Important concepts in High Frequency Electromagnetics

Electromagnetics is a discpline involving time varying electric and magnetic fields. Its
study involves physics and mathematics, and is listed as applied physics in some of the
Institutes. The basis of electromagnetics is the Maxwells equations. These equations in
differential form can be combined to yield wave eqn. for field quantities E and H. The
corresponding circuit quantities are voltages and currents. The solution of wave eqn in a
jt jk .r
homogeneous loss-free medium is a plane wave described by e
. Wave propagation
is a central theme in electromagnetics and therefore microwave engineering. The solution
of various problems in electromagnetics can be understood in terms of the physical
aspects of wave propagation. When this propagating wave comes across a change in
medium properties the associated effects of reflection, refraction, diffraction and
scattering are observed. When the time variation is set to zero in Maxwells eqns the
equations for E and H get decoupled resulting in separate differential eqns representing
electrostatics and magnetostatics. The solution for electrostatics and magnetostatics can
also be obtained by setting 0 in the time harmonic solution of Maxwells eqns.
Full-wave solution is the one in which variation of field quantities as a function of
frequency is fully taken into account. Quasi-static condition is sometimes used in
electromagnetics to describe a situation which is neither full-wave nor fully static. In this
case, variation of some of the field quantities is assumed to be static only over certain
frequency range. In the next section we assume a full-wave solution of an
electromagnetic problem. Electromagnetics is sometimes referred to as field theory
aspect of solutions. The field theory solutions can also be cast in the form of circuit
representation such as [S], [Z] or [Y] matrix. For this, the electric and magnetic fields at
the ports are converted into rf voltages and currents employing
v E.dl
i
H.dl
and
The vectors [v] and [i] are next related to [S], [Z] or [Y] matrix. The circuit based
solution is generally desirable for compatibility with circuits and is much more efficient.
Block-diagram of a transceiver microwave sub-system is shown next. It is one of the
very useful module for radar applications. It includes almost all types of microwave
components, active and passive.

Transceiver module
The high frequency electromagnetics may be called microwave electromagnetics, and the
corresponding circuit engineering as microwave engineering. At frequencies less than
10MHz, the wavelengths are much larger comparable to the size of R,L,C, diodes and
transistors which constitute the circuit. For comparison, we may assume a printed circuit
board of length l say 20 inch. At 10 MHz, the ratio l / 20 2.5 / 3000 1/ 60 , and is
very small. At microwave frequencies, 1 GHz to 30 GHz frequency range and higher, this
ratio decreases so that l / 20 2.5 /10 5 at 3 GHz. The high frequency circuit
components printed on this board will have size comparable to the wavelength. In this
frequency regime, certain special effects become prominent because the component size
becomes comparable to the wavelength of operation. Some of these effects are: proximity
effect leading to coupling and cross-talk, radiation, parasitics, transit time effect, etc.
Another effect called skin effect in conductors leads to higher conductor resistance at
these frequencies.
The central theme of high frequency electromagnetics is fast variation of phase with
space and time, t .r . This phenomenon leads to sufficient amount of coupling
(or cross-talk), and radiation if the component size is comparable to wavelength. The
excessive variation of phase across a lumped element necessitates use of distributed
element approach for circuit design. The use of transmission lines and waveguides at
high frequencies confines these signals to reduce radiation. The guided waves in these
lines are employed to design circuits which otherwise cannot be accomplished using
unguided waves. The transmission lines are also employed as interconnects to carry
signal from the output of one component to the input of other component. Another
important effect is skin effect which leads to higher conductor attenuation. The field
distribution in the lines is called a mode. For the modes in waveguides, the impedance is
not uniquely defined. Therefore, measurements and circuit characterization at high
frequencies is carried out in terms of S-parameters and not Z- or Y-parameters which is
the practice at low frequencies. When the transit time in devices such as vacuum tubes
becomes comparable to time period of the signal, it gives rise to undesirable effects such
as oscillations. For this reason, vacuum tubes had to undergo miniaturization for use at
high frequencies or replaced by semiconductor devices. See also Sec 11.1 and 11.2 of

Electromagnetic Compatibility, Second edition, by C. R. Paul. The sections are:

Changing the way we think about electrical phenomena and What do we mean
by the term ground?
Coupling or Proximity Effect
Coupling plays a very important role in high frequency electromagnetics. Coupling
between the modes of a conductor, as a basic phenomena is responsible for singularity in
charge and current distribution in conductors. Coupling is used to design power dividers
and combiners, and directional couplers. It also creates nuisance in the form of crosstalk leading to signal integrity issues for digital signals.
Wave Propagation
Wave propagation is an important important physical phenomenon in electromagnetics.
Physically, it originates from Huygens principle where a point source produces a
wavefront at a distance. Every point on the wavefront acts as a secondary source and
produces another set of wavefronts. This process continues and generates field
everywhere away from the source. Mathematically, this process is created through
Maxwells equations wherein the Faradays law defined as time variation of magnetic
induction produces electric field at a distance, i.e.
B
E
t
and the extended Amperes law defined as
D
H
J
t
describes generation of magnetic field by the time variation of D. This process when
continued describes propagation of signal from the source to destination. Medium is not
necessary for the propagation of electromagnetic waves. Our immediate concerns are:
unguided waves such as propagation in free space; and guided waves such as in
transmission lines and waveguides. We come across unguided waves in mobile
communications, broadcast, antennas and scattering from objects. The transmission lines
and waveguides are used as interconnect for signal transmission and circuit element for
microwave circuits.
Reference planes: The equivalent circuits at microwave frequencies are enclosed
between reference planes at the ports of the network. This is due to the fact that voltages
and currents have spatial variations that are significant, and therefore the network
parameters [Z], [Y] or [S] depend on the reference planes. Any shift from the reference
planes gives rise to the change in network characteristics.
Current and charge distributions in a conductor
Almost all the antennas, microwave circuits, and scatterers (secondary sources) consist of
metallized dielectrics. The electromagnetic property of these components is determined
by the charge and current distributions on the metallization. For simplicity, one may
neglect the effect of dielectric to obtain the broader perspective and use free space
Greens function in the analysis. The effect of dielectric can be included later by

employing the proper Greens function or the use of equivalence principle for
inhomogeneous dielectrics. The current distribution on a conductor surface obeys skin
effect and the resultant charge density can be calculated from .J-j / .
Note: Describe the internal inductance and resistance per unit length of a conductor wire
before taking up a lossy transmission line case. (Refer to Sec. 8.2 of Analysis of
multiconductor transmission lines, Second Edition, C. R. Paul, IEEE Press)

Skin Effect (ref.: P.A. Rizzi, Microwave Engg: Passive circuits, PHI, pp. 42-45)
Skin effect refers to the current concentration in conductors at high frequencies, and the
associated increase in conductor resistance is called skin effect resistance.
To describe development of skin effect in a conductor we consider a plane waves incident
on a metal bar as shown. Plane waves can be produced in a number of waves. The most
common form is using a distant source attached to an antenna. Here, we consider an ac
source connected to a TEM mode horn as shown in the figure. The plane wave described
E ,H
by x y components is incident normally on a semi-infinite conducting bar. Applying
B
D
E
H
J
t and Amperes law
t
Faraday law
to these field components
jt
gives (assuming e time variation)
dH y
dEx
( j 0 ) E x
j0 H y
dz
dz
and
The conduction current defined by J c E is very large in conductors compared with
the displacement current J d j 0 E . Therefore, we may neglect the displacement
dH y
Ex
current by writing dz
.

Fig. 1: (a) TEM wave incident on a conducting bar

(b) Effective dimensions of metal bar to compute its skin-effect
resistance
H
Eliminating y from the above, results in the following second-order differential eqn
d 2 Ex
j0 Ex
dz 2
Its solution is
Ex E0 e z e jt j0 (1 j ) f 0 (1 j ) /
,

Selecting the forwarding traveling wave in the conductor gives

Ex E0 e z / e jz /
z /
The decay Ex E0e
inside the conductor sheet is plotted in Fig.2. The decay of fields
is very fast if the skin depth is very small. The corresponding current density in the
z /
conductor is given by J x E x E0e
. The magnetic field also decreases at the

same rate since

H y Ex / s

with s (1 j ) /( ) , the intrinsic impedance of conductor.

Fig. 2: Field distribution in a semi-infinite metal bar

Due to the skin effect, the field decays very fast in very good conductors. At 3 skin depth,
the field and current decay to 5% of its value at the surface. Since power density is
2
E
proportional to x , its decay is much faster and the value at 3 skin depth is 0.25% of its
7
value at the surface. For copper, 5.8 10 mho/m, 0.66 m at 10 GHz and
3 2 m . At microwave frequencies, we may therefore say that the current is confined

to the surface of metals.

Skin effect resistance
The impedance of the semi-infinite metal bar, also called surface impedance, is
V
Z ac
Ix
Due to the incident field on the bar, the associated rf voltage is V E0t . The current
z
A / m 2 . Therefore, the current I x normal to yz-plane is
density is J x E x E0 e
given by
W
W
E0W E0W
I x J x dydz E0 e z dydz

45

2
0 0
0 0
A

Or
V
2t
t
t

45
j
I x W
W
W
t
t
Rac
, X ac Rac L
W
W
The ac resistance of the semi-infinite conductor may be interpreted as the dc resistance of
a rectangular bar of length t, and effective area of cross-section perpendicular to the
current direction, Ae W , i.e. skin effect resistance may be computed by assuming that
the current is uniformly distributed over a thickness of one skin depth. This is illustrated
Z ac

in Fig. 1(b). The above analysis neglects the effect of current crowding at the corners of a
rectangular conductor. The internal inductance of a conductor is given by
X R
Lint ac
Henry
For a conductor wire immersed in uniform electromagnetic field, the field will penetrate
the conductor from all the surfaces. Therefore, only the outer shell of the wire will be
responsible for rf resistance. For a round wire of radius a and length l such that a >>,
its ac resistance is given by
l
Rac ( wire)

(2 a) ohm

The variation of resistance and internal inductance of an isolated conductor wire with
frequency is plotted in Fig. 3 and may be modeled as
f f0
rdc
rstrip ( )
f f0
pul
rdc f / f 0

Fig.3: Variation of wire resistance and internal inductance with frequency

(The scales are different for r and li )
For a rectangular strip of width W and thickness t, the values of rdc and f 0 are given by
1
rdc
/m
Wt
t
W
The break frequency f 0 is the frequency at which the asymptotes rdc and rskin meet and is
defined by

rdc rskin (at f 0 ) ,

The skin resistance rskin is defined as

rskin

1
1

Wt (W 2 )(t 2 ) 2 (W t )

for W 10t and t >>

or
1
1

Wt 2 (W t ) at f 0
or

1 2(W t )
f0

0
Wt

For a strip with aspect ratio W/t < 10, the expression for f 0 gets modified as
2

1 k (W t )
f0
, 1 k 2
0
Wt
The value of k depends on the aspect ratio W/t and is about 1.5 for W/t = 1.
Variation of current density distribution inside a strip for three different frequencies is
plotted next.
t
at t ,W

at t

at t

As an example, consider a 10 inch long copper strip with w = 127micron and t = 50

micron. Its dc resistance is 0.69 ohm and increases to 18.75 ohm at 10GHz; about 27
2
times the dc resistance. Thus conductor loss I R is significantly higher at the higher
frequencies.
The internal inductance of metal wire with
as
f f0
li , dc
li ( H / m)
li , dc f 0 / f f f 0

1/

f frequency behaviour may be modeled

where

li , dc rdc / 0

Combining the above models for resistance and internal inductance we may express the
internal impedance of a conductor as

f
f f0
rdc 1 j
f 0

zi ( ) r ( ) jli ( )
r (1 j ) f
f f0
dc
f0

*
This expression satisfies the requirement zi ( ) zi ( ) for the transform zi (t ) to
represent a real valued function of time. The values of rdc and f 0 needed are given by

1
Wt

k (W t )
f 0 0

and
The internal inductance of a conductor wire li (H/m) is important at f f 0 only because
1/ f
it decreases as
for f f 0 . The decrease in internal inductance with frequency is
1
rdc
/m
Wt

due to the migration of current to the surface and the consequent decrease in magnetic
flux inside the conductor.
Also see: Internal impedance of PCB lands over a broadband (ref; Analysis of
Multiconductor Transmission Lines, C.R. Paul, p. 410)
The closed-form expression for the dc inductance of a strip is given by (for 0 w / t 1 )
[1]
li ,dc

4.1888w3t 51.906 w2t 2 4.1888wt 3

8 w4 16.09w3t 28.2w2t 2 16.09wt 3 t 4 H/m

Error < 0.36%

li , dc

For a strip with square cross-section

= 48.3 nH/m compared to 50 nH/m for a circular
wire.
[1] R. de Smedt, Addition to DC internal inductance for a conductor of rectangular
cross-section, IEEE Trans. Electromag. Compat., vol. 51, pp. 875-876, 2009
Internal impedance of a strip conductor
The internal impedance of a wire of an arbitrary cross-section may be determined
numerically [2]. For regular shapes such as rectangular and circular cross-sections it leads
to a closed-form expression. For a rectangular wire of width w and thickness t,
Z i Ri jX i is given by (for 0 w / t 1 ) [2]
2

(m 1/ 2)2 ( n 1/ 2)2

1 64
w
t

Zi
wt m 1 n 1 ( m 1/ 2)2 2 (n 1/ 2)2 2 (m 1/ 2)2

w
t
w

1
2

(n 1/ 2)2

In the method proposed, diffusion equation for the electric field

t2 Ez j Ez 0
is solved subject to Dirichlet boundary condition of the impressed value of E0 on the
boundary. The above boundary value problem may be solved using the Greens function
defined as
t2GE j GE ( x x) ( y y)

with the boundary condition GE = 0 at the periphery of the conductor. The Greens
function is found as
(m 1/ 2)2
( m 1/ 2)2
cos
x cos
x

16
w
w

GE

wt m 1 n 1 ( m 1/ 2)2 2 (n 1/ 2)2 2

j
w
t

(n 1/ 2)2
(n 1/ 2)2
cos
y cos
y
t
t

2
2
(m 1/ 2)2 ( n 1/ 2)2

j
w
t

Using this Greens function, the electric field inside the wire is calculated as
t
t GE
G

E z ( x , y ) E0
dy E dx
y
0
0 x
This yields

(m 1/ 2)2 (n 1/ 2)2

16 E0
mn
w
t

Ez
1
wt m 1 n1
(m 1/ 2)2 (n 1/ 2)2

w
t

The total current through the wire is then given by

( m 1/ 2)2
(n 1/ 2)2

x cos

y
t
t

2
2
(m 1/ 2)2 (n 1/ 2)2

j
w
t

cos

w t

I Ez ( x, y )dxdy
0 0

The internal impedance is defined as

Z i E0 / I
or
2

(m 1/ 2)2 (n 1/ 2)2

1 64
1
w
t

2
2
2
2
Zi
wt m 1 n 1 (m 1/ 2)2 ( n 1/ 2)2
( m 1/ 2)2
( n 1/ 2)2

j
w
t
w
t

[2] A. Rong, and A.C. Cangellaris, Note on the definition and calculation of the per-unitlength internal impedance of a uniform conducting wire, IEEE Trans. Electromag.
Compat., vol. 49, pp. 677-681, 2007
7
For W = t = 50 micron, 5.8 10 S , m , n = 100

45
40
35
Ri
Xi

Ri, Xi(ohm/m)

30
25
20
15
10
5
0 5
10

10

10
Freq

10

10

f = ( 1e5, 1e6, 1e7, 3e7, 7e7, 1e8, 3e8, 7e8, 1e9)

Ri = (6.9246, 6.9288, 7.3240, 9.4983, 13.3793, 15.4762, 24.9551, 36.8477, 43.5713)
Xi = (0.0280, 0.2797, 2.7070, 6.7006, 10.8450, 13.0581, 23.1442, 35.9601, 43.3502)
Sheet or Surface Resistivity, RS
For convenience, a conductor sheet is characterized in terms of its sheet resistivity,
ohm
Rs (
). To define RS , we simply divide the conductor surface in squares normal
square
to the current direction. The ac resistance of a sheet conductor of size LxW (for metal
thickness) is given by
R L
L
Rac
S
W
W
(1.1)
where ,
1
RS =Rac ( L=W =1 )=
ohm/square

the resistance of a conductor sheet of unit area, is called surface or sheet resistivity. It
may be noted that RS depends on frequency and conductivity of metal; it is independent
of the unit of length chosen, micron or meter. According to (1.1), sheet resistance is then
Rs times the number of divisions into which the sheet length can be divided.

The internal inductance of a conductor of unit area is similarly obtained as

R

1
Lint S
0

2
H/square
The above expression implies that a conductor plate of unit cross-sectional area and
thickness / 2 has the same internal inductance as an infinitely thick conductor. This
model is consistent with the incremental inductance rule of Wheeler [] which is employed
for the determination of skin-effect losses of conductors by using its external inductance.
External inductance of metals
At dc and low frequencies, the current inside the conductors with finite conductivity is
non-zero. The magnetic flux internal to the conductor gives rise to internal inductance. As
the frequency increases, the current migrates towards the surfaces; the inductance due to
1/ f eventually going to
the magnetic flux internal to the conductor will decrease as
zero as f . The total inductance L is the sum of the frequency dependent internal
inductance Li ( ) and the external inductance Le i.e. L Li ( ) Le . The external
inductance is associated with the magnetic flux external to the conductors. The external
inductance is sometimes called loop inductance and is almost constant with frequency.
Therefore, total inductance is a weak function of frequency. At GHz frequencies, the
internal inductance is almost zero, and L Le .
Incremental inductance rule of Wheeler [1]
According to the incremental inductance rule of Wheeler [1], internal inductance of a
conductor Li can be determined from its external inductance Le . Li is obtained as the
incremental increase in Le caused by an incremental recession of metallic walls due to
the skin effect. The recession of conducting walls is shown in Fig. 1 for microstrip line.
The amount of recession is equal to / 2.
According to Wheeler [1],
L
Li m e m
m 0 nm 2
where m is the mth surface of metal exposed to electromagnetic field, and m is the
permeability of the mth surface. Le / nm denotes the derivative of Le with respect to
incremental recession of wall m, and nm is the normal direction to this wall.
The skin resistance for the conductor (t ) is therefore given by
Le m
R= X= Li = m
m 0 nm 2
R Le
sm
0 nm
m

where Rsm= m m /2 is the sheet/surface resistance of wall m. The skin resistance for
the line may be converted into conductor loss c as follows:
Pc
Power lossconductors
=
neper/unit length
2 P( z ) 2(Power transmitted)
2
Le
|I | R
1

=
Rsm

2
nm
2|I | Z 0 m 2 0 Z 0 m m
The line inductance Le can be expressed in terms of characteristic impedance with
substrate replaced by air, Z a0 m and is given by
a
Le =Z 0 m /c
where c is the velocity of electromagnetic waves in free space.
c=

Fig. 1: Recession of conducting walls of a microstrip line for conductor loss calculation
[1 ] Wheeler, H.A., Formulas for the skin effect, Proc. IRE, vol. 30, pp. 412-424, 1942.
[2] Garg, R., I. Bahl, and M. Bozzi, Microstrip Lines and Slot Lines, Third Edition,
Artech House, 2013.
Various recessions ( n ) considered in microstrip line are as follows:
contraction of strip widthdue
n=W (recession)
increasespacing h due
n=h (recession of ground)
contraction of strip thickness due
n=t (recession)
After taking into account the recessions in all the conductor walls, the expression for the
attenuation constant due to ohmic losses may be written as

 c =0.023

RS
Z a0

Z0
Z0 Z0
2
+
W
t
h

dB/ unit length

Closed form expressions for the characteristic impedance of various types of printed lines
are available [2]. Extensive data for conductor loss of printed lines is also available there.
For a microstrip line, one may use the following expression
We
8h
a
Z 0 =60 ln
+ 0.25
for W /h 1
We
h

Z a0 =120
where

)
{

We
We
+1.393+0.067 ln
+1.444
h
h

})

for

W
1
h

We W
t
4 W
W 1
= +1.25 1+ ln
for
h
h
h
t
h 2

We W
t
2h
W 1
= +1.25 1+ ln
for
h
h
h
t
h 2

For a microstrip line shown below the resistance per unit length of the line varies from
2.5 ohm/m at 10 MHz to 150 ohm/m at 10 GHz. The inductance per unit length varies
from 2.65nH/m at 1 MHz to 2nH/m at 1 GHz. At lower frequencies, the resistance and
inductance are constant. The skin depth at 10MHz is about 21 micron, which is about the
metal thickness in this case.

Line resistance (ohm/m) and Line inductance (nH/m) for the microstrip shown above.
Ref: R. Achar and M.S. Nakhla, Simulation of high-speed interconnects, Proc.
IEEE, vol. 89, pp. 693-728, 2001.
Model for line resistance: Many a design engineers are comfortable with models so that
the effect of ground size, shape and its conductivity can be accounted for. A simple model
for the resistance of a microstrip line describes the effect of strip and ground plane
separately as shown below.

In this model, the total skin resistance of microstrip line is split between the strip (trace)
and ground plane as Rac ,microstrip =R ac,trace + R ac, ground . We use the skin effect
approximation to determine the resistance contributed by the strip and ground planes. For
the strip,
l
Rac ,trace
w
For the ground plane resistance, we model it as
l
Rac , ground
g eff
where

g eff

is the effective width of ground plane that carries the return current. To
g
determine eff we model the ground current density as described next.
Due to the proximity of strip, the current density on the ground plane is more in the
vicinity of the strip and decreases gradually with distance away from the strip. (Ref:
Advanced Signal integrity for high speed digital designs, by S. H. Hall and H.L.
Heck, p.210)

Approximate current density distribution along the width of ground plane of microstrip
line may be written as
J ( y)

J0

1 y / h

where J 0 is the amplitude of current. The current density on the ground plane is
maximum at y = 0 and decreases away from this plane. First we normalize the current
density such that the total return current in the ground plane becomes unity for J 0 =1 .
For this, we integrate the current density such that

1
N
dy 1
2
1

, y y/h
or

N tan 1 ( y ) 1

or

N 1/
Therefore,
J0
1
J ( y)
1 y / h 2
g
Next, we determine eff contributing to the resistance of microstrip line. Let us assume it
arbitrarily as 3h from the centre of the ground plane. To justify this assumption we
compute the fraction of current included in this width. For this we integrate J over 3h
3
J
1 J
1
3 1 0y 2 d y 0 2 tan 3 0.795J 0
Therefore, about 80% of the current is included within 3h of the signal conductor
g 6h
centre. Writing eff
, we obtain
l
l
Rac, ground

g eff 6h
Therefore, the resistance of a microstrip line of length l is given by
l
l
Rac , micro Rac ,trace Rac , ground

w 6h
A more accurate expression for the ac resistance of a microstrip line is given by Collins,
based on conformal mapping (Hall, p.211),
4 w RS l
1 1
1
Rac ,trace A 2 ln
RS

t
w

,
where
1 for w / h 1/ 2

A
2
for 1/ 2 w / h 10
0.94 0.132 w / h 0.0062( w / h)
and

RS
w/h
Rac , ground A
for 1/10 w / h 10

w / h 5.8 0.03(h / w) w

A very good description of the concepts for high frequency electromagnetics is

provided in Sec. 11.1 Changing the way we think about electrical phenomena
Introduction to Electromagnetic Compatibility, Second edition by C.R. Paul.
Physical explanation for skin and proximity effects
The magnetic field and current are related to each other; increase in current increases
the magnetic field. Similarly, the increase in magnetic field should be associated with the
increase in current.
The skin effect or current crowding in conductors at very high frequencies may be
described in terms of magnetic field distribution. We surmise that current density in

conductors is directly linked to the magnetic field at that point (Ref.: Lee, p.118). A
strong magnetic field at a point leads to a higher current density there. With this
important insight let us look at the magnetic field strength in a conducting rectangular
strip.
In a strip, the current density in its cross-section is expected to be uniform at very low
frequencies. As frequency increases, the current withdraws from the inner portion and
concentrates towards the surface. To explain this phenomenon, let us divide the conductor
cross-section into 4 equal parts and assume uniform current in each of these 4 parts as
shown below.

The magnetic field circulation about these currents is also plotted there. The
superposition of fields gives rise to more magnetic flux at the periphery and weaker flux
at the central portion. The magnetic flux can be converted into current density J by using
J = n x H giving rise to higher current density at the edges and less at the centre. The
above concept of mutual inductive coupling may be used to explain the proximity effect
in coplanar strips. Consider coplanar strips excited in common mode as shown below.

The superposition of field should give rise to reduced flux in the middle portion and
increased flux at the outer edges. Therefore, the current density, J = n x H, should
increase at the outer portions as shown. Similarly, the current distribution for differential
mode of excitation will have increased current density near the coupled edges as shown.

The increased current density along the inner edges results in increased charge density
and therefore stronger electric field across the inner edges.
Network model for skin effect and proximity effect in conductors (Ref.: Digital
Signal Integrity by B. Young, Ch.7)
In order to explain the influence of inductive coupling between current filaments leading
to crowding of current, let us consider a rectangular metal strip and divide the strip along
its thickness in three equal parts as shown below.

Applying 1volt across the length of the strip, the network representation for the circuit is
drawn next.

The current I flowing through the original strip can be decomposed into three filamentary
currents I1 , I 2 and I 3 flowing in the same direction as shown below. The reduction in net
flux in the space between the outer strips should give rise to decrease in current I 2
leading to skin effect.
The circuit equations can be expressed in matrix form as
[V] = [Z][I]
The parallel connection forces all voltages to be equal to 1, i.e.
j M 1
j M 2 I1
1 R j L
1

j M 1 R j L
j M 1 I 2

1
j M 2
j M 1 R j L I 3
Here, R, L, M 1 , M 2 are dc values. Due to the symmetry of the circuit we set I 3 I1 .
Solution of the simultaneous equations gives I1 and I 2 , and we compute I 2 I1 I 2 .
The current crowding can be determined by examining the ratio of branch currents
I1
I2

( M 1 M 2 )(2 L 3M 1 M 2 ) 2
R 2 ( L 2M1 M 2 )2 2

a 2
R 2 b 2
This expression shows that the current ratio increases monotonically from a dc value of 1
to the asymptotic limit 1+ a/b. It means that the current in a wire is uniformly distributed
at dc and crowds towards outer side as the frequency increases. It has been assumed here
that 2 L 3M 1 M 2 >0 and L 2M 1 M 2 0 > 0 which is normally true since
1

L M1 M 2 .

The current crowding does not occur ( I1 I 2 ) if M 1 M 2 or M 1 M 2 0 i.e no mutual

coupling. The current crowding due to skin effect is symmetrical about the axis.
With this sub-sectioning skin effect can only develop along the vertical direction. To
enable the skin effect to develop along the horizontal direction also the strip should be
discretized along the width also.
Effect of current crowding on wire resistance and internal inductance
Redistribution of current in the wire due to skin effect causes the resistance to increase
and inductance to decrease. Since V = 1, the equivalent impedance for the original strip is
Z eq 1/ I
R Re( Z eq )
, the equivalent resistance eq
and equivalent inductance
Leq Im( Z eq ) /
Z eq
. The value of
can be determined once R, L, M 1 , M 2 are available.
The equivalent resistance is given by
I
1
Req Re( Z eq ) Re r2 , where I I r jI i
I
I

R 2
R( M 1 M 2 )2 2

3 3 9 R 2 (3L 4 M 1 M 2 ) 2 2
The variation of equivalent resistance with frequency is similar to that of current. At dc
the equivalent resistance is R/3 as expected. The resistance increases with frequency
monotonically such that .

The equivalent inductance is obtained as

Im( Z eq )
I
Leq
i 2

I
1
2 ( M 1 M 2 )2 (3L 4 M 1 M 2 ) 2
(3L 4M 1 2M 2 )
9
9 9 R 2 (3L 4M 1 M 2 ) 2 2
The equivalent inductance of the wire decreases with the increase in frequency. However,
the dc inductance is different from the value L/3.
Proximity Effect in Conductors
The current crowding associated with proximity of conductors can also be explained from
the discretization of current and mutual inductive coupling. For this, consider an
asymmetric lay out of three strips as shown below.

Here strip number (1) represents the signal line and the return is formed by strips (2) and
(3). The sub-division of the lower strip enables us to determine the proximity effect
between strips (2) and (3). The current loop for the above circuit can be drawn as shown.
The increase in flux between currents I1 and I2 and the decrease in flux between I2 and
I3 should lead to increase in current density underneath the signal strip.
Assuming that the three strips are identical, the network representation for the circuit is
shown below:

The circuit constraints are:

I1 I 2 I 3 0
V1 1
V 2=V 3=0,reference node
The voltage drop across the strips are given by
j M 1
j M 3
1 V R j L
V

j M 1 R j L
j M 2

V
j M 3
j M 2 R j L

I 2 I 3
I 2
I 3

The current crowding on the lower strips due to proximity effect can be estimated from
the ratio I 2 / I 3 which can be determined from the last two equations i.e.

j M 1 I 2 I 3 R j L I 2 j M 2 I 3 j M 3 I 2 I 3 j M 2 I 2 R j L I 3

or
I2
I3

4( L M 2 )( M 1 M 3 ) 2
R 2 ( L M 1 M 2 M 3 )2 2

4ab 2
1 2
R ( a b) 2 2
It is expected that due to the proximity of strips, M 1 M 3 . At dc, the currents I 2 and
I 3 are equal. As the frequency increases proximity effect gives rise to I 2 I 3 i.e,
current crowding under the signal conductor.
The loop resistance and loop inductance are found as before
1
3R 1 R( M 1 M 3 ) 2 2
Req Re( Z eq ) Re

2 2 R 2 ( L M 2 )2 2
I1

Z eq
3
1
1 ( M 1 M 3 ) 2 ( L M 2 ) 2
Leq Im
L M1 M 2 M 3
2
2
2 R 2 ( L M 2 )2 2

It is observed that the equivalent resistance increases and the loop inductance decreases
with frequency under the influence of mutual inductive coupling.

Finer discretization of conductors is required for better accuracy at higher frequencies

and the discretization size should be of the order of 2 at the desired frequency (Paul,
Loop and Partial Inductances).
Exercise: Work out the problem when the strips are excited in common mode as
shown below.

Effect of surface roughness on conductor resistance

In printed realization of microwave circuits, the substrate surface which is metalized is
not flat as shown in Fig. below. It is marked by random undulations in the form of peaks
and valleys and the surface roughness is characterized by its rms value, hrms . For an
ideally smooth surface, hrms 0. The substrate roughness is transferred to the conductor
surface during the metallization process.

Cross-sectional view of a rough metalized surface

The current flowing through a rough conductor surface experiences increased surface
area. The consequent increased ac resistance of a conductor may be accounted for
through a correction factor K H (Hammerstadt and Jensen, Accurate models for
microstrip computer aided design, Int. Symposium on Microwave Theory and
Techniques, pp. 407-409, June 1980),
Racrough Rac K H

ohm

where
KH 1

2
h
tan 1 1.4 rms

here hrms is the rms value of the surface roughness height.

Need for distributed parameter approach

A lumped element circuit consists of inductor, capacitor, diodes, transistor, etc connected
through wire or transmission lines called interconnect. The bases of low frequency
circuit design are the Kirchhoffs voltage and current laws, and ignore the spatial
variation of voltage. The voltage variation on the interconnect may be described as
V ( z , t ) V0 cos(t z )
(1)
where V0 is the maximum voltage, is the radian frequency and is the phase
constant of the interconnect. At low frequencies, where the length of interconnect is
negligible compared to the wavelength, the associated voltage variation given by (1) is
negligible and the circuit behaves according to the design. However, as the frequency of
operation is increased the length of the interconnect begins to tell on the circuit
performance. The deteriorating effect of the interconnect on the circuit performance can
be reduced by eliminating them as far as possible. To understand the effect of
interconnect with increasing frequency, let us study the following experiment.
The experiment consists of a sinusoidal voltage source V0 with internal resistance RS
connected to a lumped load R L by a length of wire as shown in Fig. 1. The wire or
interconnect length may be assumed lossless. Let this circuit be realized on a printed
circuit board (PCB) with the interconnection wire in the form of a narrow strip of
metallization. The strip and the ground metallization of PCB may be modeled as a
transmission line of characteristic impedance Z 0 . Alternatively, if the hook-up wires are
used to realize the circuit, the combination of interconnection wire and ground wires may
again be modeled as parallel wire transmission line of characteristic impedance Z 0 . The
circuit may now be analyzed according to the transmission line theory.

Fig. 1: A transmission line fed by a source at one end

and terminated in a load at the other end.
For RS RL Z 0 , it is found from the analysis of the circuit of Fig. 1 that the voltage
V
VL 0 e j
2
across the load,
, that is, interconnect affects the phase only and not

amplitude. For any other combination of Z 0 , R L , RS the voltage across the load will vary
with frequency. The circuit may be analyzed as follows:
From the transmission line theory, the input impedance seen by the source is given by
R jZ 0 tan( )
Z in Z 0 L
Z 0 jRL tan(
(2)
and the voltage and current at the source end of the line is given by
V0
V0
IS
VS
Z in
RS Z in
RS Z in

(3)
The voltage and current can be translated to the load side of the line by using ABCDparameters of line as
jZ 0 sin( ) V L
VS cos( )
I j sin( ) / Z
cos( ) I L
0
S
(4)
It yields
VZ
Z
VL 0 in cos( ) j sin( ) 0
RS Z in
Z in
(5)
V0 j
VL e
2
This expression yields
for RS RL Z 0 as expected. For any other
combination of these parameters, the load voltage is different from this value in both
magnitude and phase. However, l 0 at low frequencies and VL V0 RL /( RS RL )
and starts varying as the frequency is increased.
The effect of interconnect on the circuit performance can be included if the line is divided
into a number of segments of sufficiently small lengths as shown in Fig. 2 so that the
voltage or current over each segment can be assumed to be constant. Each line segment
of length z can be modeled by a series resistance R1 , series inductance L1 , and shunt
capacitance C1 . This equivalent circuit will account for voltage and current variation over
the segment length z . We can build the complete model for the interconnect by
combining the effect of all the segments into which the interconnect is divided. An
integrated approach is to consider the line as a single segment, characterize the line in
terms of distributed parameters R, L, C, and G where these line constants are given in
terms of unit length, and the sinusoidal voltage variation given by (1) is built into the
analysis.
Lumped element equivalent of transmission line circuit
(a) for sinusoidal signal propagation
The transmission line transformation
Z Z 0 tanh( l )
Z in Z 0 L
Z 0 Z L tanh( l )

is the key equation in the transformation of load impedance by a transmission line section
of length l. In this expression, the phase shift l becomes large when the length l is
comparable with the wavelength in the medium. The equivalent circuit for such situations
can be determined more accurately, to capture the time delay and frequency variation
effects, by using transmission line based models. However, lumped element models are
more compatible for spice-like solvers. In order to produce transmission line effects
with lumped elements we express the equivalent circuit as a cascade connection of
lumped element circuits. The elements in each of these lumped circuits are synthesized
in such a way that they match the frequency dependence of the elements in the p.u.l.
R,L,C,G matrices. The accuracy of lumped circuit approach depends on the number of
sections per wavelength. It is found that the number of sections per wavelength should be
about 10 at the maximum frequency of interest. We show next the results of a simple
exercise for comparison. Consider a lossless transmission line of characteristic
impedance Z 0 and length l . It is driven by a source of input resistance RS Z 0 and
terminated at the other end by a load Z L Z 0 as shown below

Fig.2: Lumped element equivalent circuit of a lossless transmission line section

Comparison of the analytic result for the voltage at the load with that obtained from the
approximate distributed lumped circuit models. Ref.: A.E. Ruehli and A.C. Cangellaris,
Progress in methodologies for the electrical modeling of interconnects and electronic
packages, Proc. IEEE, vol. 89, pp. 740-771, 2001. fig. 7.
For a 1-V source, the voltage at the load is given by VL ( f ) 0.5exp( j 2 l / ) , where l
is the physical length of the line and the line is assumed to be lossless. This analytic
solution is shown by the solid line. Let us assume for the simulation that L = 1/6 nH/cm,
C = 1/15 pF/cm so that Z 0 50 and v 1/ LC c . From the graph we observe that
l 2 l / at 500 MHz; implies l / 2 30 cm. The maximum frequency is
10 GHz which corresponds to a minimum wavelength of 3cm. The line segment lengths
are therefore z1 1.5 cm (for n = 2), z2 6 mm (for n = 5), and z3 3 mm (for n =
10). As expected, the deviation of the load voltage from the expected value starts
occurring at lower frequency for the coarse discretization of z1 . The magnitude of load
voltage starts deviating from the expected value for f > 3.5 GHz whereas phase starts
deviating at about 500 MHz for z1 . The corresponding frequencies for z2 are 5.5 GHz
and 3.5 GHz. The minimum number of sections to realize a phase shift l between the
output and input voltages is therefore given by
phase shift at the highest freq, l (rad )
N
2 /10
.

A similar criterion can be developed for the digital signal application.

One may try sections of unequal lengths to realize an overall phase shift with a given
phase error. The number of sections required may be less.
(b) Pulse propagation (Ref.: R. Achar and M.S. Nakhla, Simulation of high-speed
interconnects, Proc. IEEE, vol. 89, pp. 693-728, 2001)
Since a digital signal is described by the pulse rise/fall time and pulse width, the section
length z should be related to one of these characteristics of the pulse. The principal
criterion in this case can be derived in a manner similar to that for the frequency domain
approach, i.e. the pulse shape should be preserved when fed to the equivalent lumped
circuit. Also, the time delay should be the same as that produced by the transmission line
circuit. Combining the two requirements, we therefore need to determine the value of
time delay produced by each section such that the pulse shape is preserved. For
illustration, consider a ladder type LC realization of transmission line section z as
shown. This circuit can be viewed as a low-pass filter.

In order to preserve the pulse shape the 3-dB cut-off frequency of this filter should be
very high, ideally infinite. However, in practice we may fix the cut-off frequency f 0 as

10 times the useful highest frequency component f max of the pulse, i.e. f 0 10 f max . Also,
1
1
f0

LzC z z
where z is the length of the segment and LC is the delay p.u.l. For a trapezoidal
pulse with rise time tr , the useful highest frequency component is given by
f max

0.35
tr

Therefore,
1
10 f max
z
0.35
10
tr
or
tr 3.5( z ) 10 z
z tr /10
or

In other words, the delay allowed per segment is approximately tr /10 . It is assumed in
the above analysis that all the frequency components constituting the pulse have the same
phase velocity or suffer the same time delay. The total number of segments N needed to
accurately represent a total delay of l and preserve the pulse shape is given by
total delay , l
N
tr /10

where is the pul delay. For a lossy line case, RLCG segments have to be used to
determine N.
Example: Consider a digital signal with rise time of 0.2ns propagating on a lossless wire
of length 10 cm, with a delay of 70.7ps/cm. The line can be modeled with L = 5nH/cm
and C = 1pF/cm. The wave velocity is v 1/ LC and the time delay pul

LC 5e 9 e 12 0.707 ps / cm . If this transmission line is to be represented by

lumped element segments, one needs
10 70.7e 12
N
35
0.2e 9 /10
.
Otherwise, pulse shape may not be preserved.
Broadband modeling of transmission line parameters
A printed transmission line consists of a printed strip and a printed ground plane as in
microstrip line, strip line, CPW, and two strips as in a CPS line. The lumped equivalent
circuit for a small section of this line may be expressed as

where zS ( ) r ( ) j l ( ) is the series impedance per unit length and

yS ( ) g ( ) jC ( ) is the shunt admittance per unit length. The series impedance is
a strong function of frequency whereas shunt admittance varies slowly with frequency, of
the order of 1%. We shall model the line parameters over a broad frequency range.
Resistance per unit length, r ( )
The series resistance r ( ) is contributed by both the strip and the ground plane and may
r ( ) rstrip ( ) rground ( )
be written as
. The variation of resistance of an isolated strip
with frequency is plotted in Fig. 1 and may be modeled as

f f0

rdc

rstrip ( )

rdc

f f0

f / f0

/ pul

Fig.1: Variation of strip resistance and internal inductance with frequency

For a strip of width W and thickness t, the values of rdc and f 0 are given by
1
rdc
/m
Wt
The break frequency f 0 is the frequency at which the asymptotes rdc and rskin meet and is
defined by
rdc rskin (at f 0 ) ,

rskin

1
1

Wt (W 2 )(t 2 ) 2 (W t )

for W 10t and t >>

or
1
1

Wt 2 (W t ) at f 0
or
2

1 2(W t )
f0

0
Wt
The skin resistance rskin is defined as
rskin

1
2 (W t )

For a strip with aspect ratio W/t < 10, the expression for f 0 gets modified as
2

1 k (W t )
f0
, 1 k 2
0
Wt
The value of k depends on the aspect ratio W/t and is about 1.5 for W/t = 1.
r
( )
The ground resistance ground
is normally smaller than strip resistance because the
width of ground plane is very large compared to the strip and the associated current

rstrip ( )

r
( )
and ground
depend on their proximity among other factors. The series resistance r ( ) for the
transmission line may be determined in an integrated fashion using any of the
transmission line analysis techniques such as conformal mapping or full wave technique.
f
Since r ( ) increases as
at higher frequencies, the series resistance attenuates high
frequency components of the digital pulse heavily.

density has smaller magnitude. For a transmission line, both

Inductance per unit length, l ( )

The inductance l may be divided as l ( ) li ( ) lext ( ) . The internal inductance li ( )

in a strip is due to the current confined within the cross-section of strip. The variation of
internal inductance of an isolated strip with frequency is plotted in Fig. 1 and may be
modeled as
f f0
li , dc
li ( H / m)
li , dc f 0 / f f f 0
l
where i ,dc is obtained from the expression
0li , dc rdc
The external inductance lext ( ) is the loop inductance due to the magnetic field between
the strip and ground plane/ another strip. In general, internal inductance is very small
compared to the loop or external inductance and may be neglected at microwave
frequencies. For a transmission line, both li ( ) and lext ( ) depend on their proximity
among other factors. The external inductance for the transmission line may be determined
using any of the transmission line analysis techniques.
Capacitance per unit length, c( )
The capacitance pul is determined by the transmission line geometry and the dielectric
constant of the substrate, r . The variation of c scales with frequency in the following
manner
c
c ( ) quasi static r ( )
re,quasi static
Conductance per unit length, g ( )
The conductance and capacitance pul are related by
g ( ) c tan ( )
In general, the factor c tan is independent of frequency although both c and tan vary
with frequency. Therefore, we may write
g ( ) cquasi static tan quasi static
Therefore, g ( ) increases linearly with frequency.

Example: Broadband model of strip line parameters

Consider a strip transmission line with ground plane separation of 20mil and strip
dimension w t 5mil 1.38mil . The pul parameters of the line are c = 94pF/m, and
l 0.461 H / m .
(a) Determine Z 0 and velocity of propagation for the line.
(b) To determine line losses due to imperfect conductor and lossy dielectric, the
7
conductivity of metal is assumed as 5.8 10 S / m and the substrate permittivity is
modeled as
0.028
tan
11
r ( ) 3.85 0.0178ln 10 /
r ( )
, and
Determine the pul r and g as a function of frequency from 10 KHz to 1 GHz.
(c) Compute new

Z0

and velocity of propagation

at these frequencies.

(d) Determine of the line over this frequency range and the magnitude of transfer
function of 0.5m long transmission line that is perfectly matched at the input and output.
(e) A 5V, 100MHz, 1 ns rise/fall time, 50% duty cycle periodic trapezoidal pulse train is
applied to this line. Comment on the output waveform shape.
For the given stripline c = 94pF/m, and l 0.461 H / m . The specified value of
l 0.461 H / m is actually external or mutual inductance pul; it is very large compared
to lint .
(a) At very high frequencies at which the skin effect is established fully
( r l , g c)
0.461106
Z0
70
94 1012
,
1
v
1.519 108 m / s, r (c / v) 2 3.9
12
94 10 0.461 106
We shall determine later the frequency at which these approximations can be made.
(b) to determine r, l
1
1
rdc

3.8731 / m
7
wt 5.8 10 0.005 2.54 10 2 0.00138 2.54 10 2
Break frequency = 23MHz for k = 2
1
rskin
8.05 104 f
2 ( w t )
Therefore, one may assume r rdc 3.873ohm / m for f < 23MHz and

r rskin 8.05 10 4 f

for f>23MHz

0li , dc rdc li , dc
,
26.8nH/m. The internal inductance is maximum at dc and
is about 6% of the external inductance value of lext l 0.461 H / m . Also,
Since

l ( ) li ( ) lext ( )

freq
1KHz
10KHz
100KHz
1MHz
10MHz
23MHz
100MHz
1GHz

l
3.06e-3
3.06e-2
0.306
3.06
30.6
70.38
298
2896

r (ohm/m)
3.873
3.873
3.873
3.873
3.873
3.873
8.05
25.45

The approximation r l is valid for f > 10 MHz.

To determine g,
The given values of c and g are valid at very high frequencies where the substrate
permittivity reaches the asymptotic value. At low frequencies, c and g should be
corrected for frequency variation of r ( ) and is given by
c( f )

94
r ( ) pf / m,
3.9

r ( ) 3.85 0.0178ln 1011 /

and

c
c
0.028 0.028
r ( ) tan
r ( )

c 7.18 10 3 c
3.9
3.9
r ( )
3.9
with c = 94pf/m.
g c tan

Based on the above models the computed values of c and g are tabulated next.
Freq
100Hz
1KHz
10KHz
100KHz
1MHZ
10MHz
100MHz
1GHz

r ( f )
4.18
4.14
4.1
4.06
4.02
3.981
3.940
3.899

c
6.33e-8
6.27e-7
6.06e-6
6e-5
5.9e-4
5.88e-3
5.82e-2
0.576

It may be observed from the Table that g c at all frequencies.

(c,d) To determine Z 0 , , , v as a function of frequency

g 7.18 103 c
4.21e-10
4.2e-9
4.26e-8
4.2e-7
4.2e-6
4.2e-5
4.2e-4
4.2e-3

r jl
g j c , (r j l )( g j c)
In the low frequency region, the lines are dominated by conductor loss, r l.
Also, g c and therefore
r
r j / 4
Z0

e
jrc rc e j / 4 ,
jc
c
,

r c / 2,v

rc / 2
In the high frequency region, defined by r l , g c
Z0

Z0

1 r
l

gZ 0 v 1
2 Z0
c , lc and
lc
,

freq
1KHz
10KHz
100KHz
1MHz
10MHz
23MHz
100MHz
1GHz

r,
ohm/m
3.873
3.873
3.873
3.873
3.873
3.873
8.05
25.45

l ,

c ,

ohm/m

g,
S/m

S/m

3.06e-3
3.06e-2
0.306
3.06
30.6
70.38
298
2896

4.2e-9
4.2e-8
4.2e-7
4.2e-6
4.2e-5
9.66e-5
4.2e-4
4.2e-3

5.92e-7
5.92e-6
5.92e-5
5.92e-4
5.92e-3
1.36e-2
5.92e-2
0.592

Z0

,
ohm
2557
808
256
90.4
70
70
70
70

nep/m

5.87e6
1.856e7
5.87e7
1.468e8
1.519e8
1.519e8
1.519e8
1.519e8

1.07e-3
3.38e-3
1.07e-2
2.9e-2
7.2e-2
0.329

The transfer function for the transmission line is given by

v
H ( f ) out e ( f )l e j ( f )l
H ( f ) e ( f ) l
vin
or
where vin is the voltage input to the line (not source voltage) and vout is the load voltage.
For l = 0.5m,
freq

,
nep/m

1KHz
10KHz
100KHz
1MHz
10MHz
100MHz
1GHz

1.07e-3
3.38e-3
1.07e-2
2.9e-2
7.2e-2
0.329

H( f )
l =0.5
1
0.999
0.996
0.986
0.965
0.848

v,
m/s

v,
m/s
5.87e6
1.856e7
5.87e7
1.468e8
1.519e8
1.519e8
1.519e8

(e) For a pulse with rise/fall times of 1ns, the bandwidth of the signal is
BW 1/ tr 1GHz . Since, the prf f 0 100 MHz , upto 10th harmonic is sufficient
to be included for frequency domain analysis of pulse propagation through the
line. Fourier series analysis of the pulse shows the amplitude of various frequency
components as follows:
A sin( n f 0tr )
, n odd

cn 2 n f 0t r

n even
0
The 9th harmonic amplitude is about 1/10th of the principal and can be neglected. The
transmission line of length l = 0.05m will offer almost the same attenuation to all the
components from 100MHz to 1 GHz. Also, phase velocity is also same for these
frequencies. Therefore, the pulse shape remains almost unaffected for l = 0.05m. The
transfer function is 0.983 at 1 GHz.
For l = 0.5m, the attenuation is somewhat more. However, the difference in attenuation
from first to 9th harmonic is not much, 0.965 to 0.848. Again the pulse shape may not
change much.
Physical explanation for skin and proximity effects
The magnetic field and current are related to each other; increase in current increases
the magnetic field. Similarly, the increase in magnetic field should be associated with
the increase in current.
The magnetic field distribution about the common mode currents in the strips is sketched
below.

The superposition of fields should give rise to reduced flux in the middle portion and
increased flux at the outer ends. Therefore, the current density should increase at the
outer portions as shown. Similarly, the current directions for differential mode of
excitation will increase flux in the middle portion and reduced flux at the outer ends. The
current density therefore should increase near the coupled edges as shown.

The increased current density along the inner edges results in increased charge density
and therefore stronger electric field across the inner edges.

Scope of the course-work

To develop equivalent circuit representation for the given 2-port circuits or planar
antennas. The methodology should be general so that it can be applied to
(i)
complex, multi-layered geometries consisting of various types of
interconnects such as planar lines, planar circuits, vias, etc.
(ii)
Also, the equivalent circuit should be compact because the number of lines,
vias, etc may be very large in number.
(iii)
The bandwidth should be such that the circuit is useful for digital applications.
(iv)
The equivalent circuit should be able to reproduce time-domain and
frequency-domain results.
(v)
Should be applicable to lossy circuits.
Approach: The circuits to be analyzed for their equivalent circuit representation consist of
sections of transmission lines of various types including vias, planar circuit or antenna
geometries, and metalizations of various shapes the infrastructure required for such a job
should include (i) wave propagation aspects in transmission lines, (ii) in frequency and
time domain, (iii) in lossy medium. The planar circuit or antenna geometries can be
modeled as 2-dimensional transmission line resonator configurations. Vias are modeled
as zero-dimensional circuits because of their small size. The metallization of various
shape, which occurs frequently in ultra-wideband antennas, may be modeled as planar
resonators.
Approach 1: Analytical based: Therefore, we need equivalent circuit model for
transmission line sections, planar geometries, vias, discontinuities and junctions between
them. One may use PEEEC, etc. Use model-order reduction to realize a compact
equivalent circuit.
Approach 2: Numerical based: Use a suitable computational technique to numerically
model the geometry in the form of transfer function H(f) or impulse response h(t). Model
H(f) or h(t) in terms of equivalent circuit.

Complex Z 0 and determination for the lossy transmission line case. Ref.: Signal
integrity book by B. Young, pp. 62-70.
Impedance Boundaries, Sec. 2.1.4 of Signal integrity book by B. Young.
In this article, the author describes the reason for generation of new field components at
discontinuities (to match the tangential field components at the discontinuities);
specifically the Z 0 discontinuity.
Suppose two transmission line sections with different Z 0 values are cascaded as shown

At the junction plane, the voltage and the current must be continuous. The continuity of
voltage implies
v1 v1 v2 v2
(1)
and the continuity of current means
v1 v1 v2 v2

Z 01
Z 02

(2)
These expressions imply that the forward and reverse traveling waves, which otherwise
were traveling independently, are mixed at the boundary. Also, the waveforms or field
components are generated as necessary to fulfill the boundary conditions. We shall verify
this next.
Solution of (1) and (2) gives
1
Z
Z
1
v2 1 02 v1 1 02 v1
2
Z 01
Z 01
2

(3)

1
Z
Z
1
v2 1 02 v1 1 02 v1
2
Z 01
Z 01
2

(4)

For example, if only the incident wave from the left v exists. Then, since v is zero, a

reflected wave v1 must be generated according to (4) as

Z 02
Z 01
Z Z 01
v1 v1
v1 02
Z
Z 02 Z 01
1 02
Z 01
1

The reflection coefficient is therefore

(5)

v1 Z 02 Z 01

v1 Z 02 Z 01

(6)

v1

v2

Substituting for
in (3) gives the transmitted wave
as
2Z
02
v2
v1
Z 01 Z 02
or the transmission coefficient T as
2Z 02
T
Z 01 Z 02
It may be noted here that the presence of discontinuity has called for (i) generation of
field components corresponding to the reflected wave and (ii) the incident and reflected
waves get coupled at the discontinuity giving rise to the formation of standing wave.
Pulse propagation over a lossy transmission line
The voltage and current on a lossless line are governed, in time domain, by
V ( z, t )
I ( z , t )
L
z
t
I ( z , t )
V ( z , t )
C
z
t
or
2V ( z , t )
2V ( z , t )
2 I ( z, t )
2 I ( z, t )

LC

LC
z 2
t 2
z 2
t 2
and
The solutions to these second-order differential equations are of the form:
V ( z , t ) V (t z / v) V (t z / v)
and
I ( z, t ) I (t z / v) I (t z / v)

V (t z / v) V (t z / v)

Z0
Z0

where

Z0 L / C

and

v 1/ LC

The finite conductivity of conductors and non-zero conductivity of dielectric contribute

to line losses. The line losses may be accounted for by writing the transmission line
differential equations for time harmonic signal as
V ( z , )
R ( ) j L I ( z , )
z
I ( z, )
G ( ) jC V ( z , )
z
Fourier transform of these equations yield
V ( z , t )
I ( z , t )
r (t ) * I ( z , t ) L
z
t

I ( z , t )
V ( z , t )
g (t ) * V ( z , t ) C
z
t
where * denoted convolution and is defined as
t

r (t ) * I ( z , t ) r ( ) I ( z , t )d
0

g (t ) *V ( z , t ) g ( )V ( z , t )d
0

and r(t) and g(t) are inverse transforms of R ( ) and G ( ) , respectively. The presence of
time domain parameters r(t) and g(t) and convolution operations present significant
computational problems. The implementation of convolution operation requires storage
of all the previous values of r(t), g(t), I(t) and V(t), One of the simplest methods to take
care of this problem is the use of time-domain to frequencydomain (TDFD)
transformation method, Sec. 8.1.7 of C.R. Paul (Analysis of Multiconductor
Transmission Lines), p.375.
This method is intuitive, easy to implement computationally and general because it can
be applied to any linear circuit. In this method, the transmission line or transmission line
based circuit is treated as a single-input, single-output linear system as shown in the
figure. The input to the system is denoted as x(t), the output is denoted as y(t), and the
impulse response is denoted as h(t). The response in time domain is given by
y(t) = h(t)*x(t)
The frequency domain response is
Y ( ) H ( ) X ( )
where Y ( ) is the transform of y(t) and H ( ) is the transfer function of the two-port
system as shown.

The transfer function H ( ) can be easily obtained by applying the unit magnitude
sinusoid of appropriate frequency at the input and computing the response.

Spectra and bandwidth of digital waveforms (p.52)

For applying the TD-FD (time-domain frequency-domain) method, the input pulse x(t) is
decomposed into various sinusoids; Fourier series is employed if x(t) is a periodic pulse
train and Fourier transform if it is a single pulse. Let us consider a periodic train of pulses
with period P; its discrete spectrum consists of frequencies nf 0 , n 1, 2,3,... where
f 0 1/ P i.e.

x(t ) c0 cn cos( n0t cn )

n 1

(1)

where the Fourier series is truncated after N harmonics. For a periodic pulse train of
trapezoidal pulses with peak amplitude A, duty cycle D / P , where is the pulse
width between 50% points, and 0-100% equal rise/fall times of tr , we obtain

c0

1
x(t )dt AD A / P
P 0

To determine the coefficients cm of (1) we multiply both sides by cos(m0t ) and integrate
over a period
P

x(t ) cos(m0t )dt cn cos(m0t ) cos(n0t cn )dt

n 1

n 1

mn

cn cos( m0t ) cos(n0t ) cos(cn ) sin(n0t )sin(cn ) dt

P

cm cos(cm ) cos 2 (m0t )dt

0

P
P
cm cos(cm ) cm (e jcm e jcm )
2
4

or
P

1
P
x (t ) e jn0t e jn0t dt cn (e jcn e jcn )

20
4

or
P

1
1
x(t ) e jn0t e jn0t dt cn (e jcn e jcn )

P0
2

or
P

1
1
1
x(t )e jn0t dt cn e j cn cn cn

P0
2
2

1
1
x (t )e jn0t dt cn cn cn*

P0
2

cn

2
x(t )e jn0t dt

P0

or
where cn cn cn
For the trapezoidal pulse as shown above

At
tr

0 t tr
tr t

x (t )

A(t )
A
tr

t tr

Therefore,
cn

tr

At jn0t
e dt Ae jn0t dt
tr
tr

2A

tr

A(t ) jn0t
e dt
tr

sin(n / P) sin(n tr / P ) jn ( tr ) / P
e
P n / P
n tr / P

(see also 1.126 of Paul)

sin(n / P) sin( n tr / P)
P n / P
n t r / P
and

cn n ( tr ) / P

or
cn cn 2 A

Similarly,
P

cn*

2
x (t )e jn0t dt

P0

2A

sin( n / P ) sin(n tr / P ) jn ( tr ) / P
e
P n / P
n t r / P
(see also (8.61) of Paul)

With the decomposition of pulse train in harmonics of prf we now determine the transfer
function at these harmonics as:
H ( n0 ) H ( n0 ) H (n0 )
Next, multiply each of the transfer functions H (n0 ) with Fourier components
cn cos(n0t cn ) to obtain the frequency domain output as
N

Y ( ) c0 H (0) cn H (n0 ) cos n0t cn H (n0 )

n 1

with
cn 2 A

sin(n / P) sin(n tr / P )
P n / P
n tr / P and

or
cn 2 AD

with

cn n ( tr ) / P

sin( n D ) sin(n f 0tr )

n D
n f 0tr
and cn n ( D f 0tr )

duty cycle = D / P

The inverse transform of Y ( ) produces the time domain output y(t). If the transfer
function H ( ) includes the skin-effect losses, the output time pulse includes this effect
also.
Non-periodic pulse case: The periodic pulse train analysis can be applied to the single
pulse case also provided the pulse shape is identical with the periodic pulse over a period,
and choose the repetition frequency f 0 low enough so that the pulse response reaches its
steady state value before the onset of next pulse. For example, a ramp waveform with a
rise time of 50ps may be simulated by a 10MHz periodic trapezoidal waveform with 50%
duty cycle and rise/fall times of 50ps. The trapezoidal waveform would have behaved
like a ramp over its rising half portion.
Limitations of the method: Because the assumption of linearity about the transmission
line and loads, this method cannot be applied to non-linear situations such as corona
breakdown in transmission lines as well as non-linear loads such as diodes and
transistors.
Homework # 3
Due on 31.1.2011
1. Example on time-domain analysis of high loss line. Consider the following
coplanar strips line; it is a printed version of parallel wire line. Two metal strips
run parallel to each other on a substrate as shown below.

The total length of the line is 20cm and is terminated with 50 ohm resistors at both the
ends. The source is a ramp function rising to a level of 1volt with rise time of 50ps. The
source may be modeled as a 10 MHz periodic trapezoidal waveform with 50% duty cycle
D and rise/fall times of 50ps. The pul values of the line are l 0.805969 H / m ,

c 88.2488 pF / m and dc resistance rdc 1/( wt ) 86.207 / m . The effective

6.4
dielectric constant of the line is eff
and Z 0 95.566 . The break frequency or
corner frequency at which transition to skin-effect resistance value takes place is given by
wt /(2( w t )) and is found to be 393.06MHz. Use TD-FD method to compute and

plot the signal voltage as a function of time at the source and load nodes. The range of t
for the plot may be taken as 0 to 10ns. Ref.: Paul, p.439.

For the periodic trapezoidal waveform shown below one may employ the following
Fourier series expansion

x(t ) c0 cn cos( n0t cn )

n 1

where f 0 1/ P

c0

1
x(t )dt AD A / P
P 0

sin(n D ) sin(n f 0tr )

n D
n f 0t r
cn n ( D f 0tr )
cn 2 AD

Pulse shaping by a filter (square wave fed to a LPF)

Example: Square wave pulse shaped by a LPF (ref.: Hall, p. 324)
The example on pulse shaping has a number of useful features. (i) Square wave is an
ideal whereas trapezoidal waveform is a realistic pulse which can be generated in the lab
and utilized for characterizing the channel. (ii) It shows that a trapezoidal pulse can be
realized from a square wave by passing it through a RC filter. (iii) The rise/fall time of
which can be controlled by the time constant RC of the filter, tr 2.2 RC . The frequency
spectrum of trapezoidal pulse is related to the rise time of the pulse and is given by
f 3dB 0.35 / tr . (iv) By virtue of low-pass filtering realization, the trapezoidal pulse has
narrow spectrum compared to square wave. Consider an ideal, square pulse of width 2ns
applied to a low-pass RC filter with R = 50 ohm and C = 5pF. Assume the amplitude of
square wave to be 1V.

Solution: The expected output is a pulse with slow rise/fall time compared to zero rise/
fall time for the square wave. The rise/ fall time of the output pulse is determined by the
t / RC
time constant of the RC filter, RC = 250ps. The pulse rise is described by 1 e
.
t / RC
Similarly, the pulse fall is e
. In general,

h(t t ) x(t )dt

y (t ) h(t ) * x(t )

In the frequency domain,

Y ( ) H ( ) X ( ) ;
where

X ( ) F x(t )

x(t )e

jt

dt

109

e jt dt

2sin 109

109

X(omega)X109

1.5

0.5

-0.5
-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

freq, omegax109

Fig.: Spectrum of 2ns wide square wave

10

The filter transfer function:

1/( jC )
1
H ( )

R 1/( jC ) jCR 1
1
Re H
Im H

H(omega)

0.5

-0.5
-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

freq,omega X109

10

Y()X10-9

Filter output in frequency domain:

2sin( 109 )
Y ( ) H ( ) X ( )
j 2 RC
Filter output in time domain
y (t ) F 1 (Y ( ))
-10

Re Y
Im Y
15

Y()X10- 9

Re Y
Im Y

9
x 10
freq, X10
20

10

-5
-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

freq, X109

10

1
Inverse FFT gives y (t ) F {Y ( )} .

Example 8.2 (ref.: Hall, p.328)

Calculate the pulse response of the 0.5m microstrip line matched at the source and load
ends. Assume that the input pulse has rise and fall times of 33ps and a magnitude of 1V.
L 0.25 H / m, Cquasistatic 150 pF / m, re 3.32,
The line parameters are: ext
tan (1GHz ) 0.0205 and strip widthW 100 m .
Solution:
The input pulse train is given as

To determine the output in time domain we apply TD-FD method.

To determine the effect of losses on pulse propagation we characterize lossy microstrip

line from 1GHz to 5 GHz. The frequency range may be changed depending upon the
useful frequency content of the pulse.
1
/m
W
,
Lint Lext ,

Rac

Ltotal

Lint Rac /

20
18
16

Rac ,ohm /m

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

0.5

1.5

2.5
freq,GHz

3.5

4.5

R = 8.2502(1GHz) 11.6676(2GHz) 14.2898(3GHz) 16.5005(4GHz)

18.4481(5GHz) ohm/m
-7

2.545

x 10

2.54
2.535

L,H/m

2.53
2.525
2.52
2.515
2.51
2.505

0.5

1.5

2.5
freq, GHz

L(total) = 0.2513(1GHz) 0.2509(2GHz)

0.2506(5GHz) microH/m

3.5

0.2508(3GHz)

4.5

0.2507(4GHz)

Frequency dependence of dielectric constant

The dielectric constant ( ' j " )of a material varies slightly with frequency
over a broadband. The real part may vary decrease from 3.9 at 1 GHz to 3.86 at 10GHz,
while tan r / r may increase from 0.0073 at 1 GHz to 0.0074 at 10 GHz. Like the
resistance and reactance of a conductor, the real and imaginary parts of permittivity are
related to each other. The Kramers-Kronig relation in this connection states that
"

'

 '( ) 1
"( )

2 ' r" ( ')

d '
0 ( ') 2 2

r" "/ 0

2 1 r' ( ')
d '
0 ( ') 2 2

The line capacitance C and conductance G become a function of frequency because of the
frequency variation of ' j " .
The real and imaginary part of permittivity may be modeled over a broad frequency range
m1
m2
of 1 10 and 2 10 by the following expressions
' ln(2 / )
' / 2
' '
"
m2 m1 ln(10) ,
m2 m1 ln(10)

where ' is the variation in ' over the bandwidth (2 1 ) . The main advantage of this
model is that it requires specifying the values of ' and " at one frequency point only.
For the microstrip line, the variation of re with frequency occurs due to two factors;
'
because of the decrease in r with increase in frequency and because of the increase in

re' due to dispersion. The dispersive effect is more pronounced for microstrip line e.g. for
alumina substrate re increases from 6.25 at 1 GHz to 6.76 at 10 GHz. For the given

example we consider the contribution of the first effect only. Also, we assign the
'
frequency variation of r to re . At 1 GHz,

r' re 3.32
tan 0 r" /( 0 r' ) 0.0205

" 0.068 0

'
We next solve the above equations simultaneously to get ',
' ln(2 / )
3.32 0 0 r' 0 r
m2 m1 ln(10)

r' / 2
0.068
m2 m1 ln(10)
11
Assuming 1 10rad / sec, 2 10 rad / sec we obtain m1 1, m2 11 . At 1 GHz,
2 109 rad / sec . Using these values in the above expressions give
r' 0.997, r' 3.2
The frequency dependence of line capacitance C may be modeled linearly as
C
C ( ) quasi static r' ( )
re

C ( )

Cquasistatic '
r' ln(2 / )

re
m2 m1 ln(10)

C ( )

Cquasistatic
0.997 ln(1011 / )
3.2

re
10
ln(10)

-10

x 10

1.55
1.54
1.53

C,F/m

1.52
1.51
1.5
1.49
1.48
1.47
1.46

0.5

1.5

2.5
freq,GHz

C = 0.1500(1GHz) 0.1486(2GHz)
0.1468(5GHz) nF/m

3.5

0.1478(3GHz)

4.5

0.1473(4GHz)

The frequency dependence of conductance G is related to C as

G ( ) C tan
where
' / 2
m2 m1 ln(10)
"
tan

' ln(2 / )
'
'
m2 m1 ln(10)
0.1
0.09
0.08
0.07

g,mho/m

0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0

G=

0.5

0.0193

0.0383

1.5

2.5
freq,GHz

0.0571

0.0759

3.5

0.0946 mho/m

4.5

The propagation constant of the line is given by

j ( R j L)(G jC )

j L(1 R / j L) jC (1 G / jC )

For low-loss line we may use Taylor series expansion as

j LC (1 R / 2 j L)(1 G / 2 jC )
j LC

R C G L

2 L 2 C

Therefore,

0.5( R C / L G L / C )nep / m
LC rad / m
2.5

, nep/m

1.5

0.5

alpha = 0.4962

0.5

0.9286

1.5

1.3499

1.7652

2.5
freq, GHz

2.1766 nep/m

3.5

4.5

200
180
160
140

rad/m

120
100
80
60
40
20
0

0.5

1.5

2.5
freq, GHz

3.5

4.5

beta = 38.5764 76.7444 114.7701 152.7043 190.5709 rad/m

phase velocity , v/c: 0.543, almost independent of freq

vout ( f ) 0.5e l volt

, Length, l = 0.5m

0.4

0.35

v out, volt

0.3

0.25

0.2

1.5

vout ( f ) 0.5e l volt

2.5

= 0.3901

3
freq, GHz

0.3143

3.5

0.2546

0.2069

4.5

0.1684

Transfer function for the transmission line of length l

v
H ( ) out e l e j l e l cos( l ) j sin( l )
vin
, l = 0.5m
0.5
Re H
Im H

0.4

H(omega)

0.3

0.2

0.1

-0.1

-0.2

1.5

2.5

3
freq, GHz

3.5

4.5

The transfer function is computed at 0,1,2,3,4,5GHz

H(omega) : 1.00-0i 0.7064 - 0.3314i 0.4915 - 0.3919i 0.3412 - 0.3779i
0.2393 - 0.3375i
0.1712 - 0.29i
H ( ) e l cos( l ) j sin( l )
The ordinate should be multiplied by 2. Also, since
the above plot shows the envelope only, the sinusoidal variation with frequency can be
obtained if a number of data points in between are computed and plotted.
1
Impulse response may be computed from H ( ) as F ( H ( )) . For this one may
sample the positive and negative frequency response H ( ) , 2000 times in steps of 100

MHz, to achieve a time-resolution of

1
1
t

5 ps
N f 2000(100 106 )
The impulse response is plotted next

The pulse response can be computed using the TD-FD method as

Y ( ) H ( ) X ( )
where
vout
e l e j l e l cos( l ) j sin( l )
vin
The pulse response is given by
y (t ) F 1[Y ( )]
and is plotted above for 0.5m lossy microstrip line. Observe that the output is stable ,
does not tend to infinity for any value of t, and appears after a delay of about 3.06ns. The
transmission line therefore is causal.
H ( )

Time delay,
5 GHz.

d l LC 0.5 (2.513 107 ) 1.5 1010 3.07 ns

at 1 GHz and 3.03ns at

Having modeled a lossy line in time domain, we now discuss the mathematical
requirements on passive networks so that their time domain model is physically
consistent.

Requirements for a Physical Channel (Hall, p.331)

A physical channel such as interconnect (includes transmission line, via, connectors),
passive networks, etc must obey certain laws to mimic the real world behaviour
successfully. Specifically, it should satisfy the conditions of causality, passivity, and
stability. We state these requirements for linear and time invariant electrical networks.
The importance of laying down the conditions is that the models may be tested against
these conditions.
Causality
The fundamental principle that effect cannot precede the cause is called causality.
Mathematically, a linear time invariant system is causal only if its impulse response h(t)
obeys
h(t) = 0
for t < 0
If a system, such as a transmission line, has known delay , the system is causal only if
h(t) = 0
for t <
Since H ( ) and h(t) are related through Fourier transform, we may be able to translate
the constraints on h(t) in time domain to H ( ) in the frequency domain.

Any causal function f(t) is supposed to be zero for t < 0. However, for translating the
requirement on f(t) in terms of F ( ) we may express f(t) in terms of even and odd parts
as

f (t ) f (t ) f (t ) f ( t )

2
2
The functions f e (t )and f o (t ) may not satisfy causality individually because they might not
be zero for t < 0. However, jointly they could satisfy f(t) = 0 for t < 0, which is possible if
f o (t ) f e (t ) for t < 0
and
f o (t ) f e (t ) for t > 0
because odd and even parts of a function are related as such. Therefore, we can express
the odd function as
f o (t ) sgn(t ) f e (t ) for all t
(1)
where
1 for t 0
sgn(t )
1 for t 0
We may write
f (t ) f e (t ) sgn(t ) f e (t )
f (t ) f e (t ) f o (t )

F( f )
Taking the Fourier transform of both sides
F ( f ) Fe ( f ) F sgn(t ) f e (t )

f (t )e jt dt

 Fe ( f ) F sgn(t ) * F ( f e (t ))

F sgn(t )

jt
e dt

jt

j
dt
f

1
* Fe ( f )
f

Fe ( f ) j

The second term is Hilbert transform of Fe ( f ) . Hilbert transform for g(f) is defined as

1
1 g ( f )
g ( f )
* g( f )
df
f
f f
We can therefore write
F ( f ) Fe ( f ) jFe ( f )
(2)
Since time domain waveforms are always real, f(t) is real; its Fourier transform satisfies
the following properties
F ( ) F *( ) .
(i)
(ii) If f(t) is an odd function i.e. f(-t) = -f(t), F ( ) is imaginary and odd function of .
(iii) If f(t) is an even function i.e. f(-t) = f(t), F ( ) is real and even function of .
Using these properties,
f (t ) f e (t ) f o (t )
translates to
F ( f ) Fr ( f ) jFi f
(3)
Comparing (2) and (3) we observe that for a causal f(t)
Fi ( f ) Fe ( f )
i.e imaginary part of F ( f ) can be obtained from the Hilbert transform of its real part.
Applying this property of a real and causal function to impulse response h(t) of linear
time invariant system we can write
H ( f ) H e ( f ) jH e ( f )
This equation demonstrates two very important properties of a system that will
produce a real, linear, and causal response in the time domain.
(a) The imaginary part of the frequency response is determined by the Hilbert
transform of the real part i.e. knowledge of the real part is sufficient to define the
entire function.
(b) In the derivation, causality of the system has been enforced through condition (1).
F ( f ) Fe ( f ) in the frequency domain. Therefore,
This condition translates to i
causality of the system can be tested by performing the Hilbert transform of the real
part and ensuring that it is identical to the negative of the imaginary part of the
function.

1 H ( ')
H i ( ) r
d '
'
Similarly, one can derive the real part of transfer function of a causal system from its
H ( ) H i ( f )
imaginary part and prove that r
The Hilbert transform of even and odd functions can be further simplified. Consider

1 H r ( ')
H i ( )
d '
'

H r ( ')
d '
'

1 H ( ')
1
r
d '
0 '

1 H r ( ')
1 H ( ')
d ' r
d '

0 '
0 '

2 H r ( ')
d '
0 2 '2

since H r ( ) is an even function

It may be noted that Kramers-Kronig relations for permittivity as given below
'( ) 1

2 ' r" ( ')

d '
0 ( ') 2 2

2 1 r' ( ')
"( )
d '
0 ( ') 2 2

confirm to the above form of Hilbert transform pairs. If the dielectric models do not
satisfy Kramers-Kronig relations, the system is non-causal.
Passivity
A physical system is passive when it is unable to generate energy of its own. For
example, an n-port network is said to be passive if
t
r
rT
v ( ).i ( )d 0
0

where v(t) and i(t) are the port voltage and current vectors, respectively. The above
integral represents the net power absorbed by the system upto time t. In a passive system,
this quantity should be positive for all values of t.
In terms of S-parameters of a network, the passivity can be defined as

Pa ai bi
i

where Pa , the power absorbed by the network. The passivity condition can be expressed
in terms of S-matrix of the network as
[ I ] [ S ]T [ S ] 0
*

[S ]
If
T

[ S ] [1]

, the passivity of the system is not guaranteed. The above condition may
further be expressed in terms of the eigenvalues of the S-matrix of the system i.e.
0 i 1

Stability
Stability is defined such that y(t) remains bounded for all bounded inputs x(t).Using this
definition, the stability of a linear, time invariant system is guaranteed only if all the
elements in the impulse response matrix [h(t)] satisfy

hij (t ) dt

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Electronics & Electrical Communication Engg Department

Indian Institute of Technology
Sub.: Microwave Networks (EC60088)
Date: 18.2.2011

Mid-sem Exam
Full Marks: 30

Note: Attempt all the questions. Answer to all the parts of a question should be
attempted in sequence and at one place only.
1. An L-C circuit shown below (L = 1/6nH and C = 1/15pF) is used to represent a

transmission line section. Determine the equivalent Z 0 , l of the line. What is the
frequency range over which this section can be employed if the deviation from Z 0
and phase difference l is not to exceed 5% .

2. For a causal waveform, f(t) = 0 for t <0. If F ( ) Fr ( ) jFi ( ) , derive the

relationship between the real part Fr ( ) and the imaginary part Fi ( ) , where F ( ) is
the fourier transform of f(t). Ref: Hall & Heck, pp. 331-335 or Paul, p.83
4
3. (a) A strip transmission line consists of a centered strip sandwiched between two
infinite sized parallel planes. For a stripline with ground plane separation of 20mil and
strip dimension w t 5mil 1.38mil , the pul parameters are c = 94pF/m, and
l 0.461 H / m . Determine Z 0 and velocity of propagation for the line.
2
(b) To determine line losses due to imperfect conductor and lossy dielectric, the
7
conductivity of metal is assumed as 5.8 10 S / m and the substrate permittivity is
modeled as

tan

r ( ) 3.85 0.0178ln 10 /
11

0.028
r ( )

, and
Determine the pul r and g as a function of frequency from 10 KHz to 1 GHz.
(c) Compute new

Z0

and velocity of propagation

at these frequencies.

5
4

(d) Determine of the line over this frequency range and the magnitude of transfer
function of 0.5m long transmission line that is perfectly matched at the input and output.3
(e) A 5V, 100MHz, 1 ns rise/fall time, 50% duty cycle periodic trapezoidal pulse train is
applied to this line. Comment on the output waveform shape.
4

Solution
Q.1 The iterative Z 0 is given by

L
Z0
1
C
c

where

2
LC

L
1/ 6 103

50
C
1/15
ohm,

For the given values of L and C,

2
2
c

6 1011 , f c 95.5GHz
21
LC
1/ 6 1/15 10
The frequency of operation for 5% deviation from Z 0 50 ohm is given by
0.62

0.62 3 1011 , f 29.6GHz

LC
The transfer function of the L-C network terminated in load Z 0 is
H (s)

Z0

s LC
s 2 LC
Z0 1

sL
1

2
4

j l
Comparing it with the transfer function of equivalent transmission line H L ( s) e
gives
H ( s) 1, H ( s ) l

Z L / C for
Satisfying the condition on magnitude of H ( s) , we find that 0
0.62 / LC . The phase of H ( s) is given by
L 1 2 LC / 4
H ( s) tan 1

2
Z 0 1 LC / 2
The phase of the equivalent line is l . Comparing we obtain

 L 1 2 LC / 4

2
Z 0 1 LC / 2

l tan 1
or

L 1 2 LC / 4

2
Z 0 1 LC / 2

tan( l )

At 0.62 / LC or f = 29.6 GHz

1 0.3844 / 4

H ( s) tan 1 0.62
0.6065
1 0.3844 / 2

rad
The transmission line phase at 29.6 GHz is obtained as
l LC 0.62 rad
The phase error at 29.6 GHz is therefore -2% which is less than the error in Z 0 . The
equivalent physical length of the line assuming v = c is obtained as l 0.0978mm
and l / 0.09653 at 29.6 GHz.
Alternative approach based on ABCD matrix
ABCD-matrix of the given network is obtained as
A B 1 Z 1 0 1 Z
, Z j L / 2, Y jC
C D

0 1 Y 1 0 1

j L
2 LC
2

2
2

2 LC

jC
1

The ABCD-matrix of the equivalent lossless transmission line section of length l is

jZ 0 sin( l )
cos( l )
A B
C D j sin( l ) / Z
cos( l )

2 LC
2

Comparing the ratio B/C gives for Z 0 as

L
2 LC
Z 02 1

C
4
or

Z0

L
2 LC
L
2
1

C
4
C
c2

2 / LC . It is clear from the above expression that Z 0 decreases with

where c
increase in frequency above dc. For the given values of L and C,
c 2 / LC 6 1011 rad / sec
Z L / C 50ohm , and 5% error in Z 0 occurs at a frequency max given
For c , 0
by

max
L
0.95Z 0
1 2
C
c

or

max 0.62 / LC or max LC 0.62

Comparing B/D gives
1 2 LC / 4
jZ 0 tan( l ) j L
1 2 LC / 2
L
2 LC
Z0
1

C
4
Substituting for
we obtain
2
(1 LC / 4)
tan( l ) LC
1 2 LC / 2
The equivalent l value of the LC network is therefore

(1 2 LC / 4)
1

l tan LC
2

LC
/
2

To determine the max frequency at which the phase error of LC network is equal to 5% of
the phase delay of the transmission line we proceed as follows: the transmission line
behaves as a linear phase delay network with l l lc LC , where l is the
inductance pul and c is the capacitance pul. Substituting this expression for l we get
(1 2 LC / 4)
1 2 LC / 2
The rate of increase of rhs with is faster than that of lhs. By plotting both sides we find
1/ LC . One cannot determine
that the deviation is more than 5% for LC 1 or m
LC 1 .
this value analytically because x = m
tan( LC ) LC

The phase error is less sensitive to the error in Z 0 because m max . Therefore, if the
LC ladder network is to be modeled as a transmission line section with Z 0 and linear
phase delay with not more than 5% deviation in both LC 0.62 . For the given L and
C values,
Z 0 L / C 50ohm , l LC and f max 29.6GHz .
Q.2 For a causal function f(t) is real, and f(t) = 0 for t < 0. Expressing f(t) as a sum of
even and odd functions as
f (t ) f (t ) f (t ) f ( t )
f (t ) f e (t ) f o (t )

2
2
The even and odd parts of f(t) may not satisfy causality individually, but jointly they
should; which is possible if

f o (t ) f e (t ) for t < 0
As a result we can express the odd function as
f o (t ) sgn(t ) f e (t ) for all t
where
1 for t 0
1 for t 0

sgn(t )

Therefore,
f (t ) f e (t ) sgn(t ) f e (t )
F( f )
Taking the fourier transform
F ( f ) Fe ( f ) F sgn(t ) f e (t )

Fe ( f ) F sgn(t ) * F ( f e (t ))

f (t )e jt dt

F sgn(t )

jt

dt

j t

j
dt
f

1
* Fe ( f )
f

Defining the Hilbert transform as

1
1 g ( f )
g ( f )
* g( f )
df
f
f f
we can write
F ( f ) Fe ( f ) jFe ( f )
Fe ( f ) j

Also, FT of f (t ) f e (t ) f o (t ) gives
F ( f ) Fr ( f ) jFi f
since FT ( f e (t )) Fr ( f ) and FT ( f o (t )) Fi ( f ) .
Comparing the above expressions for F ( f ) we can write that for a causal f(t)

Fi ( f ) Fe ( f )
i.e imaginary part of F ( f ) can be obtained from the Hilbert transform of its real part.
F ( f )
Similarly, one can express Fr ( f ) in terms of i
.

Solution: (a) For the given stripline c = 94pF/m, and l 0.461 H / m . The specified
value l 0.461 H / m is actually external or mutual inductance pul; it is very large

1/
compared to lint which is maximum at about 50nH/m at dc and decreases as

f for

frequencies greater than break frequency. At very high frequencies where the skin effect
is established fully ( r l , g c)
0.461106
70
94 1012
,
1
v
1.519 108 m / s, r (c / v) 2 3.9
12
6
94 10 0.461 10
Z0

(c) to determine r
1
1
rdc

3.8731 / m
7
wt 5.8 10 0.005 2.54 10 2 0.00138 2.54 10 2
Break frequency = 23MHz for k = 2
1
rhf
8.05 104 f
2 ( w t )
Therefore, one may assume r rdc 3.873ohm / m for f < 23MHz and
r rhf 8.05 104 f

for f>23MHz
l lint lext . l lext since lext l 0.461 H / m and lint is about 50nH/m.

freq
1KHz
10KHz
100KHz
1MHz
10MHz
23MHz
100MHz
1GHz

r (ohm/m)
3.873
3.873
3.873
3.873
3.873
3.873
8.05
25.45

To determine g,
The given value of c is valid at very high frequencies. For low frequencies it
should be corrected for frequency variation of r ( ) and is given by
c( f )

Therefore,
g c tan

= 94pf/m.

94
r ( ) pf / m,
3.9

r ( ) 3.85 0.0178ln 1011 /

c
c
0.028 0.028
r ( ) tan
r ( )

c 7.18 10 3 c
3.9
3.9
r ( )
3.9
with c

l
2.9e-3
2.9e-2
0.29
2.9
29
290
2.9e3
2.9e4

r ( f )
4.18
4.14
4.1
4.06
4.02
3.981
3.940
3.899

Freq
100Hz
1KHz
10KHz
100KHz
1MHZ
10MHz
100MHz
1GHz

g 7.18 103 c
4.21e-10
4.2e-9
4.26e-8
4.2e-7
4.2e-6
4.2e-5
4.2e-4
4.2e-3

6.33e-8
6.27e-7
6.06e-6
6e-5
5.9e-4
5.88e-3
5.82e-2
0.576

(c,d) To determine Z 0 , , , v as a function of frequency

r jl
Z0
g j c , (r jl )( g jc)

In the low frequency region, the lines are dominated by conductor loss, r l.
Also, g c and therefore
r
r j / 4
Z0

e
j / 4
jc
c
, jrc rc e
,

r c / 2,v

rc / 2

In the high frequency region, defined by r l , g c

1 r
l

gZ 0 v 1
Z0
2 Z0
c , lc and
lc
,
freq
1KHz
10KHz
100KHz
1MHz
10MHz
23MHz
100MHz
1GHz

r,
ohm/m
3.873
3.873
3.873
3.873
3.873
3.873
8.05
25.45

l ,

c ,

ohm/m

g,
S/m

S/m

2.9e-3
2.9e-2
0.29
2.9
29
290
2.9e3
2.9e4

4.2e-9
4.2e-8
4.2e-7
4.2e-6
4.2e-5
-4.2e-4
4.2e-3

5.92e-7
5.92e-6
5.92e-5
5.92e-4
5.92e-3
-5.92e-2
0.592

Z0

,
ohm
2557
808
256
90.4
70
70
70
70

v,
m/s
5.87e6
1.856e7
5.87e7
1.468e8
1.519e8
1.519e8
1.519e8
1.519e8

The transfer function for the transmission line is given by

v
H ( f ) out e ( f )l e j ( f )l
H ( f ) e ( f ) l
vin
or
where vin is the voltage input to the line (not source voltage) and vout is the load voltage.
For l = 0.5m,

,
nep/m
1.07e-3
3.38e-3
1.07e-2
2.2e-2?
2.9e-2
7.2e-2
0.329

freq

,
nep/m

1KHz
10KHz
100KHz
1MHz
10MHz
100MHz
1GHz

1.07e-3
3.38e-3
1.07e-2
2.2e-2?
2.9e-2
7.2e-2
0.329

H( f )
l =0.5
1
0.999
0.996
?
0.986
0.965
0.848

v,
m/s
5.87e6
1.856e7
5.87e7
1.468e8
1.519e8
1.519e8
1.519e8

(f) For a pulse with rise/fall times of 1ns, the bandwidth of the signal is
BW 1/ tr 1GHz . Since, the prf f 0 100 MHz , upto 10th harmonic is sufficient
to be included for frequency domain analysis of pulse propagation through the
line. Fourier series analysis of the pulse shows the amplitude of various frequency
components as follows:
A sin( n f 0tr )
, n odd

cn 2 n f 0t r

n even
0
th
The 9 harmonic amplitude is about 1/10th of the principal and can be neglected. The
transmission line of length l = 0.05m will offer almost the same attenuation to all the
components from 100MHz to 1 GHz. Also, phase velocity is also same for these
frequencies. Therefore, the pulse shape remains almost unaffected for l = 0.05m. The
transfer function is 0.983 at 1 GHz.
For l = 0.5m, the attenuation is somewhat more. However, the difference in
attenuation from first to 9th harmonic is not much, 0.965 to 0.848. Again the pulse
shape may not change much.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Method of Characteristics (Ref: Cad of microwave circuits, sec.14.1; Paul, Sec.8.1.3)
This is one of the simplest methods and can be used to determine the time domain
behaviour of circuits with linear and non-linear loads. The method of characteristics seeks
to transform the hyperbolic partial differential equations of transmission line into
ordinary differential equations that are easily integrable. The set of partial differential
equations describing TEM mode in transmission lines are:
V ( z , t )
I ( z , t )

l
RI ( z , t )
z
t
I ( z , t )
V ( z , t )

c
GV ( z , t )
z
t
The method of characteristics is used to transform these equations into two ordinary
differential equations, each of which holds for a different characteristic direction in the zt plane. Along these directions, the variables z and t are related such that a change in t is

associated with a corresponding change in z. For a uniform line, the first set of
characteristic curves is given by
dz
1

dt
LC
(1)
This characteristic is sometimes called forward characteristic. This characteristic equation
may be combined with the partial differential equation of transmission lines to yield

d v( z , t ) i ( z, t ) LC

dt
for lossless lines
The second characteristic curve is defined as
dz
1

dt
LC
(2)
and the corresponding ordinary differential equation for the lossless lines is obtained as

d v( z, t ) i ( z , t ) LC

dt
The above ordinary differential equations are directly integrable. The characteristic
curves are drawn next. The increments z and t for the curves are related by (1) and
(2), for the forward and backward curves, respectively. For the lossy lines, the ordinary
differential equations are given by

d v ( z , t ) i ( z, t ) LC

dt

d v( z, t ) i( z, t ) LC
dt

G
R

i ( z, t )
C v( z, t )
LC

G
R

i ( z, t )
C v( z, t )
LC

Electronics & Electrical Communication Engg Department

Indian Institute of Technology
Class Test I

Date: 7.2.2011

Time: one hour

Consider an infinitely long metal strip of rectangular cross-section immersed in a uniform

TM field. The dimensions of the strip are: W t 50 m and the material is copper with

5.8 107 S . (i) Determine and plot the resistance r and internal reactance li per unit
length of strip as the frequency of the TM field is increased from dc to 1GHz. (ii)
Determine the break frequencies at which r is likely to undergo change between Rdc and
Rhf

Solution
(i) The dc resistance pul of a PCB land of dimension Wx t is given by
1
rdc
/m
Wt
,
W, t<<
The high frequency resistance pul is

rhf

1
/m
k (W t )

The resistance with

rdc

1<k<2

behaviour at skin effect frequencies may be modeled as

f f0

rdc

r ( / m )

W, t >> ,

f / f0

f f0

where f 0 is the break frequency where the dc and high frequency asymptotes join. For
W t 50 m and k = 1.5 for square strips, we equate dc resistance and high freq
resistance to obtain f 0 = 15.7 MHz.

For a rectangular strip, the frequencies f1 and f 2 may be associated with onset of skin
effect along width and thickness, respectively i.e f1 corresponds to (at f1 ) W and

(at f 2 ) t .

The internal inductance of a round wire is modeled as

0

a 2
li ,dc 8 50nH / m

li ( H / m)
0
1

a 2
4 a f
Also, r li for a 2 .

The square strip may be modeled as round wire because of similarity in geometry. This
aspect has been used frequently in modeling for capacitance, etc. The dc inductance of
square strip is found to be 48.3 nH/m compared to 50nH/m for a round wire. The
equivalence between the strip and round wire is established by equating their crossa W /
a
sectional areas. For a square strip with t = W, this gives eq
where eq is the
equivalent radius of round wire. We may therefore model the square strip as
aeq 2
li ,dc

li ( H / m) 1
0
aeq 2
4 a

f
eq

However, r is not equal to li at high frequencies for a square strip.

r / li 1.12
The ratio hf
for a square bar whereas it is 1 for a circular wire.
a 50 / m
For eq
, the internal inductance at f 0 is found to be 59nH/m. Since the dc
inductance of a strip conductor is expected to be higher than that of round wire due to
l
corner effect, we modify i ,dc = 59 nH/m in place of 50 nH/m. The above model satisfies
r li , dc
l r /
the surface impedance condition that that dc
at f f 0 or i ,dc dc 0 .

For the given strip dimensions, rdc 6.9 ohm/m, f 0 (k 2) corresponds to = 12.5
l r /
micron or f 0 27.5MHz . Therefore, i ,dc dc 0 0.4 nH/m.
(ii) The resistance pul r for a strip is of the type given below
rdc

1
Wt and the high

The curve consists of low frequency asymptote defined by

1
rhf
k (W t ) , k is a constant dependent on aspect ratio
frequency asymptote given by

W/t. The range of its value is 1<k<2 with k < 1.5 for W>>t, and is about 1.5 for W/t = 1.
r
The meeting point of the asymptotes is obtained by equating rdc and hf to obtain
Wt

k (W t )
and is marked f 0 in the graph. The actual behaviour of r near f 0 is gradual variation and
is marked by two break frequencies f1 and f 2 as shown. These frequencies can be
determined by the approximations (at f1 ) W and ( at f 2 ) t . For the given square
cross-section, the break frequencies may be approximated by W near f1 and
Wt

2(W t ) near f 2 . For W = t = 50 micron, one obtains f1 1.75MHz and

f 2 27.88MHz . The actual values from Fig. 4.22(a) (Paul, multiconductor lines) are:
f1 7 MHz and f 2 40MHz .

Fundamentals of coupling phenomenon

It has been observed that the charge density or current density distribution in a conductor
is a function of geometry and frequency. For a rectangular strip of cross-section wxt, the
charge/current density at dc is uniform over the cross-section. As frequency increases,
the free charges leave the middle of the strip and accumulate at the edges and corners.
This is current crowding and explains the skin effect. Physically, this is explained to be
due to inductive coupling between various portions of current carrying strip. A simple and
ingenious way to describe this behavior in terms of Kirchhoffs law is given next (Ref.:
Digital Signal Integrity, B. Young, p.252).
Consider a metal strip of cross-section wxt, conductivity S/m and very small length
compared to wavelength. The resistance and self inductance pul of this strip at dc can be
determined very easily.

The equivalent circuit for the self-impedance of the strip is

where R is the dc resistance of the strip pul and L is the self-inductance pul and are given
as

Rdc

1
wt

Self inductance modeling

If the rectangular wire can be approximated as a filament (t, w << l),

L
2l

1 H
ln
l 2
0.2235( w t )
Denoting p = l/w, and q = t/w, the inductance per unit length of the strip conductor is
given by (for q > 0.01),
Lpii

q 2 1 A2
1

ln(q A2 ) A6
ln
A5
l 2 24 p q
24 pq

q2
q 2 p A3
q2
( A4 A3 ) ln

( q A2 )

7
60 p
24
q
60 p

p
A7
1
p
p2
p
q

( A2 A4 ) A5
tan 1
A6 tan 1

20 p
4
6q
4q
6
4
pA4
qA
4
pq
1
1
p
tan 1
ln( p A1 ) A7
( A1 A4 )

2
6q
24q
20q 2
A4

1
1
p
p3
1

(
A

A
)

(
A

A
)

2
4
1
3
4
60 pq 2
60 pq 2
20
24q 2

p q A3
p
( A4 A1 ) ( p A3 )
ln
A6
2
24q
p
60
q

1 A1
A5
p

ln

where
A1 1 p 2 ;

A2 1 q 2 ;

A3

p2 q2 ;

A4 1 p 2 q 2

1 A4
q A4
p A4
; A6 ln
; A7 ln

A2
A1

A3

A5 ln

The above expression is prone to large errors for very large values of p>1000 and small
values of q (very thin strips). The following expression based on the assumption q 0
may be employed for very thin strips, q 0.01 :
Lpii 6
1
3ln p 1 p 2 p 2 p 4 / 3 p 2 /3

l
p

Inductance Modeling
Partial mutual inductance between two filaments

3/ 2

1
1
1 2
p
p

3 p ln

2
2
2
z0 l j ln z0 l j r z0 l j z0 ln z0 r z0

Lijpf

2

2

2
2
z0 l j li ln z0 l j li r z0 l j li z 0 li ln z0 li r z0 li
4

2
2

2
2
2
2
2
2
r z0 l j li r z0 li r z0 l j r z0

Defining
z0 l j li s2
z0 li s1
l j z0 s3
z0 s4
The above expression for mutual inductance may be written as
4
ij
L pf
(1)k 1 f ( sk )

4 k 1
with

(1)

f ( sk ) sk ln sk sk2 r 2 sk2 r 2

The expression for mutual inductance between the filaments is applicable to parallel
filaments arbitrarily oriented with respect to the coordinate system, because an axis of the
coordinate system may be aligned with the filaments. With this interpretation of (1) we
can re-define sk , k 1, 2,3, 4 as [1]
s1 d li , s2 d l j li , s3 d l j , s4 d

where d is the offset along the length of the filaments, and r is the perpendicular distance
between them and is given by

r ( xi x j ) 2 ( yi y j ) 2

[1] M.W. Beattie, and L.T. Pileggi, Inductance 101: modeling and extraction, Proc.
Design and Automation Conf. 2001, pp. 323-328.
Excitation of waveguides (ref: Pozar, p.230)
A signal source is connected to a waveguide system through a waveguide-coax adaptor.
This adaptor is a transition between coaxial line and rectangular waveguide and consists
of a UHF coaxial connector mounted on the broad wall of the waveguide. The centre
conductor of the coaxial connector protrudes through the broad wall into the waveguide
and is called probe. The waveguide is shorted at one end and the fixed with a flange at the
other end. The probe feeds the signal from the source into the waveguide and is used to
sample the signal flowing into the waveguide. The coupling of the signal to the probe can
be described by the reaction
a, b ( E a .J b H a .M b )dv
b
b
a
a
where J , M is a set of ac-source and E , H are the set of fields. For an electric
b
current source, M 0 we obtain

a, b E a .J b dv

For a line source of electric current,

a, b E a I b .dl I b E a .dl V a I b
a

where V is the reaction voltage across the b source due to unspecified a source. If we
a
b
use a unit current source I 1 , then <a,b> is a measure of V .