Appendix B: Transducer Power Gain Derivation

Transducer power gain of a terminated two port network is defined as the ratio of the power delivered
to the load to the power available from the source. Sometimes, the power available from the source is
also characterized as the incident power. For the purposes of this derivation, Figure 1 is provided below.

ZS V1+ V2-

+ [S] +
V1- V2+
ZL
Vs V1 V2
( Z0 )
- -

GS Gin Gout GL

Figure 1: A two-port network terminated with source and load impedances

The two port is terminated with source impedance 𝑍𝑆 and load impedance 𝑍𝐿 . The source reflectance
Γ𝑆 , input reflectance Γ𝑖𝑛 , output reflectance Γ𝑜𝑢𝑡 , and load reflectance Γ𝐿 are normalized with respect to
some impedance 𝑍0 . The two port network has two port s-parameters which are also normalized to 𝑍0 .

As usual, the source reflectance is defined as

𝑍𝑆 − 𝑍0
Γ𝑆 =
𝑍𝑆 + 𝑍0

Similarly, the load reflectance is defined as

𝑍𝐿 − 𝑍0
Γ𝐿 =
𝑍𝐿 + 𝑍0

To solve for the input and output reflectances, we review the definition of S-parameters.

𝑉1− = 𝑆11 𝑉1+ + 𝑆12 𝑉2+

𝑉2− = 𝑆21 𝑉1+ + 𝑆22 𝑉2+

Also,

𝑉2+
Γ𝐿 =
𝑉2−

Thus, we can solve for 𝑉1+ in terms of 𝑉2−:

𝑉2− = 𝑆21 𝑉1+ + 𝑆22 Γ𝐿 𝑉2−

 𝑉2− 𝑆21
+ = (1)
𝑉1 1 − 𝑆22 Γ𝐿

We can then solve for input reflectance Γ𝑖𝑛 :

𝑉1−
Γ𝑖𝑛 =
𝑉1+
𝑉2−
= 𝑆11 + 𝑆12 Γ𝐿 +
𝑉1
𝑆12 Γ𝐿 𝑆21
= 𝑆11 +
1 − 𝑆22 Γ𝐿

Similarly, if port 1 is terminated with 𝑍𝑆 , then it follows that

𝑉1+
Γ𝑆 = −
𝑉1

which implies that

𝑉1− = 𝑆11 Γ𝑆 𝑉1− + 𝑆12 𝑉2+

Solving for 𝑉1− in terms of 𝑉2+ yields

𝑉1− 𝑆12
+ = (2)
𝑉2 1 − 𝑆11 Γ𝑆

From this expression, the output reflectance Γ𝑜𝑢𝑡 is given by

𝑉2−
Γ𝑜𝑢𝑡 = +
𝑉2
𝑉1−
= 𝑆22 + 𝑆21 Γ𝑆
𝑉2+
𝑆21 Γ𝑆 𝑆12
= 𝑆22 +
1 − 𝑆11 Γ𝑆

Mathematically, the transducer power gain is defined as

𝑃𝑑
𝑇𝑃𝐺 =
𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑠

where 𝑃𝑑 is the power delivered to the load, and 𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑠 is the power available from the source. The power
available from the source is the maximum amount of power that the generator can deliver to a load.

The power delivered to the load 𝑃𝑑 is given by

1 𝑉2− 2 2
𝑃𝑑 = 1 − Γ𝐿
2 𝑍0
From (1), 𝑃𝑑 can be expressed as

2
𝑉1+ 2 𝑆21
𝑃𝑑 = (1 − Γ𝐿 2 ) (3)
2𝑍0 1 − 𝑆22 Γ𝐿

Separately, the power supplied to the input port of the network 𝑃𝑖𝑛 is given as

1 𝑉1+ 2 2
𝑃𝑖𝑛 = 1 − Γ𝑖𝑛
2 𝑍0

The maximum power that the source can supply, 𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑠 is equal to 𝑃𝑖𝑛 when 𝑍𝑖𝑛 = 𝑍𝑆∗, or equivalently,
when Γ𝑖𝑛 = Γ𝑆∗. Thus,

𝑉1+ 2
𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑠 = 1 − Γ𝑆 2 (4)
2𝑍0
At this stage, it may seem that the transducer power gain can be obtained by the ratio of (3) to (4), but
note that in the case of (4), the incident voltage 𝑉1+ is not the same as in (3), since it represents a
different circuit. Thus, 𝑉1+ must be expressed in terms of 𝑉𝑆 , which is common to the circuit represented
in (3) and the circuit represented in (4).

In the case of the circuit represented in (3),

𝑍𝑖𝑛
𝑍𝑖𝑛 𝑍0
𝑉1 = 𝑉1+ + 𝑉1− = 𝑉1+ 1 + Γ𝑖𝑛 = 𝑉𝑆 = 𝑉𝑆
𝑍𝑖𝑛 + 𝑍𝑆 𝑍𝑖𝑛 𝑍𝑆
+
𝑍0 𝑍0

Also,

1 + Γ𝑖𝑛
𝑍𝑖𝑛 = 𝑍0
1 − Γ𝑖𝑛

And

1 + Γ𝑆
𝑍𝑆 = 𝑍0
1 − Γ𝑆

Solving for 𝑉1+,

1 + Γ𝑖𝑛
𝑉1+ 1 + Γ𝑖𝑛 = 𝑉𝑆
1 + Γ𝑆 1 − Γ𝑖𝑛
1 + Γ𝑖𝑛 + 1 − Γ𝑆

𝑉𝑆 1 − Γ𝑆
𝑉1+ =
2 1 − Γ𝑆 Γ𝑖𝑛
Thus, (3) is rewritten as

2
𝑉𝑆 2 𝑆21 (1 − Γ𝑆 )
𝑃𝑑 = (1 − Γ𝐿 2 ) (5)
8𝑍0 1 − 𝑆22 Γ𝐿 (1 − Γ𝑆 Γ𝑖𝑛 )

Also, the input power supplied to the circuit can be written as

2
𝑉𝑆 2 1 − Γ𝑆
𝑃𝑖𝑛 = (1 − Γ𝑖𝑛 2 )
8𝑍0 1 − Γ𝑆 Γ𝑖𝑛

For the case of the circuit in (4) where Γ𝑖𝑛 = Γ𝑆∗, we therefore have

𝑉𝑆 2 1 − Γ𝑆 2
𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑠 = (6)
8𝑍0 (1 − Γ𝑆 2 )

Finally, the transducer power is determined by the ratio of (5) to (6):

2
𝑆21 2 2
𝑇𝑃𝐺 = 1 − Γ𝐿 1 − Γ𝑆
1 − 𝑆22 Γ𝐿 1 − Γ𝑆 Γ𝑖𝑛