A transmission line is a metallic conductor system that is used to transfer electrical energy from one

point to another.

There are two major factors that determine the response of a transmission line:

 The frequency of the signal

 The length of the transmission line

In general, a conductor is considered as a transmission line if its length exceeds one sixteenth (1/16) of
the signal wavelength.

Applications of Transmission Lines

 Signal transfer

 Pulse generator

 Filters and tuned circuits

 Provides phase shift and time delay

 Impedance matching

Wave velocity

 The velocity of a wave depends on the type of wave and the medium of propagation.
 Electrical power propagates along transmission lines in the form of TEM waves.
 In a transmission line, electromagnetic waves travel at a speed less than the corresponding
speed in vacuum.

Classifications of Transmission Lines

BALANCED LINE

 Both conductors carry current; e.g. twin-lead.

 The current in the two conductors are equal in magnitude but travels in opposite direction.

UNBALANCED LINE

 One conductor carries the signal while the other is at a ground potential; e.g. coaxial cable.

Balanced lines can be connected to unbalanced lines using special transformers called BALUNS.

Types of Transmission Lines

 Parallel open-wire line

 Twin lead
 Twisted pair
 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)
 Shielded pair
 Coaxial lines
 Balanced/unbalanced lines
Open-Wire Line
 characterized by high radiation losses and is susceptible to noise
 conductor distance is between 2 to 6 in.
 it is normally operated in the balanced mode.

Twin Lead
 Also known as the ribbon cable
 The typical conductor separation is 5/16 inch.
 Commonly used insulators are Teflon and PE.
 Common applications include TV and antennas.
  Typical input impedance is 300 ohms.

Twisted Pair
 Two insulated wires are twisted to form a flexible line without the use of spacers.
 The conductors are twisted together to reduce interference.
 It is not used for high frequencies.

CAT 5 Cable
 Computer networking cable capable of handling a 100 mhz bandwidth
 Most often used in lans
 Transmits data up to 100 Mbps for a length of 100 m
 Consists of four color-coded pairs of 22 or 24 gauge wires terminated with an RJ-45 connector

Shielded Pair Cable

 consists of parallel conductors separated and surrounded by a solid dielectric
 The copper braid isolates the inner conductor from interference and noise.
 The conductors are balanced to ground.

Coaxial Cable
 consists of two concentric conductors separated by a dielectric
 outer conductor – copper or aluminum tube or wire braid
 inner conductor – wire or small tube
 The dielectric may be air, plastic or ceramic
 Coaxial cables are used extensively for high frequency applications
 Limited to unbalanced applications

Types of Coaxial Cable

 Rigid or air-filled coaxial line
 Flexible or solid coaxial line
Both are relatively immune to external radiation and can propagate at higher frequencies than
parallel wire line.

The unwanted coupling caused by overlapping electric and magnetic fields - Cross talk
The amount of loss in the signal strength as it propagates throughout a transmission line is called - Attenuation
A measure of the ratio of power transmitted into a cable to the amount of power returned or reflected - Reflection coefficient

The characteristics of a transmission line are determined by

 Electrical properties
 Conductivity of the conductor
 Dielectric constant of the insulator
 Physical properties
 Wire diameter
 Conductor separation

Series dc resistance (R) Shunt capacitance (C)

Primary Electrical Constants
Series inductance (L) Shunt conductance (G)
Transmission Characteristics

These are the secondary constants of a transmission line which are determined from primary
constants.
 Characteristic impedance, Z0 - also called surge impedance
 Propagation constant, γ - It expresses the attenuation and the phase shift per unit length of a
transmission line.
Characteristic Impedance
 It is the ratio of the voltage to current at any point in an infinitely long transmission line.
 the input impedance of a finite transmission line whose terminals are shorted.

If the line is of infinite length, then there

would be no reflection and the impedance is
purely resistive.

Characteristic Impedance of
Parallel Wire Transmission Lines

Transmission Line Equivalent Circuit

 At dc and low frequencies, the inductive reactance is very small making it negligible.
 Similarly, the reactance of the shunt capacitance is very large, so the effect of the capacitance is
negligible as well.
 As the frequency increases, the inductance and capacitance have more pronounced effects.
Resistive elements can be neglected.
 Since the capacitor and inductor stores energy, no energy is lost ideally and the line is called
lossless.
Sample Problem

A transmission line has 2.5 pF of capacitance per foot and 100 nH of inductance per foot. Calculate its
characteristic impedance.

An open-wire line uses wire with a diameter of 2 mm. What should the wire spacing be for an
impedance of 150 Ω?

COMMON COAXIAL CABLES

Velocity Factor - ratio of the speed of an electromagnetic wave in a medium to its speed in vacuum.

Velocity of Propagation - the velocity at which the signal propagates in a medium.

The characteristic impedance of a cable The velocity factor of a cable depends mostly
a) Increases with length on:
b) Increases with frequency a) the wire resistance
c) Increases with voltage b) the dielectric constant
d) None of the above c) The inductance per foot
d) All of the above
1. If a coaxial cable uses plastic insulation with a dielectric constant εr = 2.6 , what is the velocity
factor for the cable?
 2. If a cable has a velocity factor of 0.8, how long would it take a signal to travel 3000 kilometers
along the cable?

Compared to a 300-ohm line, the loss of a 50-ohm cable

carrying the same power:

a. Would be less
b) Would be more
c) Would be the same
d) Cannot be compared

Nonresonant Line
 A line terminated with a resistive load equal to its characteristic impedance is called a
nonresonant line, matched line or a flat line.
 All the energy travelling down the line is absorbed by the load.
 The incident current and voltage in a matched line are always in-phase.
 An infinitely long line is also nonresonant.
Resonant Line
 A transmission line terminated with a load not equal to its characteristic impedance.
 Reflection occurs in a resonant line.
 Reflected power is the portion of the incident power that is not absorbed by the load.
 A shorted and open lines are both resonant line.

Standing Waves
 There are two travelling waves in a transmission line.
 From source to load: incident waves
 From the load to source: reflected waves
 The interaction between the incident and the reflected waves due to reflection in a mismatched
line creates a pattern of waves that appears to be stationary. This is called standing wave.

A voltage maximum occurs

A. At the end of a shorted line
B. Quarter wavelength from the end of a shorted line
C. Half wavelength from the end of a short line
D. Quarter wavelength from the end of an open line

The Reflection Coefficient

 It is a vector quantity that represents the ratio of the reflected wave to the incident wave.
Reflection Conditions
A negative reflection coefficient means
A. The load is greater than the line impedance
B. The incident and reflected voltages are in phase at the load
C. The terminal of the line is always shorted
D. None of the above

Standing Wave Ratio

 SWR is a measure of mismatch between the load and the characteristic impedance.

1. A cable has a VSWR of 10. If the minimum voltage along the cable is 20 volts, what is the
maximum voltage along the cable?

2. A lossless line has a characteristic impedance of 50 ohms, but is terminated with a 75-ohm
resistive load. What SWR do you expect to measure?

3. If a cable has an SWR of 1.5, what will be the absolute value of its voltage coefficient of
reflection?

Effects of Mismatch
 100 percent of the source power does not reach the load
 Corona can be produced due to excessive dielectric heating caused by a high value SWR.
 Reflection and subsequent reflections cause more power loss.
 Reflection causes ghost image and interference.

A generator matched to a line with a voltage coefficient of reflection equal to 0.2 transmits 100 watts
into the line. How much power is actually absorbed by the load?
A series-tuned circuit operating at a frequency of 1 GHz is to be constructed from a shorted section of
air-dielectric coaxial cable. What length should be used?

Electrical Length and Phase Shift

 The length of a transmission line in wavelengths as opposed to its actual physical length.
 Lines whose length is not equal to a wavelength produces a phase delay equal to

If a cable has a velocity factor of 0.8, what length of cable is required for a 90° phase shift at 100 MHz?

Transmission Line Losses

Major transmission line losses:
 Conductor or copper loss
 Radiation loss
 Dielectric loss
 Coupling loss

Conductor Loss (I2R Loss)

 when a signal passes through a conductor, some energy is lost in the form of heat. This loss is
called conductor loss.
 This is proportional to the square root of the line length and inversely proportional to the
impedance.
 Conductor loss is frequency dependent
 At high frequencies, I2R loss is generally due to skin effect.
A phenomenon that occurs at high frequencies where the current flows on the surface of the
conductor.
This is because of the higher reactance of the conductor at its center.
skin effect increases with frequency
Radiation Loss
 The electromagnetic field and the electrostatic field cause the conductors to act like an
antenna and radiate energy.
 Radiation loss is directly proportional to the frequency.
 Can be minimized by properly shielding the cable
Dielectric Loss
 The potential difference between the conductors in a transmission line causes dielectric heating.
 This loss is called dielectric loss and is proportional to the voltage across the dielectric.
 This loss is negligible for air dielectrics and it increases with frequency.

How do you call the luminous discharge that occurs between the conductors of a transmission line
when the potential difference between them exceeds the breakdown voltage?
A. Arcing
B. Spark
C. Corona
D. Photodielectric effect
Coupling Loss
 This occurs in transmission lines that are connected together
 Discontinuities tend to heat up, radiate energy and dissipate power.

A transmission line 130 m long is specified to have a loss of 4 dB/100 m at 800 MHz. Suppose that a
transmitter puts 100 W of power into this cable. How much power reaches the load?

Transmission Line Impedance Matching

 Whenever there is a mismatch, standing waves are created on the line.
 A higher value of SWR means a greater degree of mismatch and hence, greater loss.
 To minimize reflection and losses on the line, the load and the line impedance should be
matched. This is called impedance matching.
 This can be done in two ways:
 Quarter wavelength transformer
 Stub matching