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BacktoBasics:ImpedanceMatching(Part1)
ElectronicDesign
LouFrenzel

LouisE.Frenzel
Mon,2011102415:46

Thetermimpedancematchingisratherstraightforward.Itssimplydefinedastheprocessofmakingone
impedancelooklikeanother.Frequently,itbecomesnecessarytomatchaloadimpedancetothesourceor
internalimpedanceofadrivingsource.
Awidevarietyofcomponentsandcircuitscanbeusedforimpedancematching.Thisseriessummarizesthe
mostcommonimpedancematchingtechniques.
RationaleAndConcept
Themaximumpowertransfertheoremsaysthattotransferthemaximumamountofpowerfromasource
toaload,theloadimpedanceshouldmatchthesourceimpedance.Inthebasiccircuit,asourcemaybedcor
ac,anditsinternalresistance(Ri)orgeneratoroutputimpedance(Zg)drivesaloadresistance(RL)or
impedance(ZL)(Fig.1):
RL=RiorZL=Zg

Fig1.Maximumpoweristransferredfromasourcetoaloadwhentheloadresistanceequalstheinternal
resistanceofthesource.

Related
BacktoBasics:ImpedanceMatching(Part2)
BacktoBasics:ImpedanceMatching(Part3)
WelcomeToAntennas101
BackToAmpCamp
Aplotofloadpowerversusloadresistancerevealsthatmatchingloadandsourceimpedanceswillachieve
maximumpower(Fig.2).

Fig2.Varyingtheloadresistanceonasourceshowsthatmaximumpowertotheloadisachievedby
matchingloadandsourceimpedances.Atthistime,efficiencyis50%.
Akeyfactorofthistheoremisthatwhentheloadmatchesthesource,theamountofpowerdeliveredtothe
loadisthesameasthepowerdissipatedinthesource.Therefore,transferofmaximumpowerisonly50%
efficient.
Thesourcemustbeabletodissipatethispower.Todelivermaximumpowertotheload,thegeneratorhas
todeveloptwicethedesiredoutputpower.
Applications
Deliveryofmaximumpowerfromasourcetoaloadoccursfrequentlyinelectronicdesign.Oneexampleis
whenthespeakerinanaudiosystemreceivesasignalfromapoweramplifier(Fig.3).Maximumpoweris
deliveredwhenthespeakerimpedancematchestheoutputimpedanceofthepoweramplifier.Whilethisis
theoreticallycorrect,itturnsoutthatthebestarrangementisforthepoweramplifierimpedancetobeless
thanthespeakerimpedance.Thereasonforthisisthecomplexnatureofthespeakerasaloadandits

mechanicalresponse.

Fig3.Unmatchedimpedancesprovidethebestamplifierandspeakerperformance.
Anotherexampleinvolvespowertransferfromonestagetoanotherinatransmitter(Fig.4).Thecomplex
(RjX)inputimpedanceofamplifierBshouldbematchedtothecomplexoutputimpedanceofamplifierA.
Itscrucialthatthereactivecomponentscanceleachother.Oneotherexampleisthedeliveryofmaximum
powertoanantenna(Fig.5).Here,theantennaimpedancematchesthetransmitteroutputimpedance.

Fig4.Impedancesinradiofrequencytransmittersmustbematchedtopassmaximumpowerfromstage

tostage.Mostimpedancesincludeinductancesandcapacitancesthatmustalsobefactoredintothe
matchingprocess.

Fig5.Antennaimpedancemustequalthetransmitteroutputimpedancetoreceivemaximumpower.
TransmissionLineMatching
Thislastexampleemphasizesanotherreasonwhyimpedancematchingisessential.Thetransmitteroutput
isusuallyconnectedtotheantennaviaatransmissionline,whichistypicallycoaxcable.Inother
applications,thetransmissionlinemaybeatwistedpairorsomeothermedium.
Acablebecomesatransmissionlinewhenithasalengthgreaterthan/8attheoperatingfrequencywhere:
=300/f MHz
Forexample,thewavelengthofa433MHzfrequencyis:
=300/f MHz=300/433=0.7metersor27.5inches
Aconnectingcableisatransmissionlineifitslongerthan0.7/8=0.0875metersor3.44inches.All
transmissionlineshaveacharacteristicimpedance(ZO)thatsafunctionofthelinesinductanceand
capacitance:
ZO=(L/C)

Toachievemaximumpowertransferoveratransmissionline,thelineimpedancemustalsomatchthe
sourceandloadimpedances(Fig.6).Iftheimpedancesarentmatched,maximumpowerwillnotbe
delivered.Inaddition,standingwaveswilldevelopalongtheline.Thismeanstheloaddoesntabsorballof
thepowersentdowntheline.

Fig6.Transmissionlineshaveacharacteristicimpedance(ZO)thatmustmatchtheloadtoensure
maximumpowertransferandwithstandlosstostandingwaves.
Consequently,someofthatpowerisreflectedbacktowardthesourceandiseffectivelylost.Thereflected
powercouldevendamagethesource.Standingwavesarethedistributedpatternsofvoltageandcurrent
alongtheline.Voltageandcurrentareconstantforamatchedline,butvaryconsiderablyifimpedancesdo
notmatch.
Theamountofpowerlostduetoreflectionisafunctionofthereflectioncoefficient()andthestanding
waveratio(SWR).Thesearedeterminedbytheamountofmismatchbetweenthesourceandload
impedances.
TheSWRisafunctionoftheload(ZL)andline(ZO)impedances:
SWR=ZL/ZO(forZL>ZO)
SWR=ZO/ZL(forZO>ZL)
Foraperfectmatch,SWR=1.AssumeZL=75andZO=50:
SWR=ZL/ZO=75/50=1.5
Thereflectioncoefficientisanothermeasureofthepropermatch:
=(ZLZO)/(ZL+ZO)
Foraperfectmatch,willbe0.YoucanalsocomputefromtheSWRvalue:
=(SWR1)/(SWR+1)
Calculatingtheaboveexample:

=(SWR1)/(SWR+1)=(1.51)/(1.5+1)=0.5/2.5=0.2
LookingatamountofpowerreflectedforgivenvaluesofSWR(Fig.7),itshouldbenotedthatanSWRof2
orlessisadequateformanyapplications.AnSWRof2meansthatreflectedpoweris10%.Therefore,90%
ofthepowerwillreachtheload.

Fig7.ThisplotillustratesreflectedpowerinanunmatchedtransmissionlinewithrespecttoSWR.
Keepinmindthatalltransmissionlineslikecoaxcabledointroducealossofdecibelsperfoot.Thatloss
mustbefactoredintoanycalculationofpowerreachingtheload.Coaxdatasheetsprovidethosevaluesfor
variousfrequencies.
Anotherimportantpointtorememberisthatifthelineimpedanceandloadarematched,linelengthdoesnt
matter.However,ifthelineimpedanceandloaddontmatch,thegeneratorwillseeacompleximpedance
thatsafunctionofthelinelength.
Reflectedpoweriscommonlyexpressedasreturnloss(RL).Itscalculatedwiththeexpression:
RL(indB)=10log(P IN/P REF)
P INrepresentstheinputpowertothelineandP REFisthereflectedpower.ThegreaterthedBvalue,the

smallerthereflectedpowerandthegreatertheamountofpowerdeliveredtotheload.
ImpedanceMatching
Thecommonproblemofmismatchedloadandsourceimpedancescanbecorrectedbyconnectingan
impedancematchingdevicebetweensourceandload(Fig.8).Theimpedance(Z)matchingdevicemaybea
component,circuit,orpieceofequipment.

Fig8.Animpedancematchingcircuitorcomponentmakestheloadmatchthegeneratorimpedance.
Awiderangeofsolutionsispossibleinthisscenario.Twoofthesimplestinvolvethetransformerandthe
/4matchingsection.Atransformermakesoneimpedancelooklikeanotherbyusingtheturnsratio(Fig.
9):
N=Ns/Np=turnsratio

Fig9.Atransformeroffersanearidealmethodformakingoneimpedancelooklikeanother.
Nistheturnsratio,Nsisthenumberofturnsonthetransformerssecondarywinding,andNpisthe
numberofturnsonthetransformersprimarywinding.NisoftenwrittenastheturnsratioNs:Ns.
Therelationshiptotheimpedancescanbecalculatedas:

Zs/Zp=(Ns/Np)2
or:
Ns/Np=(Zs/Zp)
Zprepresentstheprimaryimpedance,whichistheoutputimpedanceofthedrivingsource(Zg).Zs
representsthesecondary,orload,impedance(ZL).
Forexample,adrivingsources300outputimpedanceistransformedinto75byatransformerto
matchthe75loadwithaturnsratioof2:1:
Ns/Np=(Zs/Zp)=(300/75)=4=2
Thehighlyefficienttransformeressentiallyfeaturesawidebandwidth.Withmodernferritecores,this
methodisusefuluptoaboutseveralhundredmegahertz.
Anautotransformerwithonlyasinglewindingandatapcanalsobeusedforimpedancematching.
Dependingontheconnections,impedancescanbeeithersteppeddown(Fig.10a)orup(Fig.10b).

Fig10.Asinglewindingautotransformerwithatapcanstepdown(a)orstepup(b)impedanceslikea
standardtwowindingtransformer.
Thesameformulasusedforstandardtransformersapply.Thetransformerwindingisinaninductorand
mayevenbepartofaresonantcircuitwithacapacitor.
Atransmissionlineimpedancematchingsolutionusesa/4sectionoftransmissionline(calledaQsection)
ofaspecificimpedancetomatchaloadtosource(Fig.11):
ZQ=(ZOZL)

Fig11.A?/4Qsectionoftransmissionlinecanmatchaloadtoageneratoratonefrequency.
whereZQ=thecharacteristicimpedanceoftheQsectionlineZO=thecharacteristicimpedanceofthe
inputtransmissionlinefromthedrivingsourceandZL=theloadimpedance.
Here,the36impedanceofa/4verticalgroundplaneantennaismatchedtoa75transmitteroutput
impedancewitha52coaxcable.Itscalculatedas:
ZQ=(75)(36)=2700=52
Assuminganoperatingfrequencyof50MHz,onewavelengthis:
=300/f MHz=300/50=6metersorabout20feet
/4=20/4=5feet
Assumingtheuseof52RG8/Ucoaxtransmissionlinewithavelocityfactorof0.66:
/4=5feet(0.66)=3.3feet
Severalimportantlimitationsshouldbeconsideredwhenusingthisapproach.First,acablemustbe
availablewiththedesiredcharacteristicimpedance.Thisisntalwaysthecase,though,becausemostcable
comesinjustafewbasicimpedances(50,75,93,125).Second,thecablelengthmustfactorinthe
operatingfrequencytocomputewavelengthandvelocityfactor.
Inparticular,theselimitationsaffectthistechniquewhenusedatlowerfrequencies.However,thetechnique
canbemoreeasilyappliedatUHFandmicrowavefrequencieswhenusingmicrostriporstriplineona
printedcircuitboard(PCB).Inthiscase,almostanydesiredcharacteristicimpedancemaybeemployed.
Thenextpartofthisserieswillexploremorepopularimpedancematchingtechniques.

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