Transmission Lines

Prof. Girish Kumar

Electrical Engineering Department
IIT Bombay

gkumar@ee.iitb.ac.in
prof.gkumar@gmail.com
(022) 2576 7436
 Co-axial Cable
𝟐𝝅𝜺𝟎 𝜺𝒓
𝑪= 𝑭Τ𝒎
𝑫
𝒍𝒏
𝒅
𝑫
𝑳 = 𝟎. 𝟐 𝒍𝒏 𝑯Τ𝒎
𝒅
d = Outer diameter of inner conductor
D = Inner diameter of outer conductor
εr = Dielectric constant
𝟔𝟎 𝑫
𝒁𝟎 = (𝑳/𝑪) 𝒁𝒐 = 𝒍𝒏 𝜴Τ𝒎
𝜺𝒓 𝒅
For RG58C/U Co-axial cable: d = 0.91 mm,
Dia. of dielectric = 2.95 mm, εr = 2.1 Z0 = 48.7 Ω
Microwave Theory and Techniques | Prof. Girish Kumar, IIT Bombay 2
Attenuation in Co-axial Cable

Microwave Theory and Techniques | Prof. Girish Kumar, IIT Bombay 3

Specifications of RG58C/U

Microwave Theory and Techniques | Prof. Girish Kumar, IIT Bombay 4

 RF Connectors

BNC N-Type (M and F) APC 7mm SMA

BNC (M and F) f < 1 GHz

N-Type (M and F) f < 4 GHz
APC 7mm (sex less) f < 18 GHz
SMA (M and F) f < 18 GHz
K (M and F) f < 40 GHz
K (M and F)
Microwave Theory and Techniques | Prof. Girish Kumar, IIT Bombay 5
 Strip Line
30𝜋 𝑏
𝑍𝑜 = 𝛺 Τ𝑚
𝜀𝑟 𝑊𝑒 + 0.441𝑏

We is the effective width of central conductor.

𝑾
𝟎; 𝒇𝒐𝒓 > 𝟎. 𝟑𝟓
𝑾𝒆 𝑾 𝒃
= −
𝒃 𝒃 𝑾 𝟐 𝑾
𝟎. 𝟑𝟓 − ; 𝒇𝒐𝒓 < 𝟎. 𝟑𝟓
𝒃 𝒃
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 Microwave Substrates
Substrate εr tanδ Manufacturer
Foam 1.07 0.0009 Many
PTFE (Teflon) 2.1 0.0004 Many
RT5880 2.2 0.0009 Rogers
R03003 3.0 0.001 Rogers
R03006 6.15 0.002 Rogers
R03010 10.2 0.0022 Rogers
R04003 3.38 0.0022 Rogers
TLC-32 3.2 0.003 Taconic
DiClad 870 2.33 0.0014 Arlon
Glass-Epoxy 4.4 0.02 Many
Substrate Thickness = 1/64”, 1/32”, 1/16”, 1/8”, 1/4”
Microwave Theory and Techniques | Prof. Girish Kumar, IIT Bombay 7
 Microstrip Line

𝜺𝒓 + 𝟏 𝜺𝒓 − 𝟏 𝟏
𝜺𝒆 = +
𝟐 𝟐 𝒅
𝟏 + 𝟏𝟎
60 8𝑑 𝑊 𝑾
ln + 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑊 Τ𝑑 ≤ 1
𝜀𝑒 𝑊 4𝑑
𝑍𝑜 =
120𝜋
𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑊 Τ𝑑 ≥ 1
𝜀𝑒 𝑊 Τ𝑑 + 1.393 + 0.667ln 𝑊 Τ𝑑 + 1.444
Microwave Theory and Techniques | Prof. Girish Kumar, IIT Bombay 8
 Microstrip Line Design
For a given Z0, W/d can be found as:
𝟖𝒆𝑨 𝐖
𝑾 ; 𝒇𝒐𝒓 < 𝟐
𝒆𝟐𝑨 − 𝟐 𝒅
=
𝒅 𝟐 𝜺𝒓 − 𝟏 𝟎. 𝟔𝟏 𝐖
𝑩 − 𝟏 − 𝐥𝐧(𝟐𝑩 − 𝟏) + 𝐥𝐧(𝑩 − 𝟏) + 𝟎. 𝟑𝟗 − ; 𝒇𝒐𝒓 > 𝟐
𝝅 𝟐𝜺𝒓 𝜺𝒓 𝒅
𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆,
𝒁𝟎 𝜺𝒓 + 𝟏 𝜺𝒓 − 𝟏 𝟎. 𝟏𝟏
𝑨= + 𝟎. 𝟐𝟑 +
𝟔𝟎 𝟐 𝜺𝒓 + 𝟏 𝜺𝒓
𝟑𝟕𝟕𝝅
𝑩=
𝟐𝒁𝒐 𝜺𝒓

Microwave Theory and Techniques | Prof. Girish Kumar, IIT Bombay 9

 Microstrip Line Design Problem
For FR4 substrate (𝝐𝒓 = 𝟒. 𝟒) of height (h) = 1.6 mm, find the value of
microstrip line width (W) for characteristic impedance (Z0) of 100 Ω.
Design:
𝒁𝟎 𝜺𝒓 + 𝟏 𝜺𝒓 − 𝟏 𝟎. 𝟏𝟏 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝟒. 𝟒 + 𝟏 𝟒. 𝟒 − 𝟏 𝟎. 𝟏𝟏
𝑨= + 𝟎. 𝟐𝟑 + = + 𝟎. 𝟐𝟑 +
𝟔𝟎 𝟐 𝜺𝒓 + 𝟏 𝜺𝒓 𝟔𝟎 𝟐 𝟒. 𝟒 + 𝟏 𝟒. 𝟒
= 𝟐. 𝟖𝟗𝟗

𝒘 𝟖𝒆𝟐𝑨 𝜺𝒓 +𝟏 𝜺𝒓 −𝟏 𝟏𝟎𝒉 −𝟏/𝟐

= = 0.443 ⇒ 𝒘 = 𝟎. 𝟕𝟏𝐦𝐦 ; 𝜺𝒆 = + 𝟏+ = 3.05
𝒅 𝒆𝟐𝑨 −𝟐 𝟐 𝟐 𝒘

Verification using analysis equation:

𝒘 𝟔𝟎 𝟖𝒅 𝒘
< 𝟏 ⇒ 𝒁𝟎 = 𝒍𝒏 + = 𝟗𝟗. 𝟔𝟐Ω
𝒅 √𝜺𝒆 𝒘 𝟒𝒅
𝟏𝟎𝟎 −𝟗𝟗.𝟔𝟐
Percentage Error in 𝒁𝟎 = × 𝟏𝟎𝟎 = 𝟎. 𝟑𝟖%
𝟏𝟎𝟎
Microwave Theory and Techniques | Prof. Girish Kumar, IIT Bombay 10
 Slotted Line

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Coplanar Wave Guide (CPW )Line

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 Microstrip Bend

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Microstrip Line Discontinuities

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Microstrip Line Discontinuities (contd.)

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Microstrip Line Discontinuities (contd.)

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 Rectangular Waveguide

Generally a 2b
𝑐
For TE10, c = 2a Cut off frequency 𝑓𝑐 =
2𝑎
Waveguides are used in the frequency
range 1.3𝒇𝒄 to 1.9fc due to low attenuation.
For a = 2”, 𝒇𝒄 = 2.95GHz for TE10 mode
Operating range – 3.84GHz to 5.61 GHz
X-Band Waveguide: WR90 (a = 0.9”, b = 0.4”) Attenuation vs frequency curves
for various modes
Microwave Theory and Techniques | Prof. Girish Kumar, IIT Bombay 17
 Comparison of Transmission lines
Characteristics Coaxial Cable Waveguide Stripline Microstrip Line

Modes: Preferred TEM TE10 TEM Quasi-TEM

Other TM,TE TM,TE TM,TE Hybrid TM,TE
Dispersion None Medium None Low
Bandwidth High Low High Low
Loss Medium Low High High
Power Capacity Medium High Low Low
Physical Size Large Large Medium Small
Ease of Fabrication Medium Medium Easy Easy
Integration with other Hard Hard Fair Easy
Components
Microwave Theory and Techniques | Prof. Girish Kumar, IIT Bombay 18
 Lossy Transmission Line Model

For low-loss lines (R and G are very small):

𝑳
= (𝑹 + 𝒋𝑳)(𝑮 + 𝒋𝑪) = 𝒋 𝑳𝑪 + 𝑹
𝑪
𝑹 + 𝒋𝑳 𝑳
𝒁𝟎 = =
𝑮 + 𝒋𝑪 𝑪
Microwave Theory and Techniques | Prof. Girish Kumar, IIT Bombay 19
Loaded Lossless Transmission Line
𝑍𝐿 + 𝑗𝑍0 tan(𝛽𝑙)
𝑍𝑖𝑛 = 𝑍0
𝑍0 + 𝑗𝑍𝐿 tan(𝛽𝑙)
CASE 1: For a short circuited line, ZL = 0
Zin = jZ0 tan(βl) = jωL for l < λ/4
CASE 2: For an open circuited line, ZL= 
Zin = Z0 / jtan(βl) = 1/jωC for l < λ/4
CASE 3: For a matched load, ZL = Z0
Zin = Z0 for all values of l
Microwave Theory and Techniques | Prof. Girish Kumar, IIT Bombay 20
Loaded Transmission Line (Contd.)
CASE 4: For l = λ/4, tan 𝛽𝑙 = ∞
Zin = Z0 2 / ZL
Known as Quarter Wave Transformer
If ZL = 100 Ω and Zin = 50 Ω required
Z𝟎 = 𝒁𝒊𝒏 𝒁𝑳 = 𝟓𝟎 × 𝟏𝟎𝟎 = 𝟕𝟎. 𝟕Ω
CASE 5: For l = λ/2, tan(βl) = 0
Zin = ZL

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