuit (G = 1):

• Short circuit (G = -1):

Input impedance for ZL = 75  and Z0 = 50  - a period function!

• When the voltage reflection coefficient and power

• Impedance matching is the practice of making the output

T network which may

P network can be seen as

A load with an impedance of 10-j100  is to be matched

• A load with an impedance of 10-j100  is to be matched

• There exists a general limit on the bandwidth over which

• Quality factor, Q, which is a measure of how much

where WE is the energy stored in the electric field, WM is the

• Characteristic impedance (for lossless line):

Typical value is 300 Ω

The typical value for industrial standard lines is 50 Ω or 75 Ω,

Effective relative permittivity:

- determined by the capacity

• Basic mode: quasi-TEM mode if the wavelength

• Surface waves and cut-off frequencies

Fundamental mode: quasi-TEM mode

• There are circular and rectangular waveguides which

The frequency range is determined by the cut-off frequencies

Thus its cut-off wavelength is 2a, and the operational

Male (left) and female (right) N-type connectors

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