METU EE 303 YR 2009

Some Transmission Line Problems with Solutions

Q1. In the circuit below both transmission lines are lossless. The forward propagating
wave on Line 1 carries a time averaged power of 1W. Calculate the time averaged power
that gets dissipated on load ZL .

Line 1
Z 01 = 50

Line 2
Z 02 = 50 2

Z L = 50 + 50 j

3
4
Solution :
3

A
line is equivalent to a
line since at every length voltage and current repeats
4
2
4
itself. Hence the second line is a quarter wavelength transformer. Then
Z2
2 50 2
2 50 (1 j )
Z in 2 = 02 =
=
= 50 50 j
Z L 50(1 + j ) (1 + j ) (1 j )
The reflection coefficient on the first line (we need only the absolute value)
Z Z 01
50 50 j 50
1
j
01 = in 2
=
=
=
50 50 j + 50 2 j
Z in 2 + Z 01
5
Net time averaged power delivered to the network is
*
) = 1 1 01 2 = 1 15 = 0.8 Watt
Pav = 1 (1 01 01
Since time average power is consumed on resistive loads only, this must be the power
dissipated on Z L since the rest of the circuit is loss free.

Q2. The VSWR on a terminated, lossless transmission line is 1.5 and its characteristic
impedance is 50 .
(a) Calculate the impedance at a voltage maximum
(b) Calculate the impedance at a voltage minimum
Solution :

Z a = S Z 0 = 1.5 50 = 75
Z b = Z 0 / S = 50 / 1.5 = 100 / 3 = 33.3333
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Q3. A lossless transmission line which has a length of 3 wavelengths ( ) has the
characteristic impedance of 0 . Four shunt loads are connected to the line as shown in
the figure. The third one is a short circuit while the others are of impedance 0 .
Calculate the VSWR in the indicated regions 1,2,3, and 4.

2
Z0

Z0

3 / 4

Z0

3 / 4

Z0

Z0

Z0

3 / 4

3 / 4

Z0

Solution :
3

line is equivalent to a
line since at every length voltage and current repeats
A
4
2
4
itself. Hence each line segment is a quarter wavelength transformer.
Region 4 : There is no input to the line !!! If we had any VSWR should be 1
Region 3 : A short circuitted line hence VSWR=
Region 2 : A match load termination hence VSWR=1
Region 1 : Effective load impedance is Z 0 / 2 . Then VSWR= Z 0 / (Z 0 / 2 ) = 2

Q4. Repeat question 3 if the line length is , and each line segment is of length / 4
Solution :

line is equivalent to a
line since at every length voltage and current repeats
4
2
4
itself. Hence the answer does not change !!!
A

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Q5. The inductance per-unit-length and capacitance per-unit-length of a lossless

transmission line are given as 1 10 6 H7m and 25 10 12 F/m, respectively. The line is
15 cm long and is terminated by a load Z L = 50 .
(a) Calculate the phase velocity, VSWR and the input impedance Z in for the
frequency f = 10 9 Hz.

(b) Repeat part (a) for f = 0.5 10 9 Hz.

Solution :
10 6
10 6 1000
=
=
= 200
25 10 12
25
5
1
10 9
vp =
=
= 2 108 m / s < c this velocity does not depend on frequency !!!
18
5
25 10
VSWR=200/50=4 this also does not depend on frequency.
2
2 108
= 0 .2 m d =
0.15 = 1.5
cos d = 0 sin d = 1
(a) a =
9
10
0 .2
50 0 + j 200 ( 1)
Z in = 200
= 800
200 0 + j50 ( 1)

Z0 =

2
2 108
1
1
= 0 .4 m d =
0.15 = 0.75 cos d =
sin d =
9
0 .4
0.5 10
2
2
( 1 + 4 j )( 4 j ) =
1+ 4 j
50 ( 0.707..) + j 200 0.707
Z in = 200
= 200
= 200
4+ j
200 ( 0.707) + j50 0.707
17
8 15 j
Z in = 200
= 94.1 - 176.47j
17

(b) b =

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Q6. Consider the transmission line circuit shown in the first figure. Due to impedance
mismatch a voltage standing wave pattern will be seen along the line. At the position of
the first minimum of the voltage standing wave we cut the line and insert a quarter
wavelength line segment of unknown characteristic impedance. Now the VSWR to the
left of the insertion is 1 (matched). Calculate
(a) The characteristic impedance of the inserted quater wavelength line.
(b) The average power gets dissipated at the load.

Position of the first minimum

Z G = 100 + j100

VG = 10 V peak

VSWR=S

Z 0 = 100

Z L = 100 j 200

/4
VSWR=1

Z T = ???

VSWR=S

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Solution :
100 j 200 100 1 j
1
=
=
=
= 0.707
100 j 200 + 100
2
2
1 + 0.707
S=
= 5.83
1 0.707
Impedance at the first minimum
Z in = 100 / S = 100 / 5.83 = 17.15
For quarter wavelenght transformer to match this to 100 Ohms we must have
Z T = 100 17.15 = 41.42
100 10
10
Input voltage to the line is Vin =
V peak (Voltage Divider)
=
100 + 100 + 100 j 2 + j
10
Curent to the line is I in =
100( 2 + j )
1
100
Pin = Vin I in* =
= 0.1 Watt
2
200( 2 + j )( 2 j )
This average power is delivered to the load since that is the only part involving losses.

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Q7. A lossless transmission line of Z 0 = 50 is terminated by a load impedance

Z L = 50 j100 . The forward propagating voltage wave along the line is given by the
expression
j 0.1 d
Volts
V + (d ) = 100 e
where d denotes distance from the load. Find
(a) The wavelength,
(b) The reflection coefficient at the load,
(c) The voltage standing wave ratio
(d) The maximum voltage amplitude on the line,
(e) The distance in meters from the load to the first voltage minimum,
(f) The distance in meters from the load to the first voltage maximum
Solution :
2
=
= 0.1 = 20m

50 j100 50
=
50 j100 + 50
1 j
1+
1+
2
S=
=
1 j
1
1
2

j
j (1 + j ) 1 j
j100
=
=
=
100 j100 1 j
2
2
1
2 = 2 + 1 = 2.414 = 5.83
1
2 1 0.414
2

Vmax = 100(1 + ) = 1001 +

= 170.7 V
2

= 4

2 d min = d min = 3.75 m

2 d max = 2 d max = 8.75m
Note that distance from min to max is 5m which is quarter wavelength. Also note that a
zero RHS for the maximum is inconvenient since it yields negative length !

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Q8. A lossles transmission line of characteristic impedance of 50 is terminated by an

unknown resistive load R L . Reflection coefficient at a given plane S on the line is equal
1+ j
.
to S =
2

S
Z 0 = 50

S =

1+ j
2

RL = ???

(a) What is the VSWR on the line ?

(b) What are the possible values of R L ?
(c) If we move plane S / 4 meters towards the generator what is the new value of
the reflection coefficient ?
(d) If we move plane S / 4 meters towards the load what is the new value of the
reflection coefficient ?
Solution :
1
1+
1 + 1 + S
2 = 5.83
=
S=
=
1
1 1 S 1
2
On the resistive load we must have either a voltage maximum or minimum, hence there
are two possiblities for the load
RL1 = SZ 0 = 291.4 and RL 2 = Z 0 / S = 8.58

c = S exp( j 2
d = S exp( j 2

) = S exp( j ) = S

) = S exp( j ) = S

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