Ch2: Transmission Line

and Matching Circuits

Dr. Rashid A. Saeed

ECE 4337: RF Circuit and Devices
Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, IIUM
1
 Agenda
• Transmission Line
– Wave Propagation on a transmission line
– Lossless transmission lines
– Special Cases of Lossless Terminated Lines
• Impedance Matching
– The Quarter-wave Transformer
– Matching using L-sections
– Single-stub tuning
• Microwave Network Analysis
– Impedance and admittance matrices
– The scattering matrix
– The transmission (ABCD) matrix

2
 Transmission Line: Agenda
• Wave Propagation on a transmission line
• Lossless transmission lines
– Terminated lossless transmission lines
– Load impedance ZL
– Reflection coefficient Γ
– Matched load impedance
– Average Power Pav
– Return Loss (RL)
– Standing Wave Ratio (SWR)
– Special Cases of Lossless Terminated Lines
• A transmission line terminated in a short circuit.
• The open-circuited line
• Terminated transmission lines with some special lengths.
• Transmission line of characteristic impedance Z0 feeding a line of different
characteristic impedance, Zl

3
4
∆z

5
6
Let’s V=Voejwt , I = Ioejwt

then
dV dI
= jω V = jω I
dt dt

Therefore

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Wave Propagation on a
transmission line

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9
 to relate the voltage and current on the line as

Then (2.6b) can be rewritten in the following form:

the wavelength on the line is

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• The above solution was for a general transmission line, including loss effects, In many
practical cases, the loss of the line is very small and so can be neglected,

• The characteristic impedance of (2.7) reduces to

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12
Assume that an incident wave of the form is generated from a source at

assume incident and reflected waves are:

Amplitude of incident wave

Amplitude of reflected wave

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 z=0 at the load ZL so

Solving ZL equation
for

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 The incident wave and reflected wave is called standing waves

Matched load impedance

To obtain the load impedance ZL must be equal to the characteristic

impedance Z0 of the transmission line

ZL =Z0

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 The Power flow along
the line

The middle two terms in the brackets are of the form A - A* = 2jlm(A) and so
are purely imaginary. This simplifies the result to

the average power flow is constant at any point on the

line,
if Γ =0, maximum power is delivered to the load, while no power is delivered for
lf Γ =1.

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 Return Loss (RL)

If the load is mismatched, not all of the available power from the generator
is delivered to the load

This "loss" is called return loss (RL),

0dB return loss means all incident power is

reflected.

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Standing Wave Ratio

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21
At a distance from the load, the input impedance seen
looking toward the load is

from and

We can write

from

We can write The transmission line impedance equation

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Solutio
n

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Special Cases of Lossless Terminated Lines
1. A transmission line terminated in a
short circuit.

the reflection coefficient for a short circuit load is = -1

We can write
from

At z=0 (at the load) V=0 at the load (as expected, for a short circuit), while the
current is a maximum there

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2. The open-circuited line

the reflection coefficient for an open circuit load =1

is

We can write
from

which shows that now I =0 at the load, as expected for an open circuit, while the
voltage is a maximum, The input impedance is

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3. terminated transmission lines with some special
lengths.

meaning that a half-wavelength line (or any multiple of ) does not alter or
transform the load impedance, regardless of the characteristic impedance.

Such a line is known as a quarter-wave transformer because it has

the effect of transforming the load impedance, in an inverse
manner, depending on the characteristic impedance of the line.

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 Agenda
• Transmission Line
– Wave Propagation on a transmission line
– Lossless transmission lines
– Special Cases of Lossless Terminated Lines
• Impedance Matching
– The Quarter-wave Transformer
– Matching using L-sections
– Single-stub tuning
• Microwave Network Analysis
– Impedance and admittance matrices
– The scattering matrix
– The transmission (ABCD) matrix

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 Impedance Matching
Techniques






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• Impedance matching techniques includes:
1. The quarter-wave transformer
2. Lumped element matching network or some time called L-
sections
3. Single stub tuning

• Factors that may be important in the selection of a particular

matching network include the following:

• Complexity- A simpler matching network is usually cheaper, more reliable,

and less lossy than a more complex design.
• Bandwidth- In many applications, however, it is desirable to match a load
over a band of frequencies. However, this is done by increasing complexity.
• Implementation- For example, tuning stubs are much easier to
implement in waveguide than L-section or quarter-wave transformers,
while L-section is easy to be implemented in RFIC.
• Adjustability- In some applications the matching network may require
adjustment to match a variable load impedance.
1. The Quarter-Wave Transformer

 by applying that to Zin equation we can get

 which yields

• The above condition applies only when the length of the matching
section is λ /4 or an odd multiple (2n + 1) of λ /4 long, so that a
perfect match may be achieved at one frequency, but mismatch will
occur at other frequencies

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 Frequency response of a quarter-wave transformer
• Consider a load resistance RL=100Ω , to be matched to a 50 Ω line with a
quarter-wave transformer.
1. Find the characteristic impedance of the matching section and
2. plot the magnitude of the reflection coefficient versus normalized frequency, f/f0, where f0
is the frequency at which the line is λ /4 long.
Solution
From 
The reflection coefficient magnitude is given as

• where is a function of

frequency from the term β l,

which can be written in terms of f/f0, as

This method of impedance matching is

limited to real load impedances
34
2. L-section Impedance Matching
• This technique is used extensively in lower frequency circuit design
• It has advantages over quarter-wavelength that the load impedance need not to be real.
• Has two possible configuration,
– If the normalized load impedance is inside the circle on the smith chart, then this circuit
should be used:

– If the normalized load impedance is outside the circle on the smith chart, then this circuit
should be used:

– The 1+jx circle is the resistance circle on the impedance Smith chart for which r=1.

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1+jx
inside outside
Example : L-section impedance matching

Design an L-section matching network to match a series RC

load with an impedance ZL=200 - j100 Ω , to a 100 Ω line,
at a frequency of 500 MHz.

Solutions

• The normalized load impedance is zL=2 - j1, which is inside

the 1+jx circle
• so we will use this matching circuit 

• Since the first element from the load is a shunt susceptance

helpful to convert to admittance Smith chart

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zL=2 - j1
• This matching circuit consists of a shunt capacitor and a
series inductor.
• For a frequency of f= 500 MHz, the capacitor has a value of

• and the inductor has a value of

There is no difference in the

BW

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 Shunt
3.Single Stub Tuning Stub

• A matching technique
that uses a single
open-circuited or
short-circuited length
of transmission line (a
"stub"),
Series
• Stub is connected
Stub
either in parallel or in
series with the
transmission feed line
at a certain distance
from the load

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• Two degree of freedom d and Y
• For the shunt-stub case, the basic idea is to select d so
that the admittance, Y, seen looking into the line at
distance d from the load is of the form Y0+jB.
– Then the stub susceptance is chosen as -jB , resulting in a
matched condition.
• For the series stub case, the distance d is selected so
that the impedance, Z, seen looking into the line at a
distance d from the load, is of the form Z0+jX.
– Then the stub reactance is chosen as -jX, resulting in a
matched condition.

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 Example: single Stub shunt
tuning

solution
1. normalized load impedance zL =1.2 - jI .6,
2. Construct the appropriate SWR circle, and
3. convert to the load admittance, yL,
4. SWR circle intersects the 1 +jb circle at two points, denoted as
y1 and y2
5. Thus the distance d, from the load to the stub, is given by either
of these two intersections. Reading the WTG scale, we obtain

6. At the two intersection points, the normalized admittances are

7. The stub length

 Agenda

• Transmission Line
– Wave Propagation on a transmission line
– Lossless transmission lines
– Special Cases of Lossless Terminated Lines
• Impedance Matching
– The Quarter-wave Transformer
– Matching using L-sections
– Single-stub tuning
• Microwave Network Analysis
– Impedance and admittance matrices
– The scattering matrix
– The transmission (ABCD) matrix

47
Microwave Network Analysis
• Two representations can give complete
description for any microwave network:
1. Impedance and admittance matrices (Z, Y)
2. The scattering matrix (Sxy )
• The scattering matrix representation is used for
high frequency applications,
– Where it is difficult to measure total voltages and
currents, but easier to measure the incident and
reflected voltages.

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1.Impedance and admittance
matrices
• considering an arbitrary N-port microwave
network,

Now at the nth terminal plane

(tn), the total voltage and current
is given by

When z=0

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• The impedance matrix [Z] of the microwave network then relates these
voltages and currents:

• or in matrix form as
• Similarly, we can define an admittance matrix [Y] as

• or in matrix form as
• Inverse

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• Zij can be found by driving port j with the current Ij ,
• open circuiting all other ports (so Ik=0 for k≠ j), and
• measuring the open-circuit voltage at port i.
• Thus, Zii is the input impedance seen looking into port i when all other
ports are open-circuited, and
• Zij is the transfer impedance between ports i and j when all other ports
are open-circuited.
• For an arbitrary N-port network, the impedance and admittance matrices
are N x N in size, so there are 2N2 independent quantities or degrees of
freedom.
• In the practice many networks are either reciprocal or lossless,
• If the network reciprocal then [Z] and [Y] are symmetric.
– So Zij = Zji and Yij = Yji
• If the network lossless means no power dissipated in the network,
– So, all Zij and Yij elements are imaginary quantities.

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 Example
• Evaluation of impedance parameters:
Find the Z parameters of the two-port T-network
shown in the Figure below.

A two-port T-network

Solution:
Need to calculate Z11, Z12, Z21, Z22

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 A two-port T-network

• Z11 can be found as the input impedance of port 1 when port 2 is

open-circuited:
Thévenin's theorem -

• The transfer impedance Z12 can be found measuring the open-

circuit voltage at port 1 when a current I2 is applied at port 2. By
voltage division,

Where
• You can verify that Z21 = Z12, indicating that the circuit is reciprocal.
• Finally, Z22 is found as

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2.The Scattering matrix
• For some components and circuits, the scattering
parameters can be calculated using network
analysis techniques.
– Otherwise, the scattering parameters can be measured
directly with a vector network analyzer (VNA)
• The scattering matrix, or [S] matrix, is defined in
relation to the incident Vn+ and reflected Vn- voltage
waves as

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•Thus, Sii is the reflection coefficient seen looking into port i
when all other ports are terminated in matched loads, and
•Sij is the transmission coefficient from port j to port i when
all other ports are terminated in matched loads

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• A specific element of the [S] matrix can be
determined as

• Sij is found by driving port j with an incident wave

of voltage Vn+ and measuring the reflected wave
amplitude, Vn- , coming out of port i.
• The incident waves on all ports except the jth port
are set to zero,
– which means that all ports should be terminated in
matched loads to avoid reflections.

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 Reciprocal and Lossless network
• the [S] matrix for a reciprocal network is symmetric,

• If the network is lossless, then no real power can be

delivered to the network.
– if the characteristic impedances of all the ports are
identical and assumed to be unity, the average power
delivered to the network is (all the incident power in port
1 will be transferred to port 2)
Purely imaginary
A- A*

Incident
power in port Reflected
1 power to port
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– so

– Using
– Then, we can write
– so that, for nonzero

– the [S] matrix for a lossless network is unitary matrix.

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Example: Application of scattering
parameters

• A two-port network is known to have the following

scattering matrix:

1. Determine if the network is reciprocal, and

lossless.
2. If port 2 is terminated with a matched load, what
is the return loss seen at port 1?
3. If port 2 is terminated with a short circuit, what is
the return loss seen at port 1?

DUT
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1. Determine if the network is reciprocal, and lossless.
• Since [S] is not symmetric, the network is not reciprocal.
• To be lossless, the S parameters must satisfy:

and
the [S] matrix for a
lossless network is
unitary matrix.
• Taking the first column gives

• So the network is not lossless.

2. If port 2 is terminated with a matched load, what is the

return loss seen at port 1?
• In this case the reflection coefficient seen at port 1 is

• So the return loss is

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3. If port 2 is terminated with a short circuit, what is
the return loss seen at port 1?
+ −
2 = −V2
• for a short circuit at port 2,Vso
• From the definition of the scattering matrix, we can write

V1−  S11 S12 V1+ 

•  − =   
S 22 V2+ 

V2  S 21 S
21

• The second equation gives

V2− S 21
• = 
V1+ 1 + S 22
+
• Dividing the first equationVby
1

• So the return loss is

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4.16 A four-port network has the scattering matrix shown
below.
(a) Is this network lossless?
(b) Is this network reciprocal? yes
(c) What is the return loss at port 1 when all other ports are
terminated with matched loads?
(d) What is the insertion loss and phase delay between ports 2 and
4, when all other ports are terminated with matched loads?
(e) What is the reflection coef0cient seen at port 1 if a short circuit is
Phase delay 600
placed at the terminal plane of port 3, and all other ports are
terminated with matched loads?

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Conclusions of S parameters
• An important point to understand about S
parameters is that the reflection coefficient
looking into port n is not equal to Snn , unless all
other ports are matched.
– Similarly, the transmission coefficient from port m
to port n is not equal to Snm , unless all other ports
are matched.
• Changing the terminations or excitations of a
network does not change its S parameters,
– but may change the reflection coefficient seen at a
given port, or the transmission coefficient between
two ports.
 S-Parameter (dB)
S-Parameter (dB)

Input RL reverse Response

or gain of the
system

Frequency GHz
Frequency GHz
using a NVA
S-Parameter (dB)

S-Parameter (dB)

Forward Response
or gain of the
system Output RL

Frequency GHz Frequency GHz

 The Transmission (ABCD)
Matrix
• The Z , Y, and S parameter representations can
be used to characterize a microwave network
with an arbitrary number of ports,
– but in practice many microwave networks consist of a
cascade connection of two or more two-port networks.
• In this case it is convenient to define a 2 x 2
transmission, or ABCD matrix, for each two-port
network.
• The ABCD matrix is defined for a two-port
network in terms of the total voltages and
currents

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 A cascade connection of two-port
networks.

Relationship between ABCD and impedance Z

V1   Z11 Z12   I1  V1 = Z11 I1 + Z12 I 2

V  =  Z Z 22   I 2  V2 = Z 21 I1 + Z 22 I 2
 2   21
Direction of I2 is opposite then substitute by –I2

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 Z Impedance ABCD
representation
V = Z I −Z I representation
1 11 1 12 2

V2 = Z 21 I1 − Z 22 I 2

• If the network reciprocal , then Z12=Z21 , so we can

write
AD − BC = 1

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Example: evaluation of ABCD parameters
• Find the ABCD parameters of a two-port network consisting
of a series impedance Z between ports 1 and 2 in the figure
below(the first entry in the Table).

• Solution
A is found by applying a voltage Vl at port 1, and measuring
the open-circuit voltage V2 at port 2.

V1
A= =1
V 2 I 2 =0

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The ABCD parameters of some useful two-port
Circuits

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BACKUP

71
 Passive and Active RF
Devices
• What is the difference between passive and active devices?
– Active devices are capable of changing their operational
performance, may deliver power to the circuit, and can
perform interesting mathematical functions.
– While a Passive devices that does not require a source of
energy for its operation.
– Active devices generate Non-linear network, while passive
devices generate linear network.
Passive RF Devices Active RF Devices
•RFID Tag •RFID Interrogator
•Directional coupler •Mixer
•Power divider •Amplifier
•Antenna •Oscillators and Frequency
•Filter Synthesizers
•Waveguide  All these active devices use
all passive devices use Diodes and Transistors
Impedance, Inductance and
capacitance 72
Wikipedia

73
 Demonstration
• Try Falstad's demos
• http://www.falstad.com/circuit/index.htm