2017 11th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP)
Study on the Optimal Matching Structure of the
SMA Connector to a Microstrip Line
Zeng Liu-Xing, Lin Fu-Min, Zhang Yi-Song, Yang Hua-Ning
Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China, ZLX13610243242@163.com
Abstract－In this paper, the Minimum VSWR of the three
kinds of conventional matching structures which the SMA
coaxial connector connects to a microstrip line by inverted
mode, upright mode or horizontal mode is studied.
Modeling and structure optimization are carried out to pick
out the optimal structure of the three kinds of matching
structure by the simulation software HFSS. The results
indicate that the horizontal matching structure is the best
mode and the upright matching structure is the worst mode.
The conclusion has certain reference value for the
engineering application and the measurement of microwave
devices, because many practical radio-frequency circuits
has used SMA coaxial connectors of the upright matching
structure as input/output ports.
Index Terms － SMA coaxial connector, Microstrip line,
matching structure, VSWR
I. INTRODUCTION
With the development of microwave technology, the
design of microwave equipments toward the direction of
planarization, broadband, high reliability, miniaturization,
integration and so on.As early as 1960s, thanks to the
development of microwave integrated circuits, microstrip
line has been widely used. Microstrip circuits are widely
applied to wireless communication systems because of
their easy processing and integration [1]. SMA series
connectors are created by the Bendix Corporation in the
20th century 50s. Now they have been widely used in
aviation, aerospace, radar, microwave communications,
instrumentation and other fields for their small size,
threaded connection, stable mechanical performance and
other advantages [2]. Microstrip connectors are an
essential part of coaxial transmission system where the
microstrip circuit is connected. Even if the reflection of
the voltage wave is inevitable at the joint of the coaxial
microstrip connector to the microstrip line, reducing the
reflection still has a positive significance to reduce the
power loss of the microwave system and improve the
transmission power.
The reflection of the voltage wave can be characterized
by the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) [3-4].VSWR,
in essence, reflects the size of the reflection coefficient of
the transmission system composed of coaxial microstrip
connectors and microstrip lines, and also their matching
degree. At present, a lot of research on the RF coaxial
cable assembly has been conducted [5-6], but the
This work was supported by Guangzhou Science Technology and
Innovation Commission under grant no.201510010093.
/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE
research on the coaxial microstrip connector and the
microstrip line assembly is very few. SMA coaxial
microstrip connector is one of the common coaxial
microstrip connectors.
In this paper, the straight SMA connector is soldered to
a microstrip line, and then this three matching structures
would be optimized respectively according to their
VSWR. Finally, the optimal matching structure is picked
out according to the trade-off of practicability and their
VSWR.
II. SMA SOLDER TERMINATION COAXIAL CONNECTOR
AND MICROSTRIP LINE
SMA solder termination coaxial connector is mainly
composed of 3 parts, the inner conductor, the outer
conductor and the insulating support of which the
common materials are PTFE, polyethylene and
polystyrene, etc. The SMA connector interface type of
the inverted matching structure and the upright matching
structure is through hole and the SMA connector
interface type of the horizontal matching structure is end
launch. Connectors’ insulation support mentioned in this
paper is made of PTFE. Figure 1 whose parameters are
used in the simulation model is drawn according to
Chinese national industry standard [7].
Fig.1 Positive view (left) and left view (right) of straight
through hole SMA solder termination coaxial connector
In this paper, the characteristic impedance of the
microstrip line is 50 ohm, which is matched with the
SMA coaxial connector.The electromagnetic wave
transmitted in the microstrip line is quasi TEM wave,
while the electromagnetic wave transmitted in the SMA
coaxial connector is TEM wave. Therefore, there are two
main reasons for the generation of VSWR when
measuring the SMA coaxial connector and microstrip
line assembly, one is the discontinuity of SMA coaxial
connector structure and another is the discontinuity of
electromagnetic wave in the process of transmission, that
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 2017 11th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP)
is, the TEM wave is converted to quasi TEM wave. In
the following sections, simulation analyses are carried
out and the datas are obtained by HFSS (High-Frequency
Structure Simulator) [8].
Fig.2 Electric field intensity distribution map of SMA coaxial
connector (up) and microstrip line (down)
III. THE INVERTED MATCHING STRUCTURE OF THE SMA
COAXIAL CONNECTOR TO A MICROSTRIP LINE
The material of 1mm thick circuit board is FR4 whose
dielectric constant is 4.4. The width of the microstrip line
is 1.93mm, which presents that its characteristic
impedance is 50 ohm, and the length is 10mm.The SMA
coaxial connector connects to one end of the microstrip
line by inverted mode, another end of which is connected
with wave port. The wave port is set on the surface of the
object, providing a window for energy to flow in and out.
That is to say, the wave port is ideally matched with the
microstrip line without electromagnetic wave reflection.
Fig.3 The inverted matching structure of the SMA coaxial
connector to a microstrip line
The inverted matching structure is shown in Figure 3,
and at the bottom of circuit board a circle without
covered copper is as the same size as the insulating
support with the aim of soldering for inner conductor and
microstrip line. As the figure 4 shows, “len_out” of the
microstrip line is equivalent to an open-circuit
transmission line, and its impedance is in parallel with
that of the SMA coaxial connector, which would directly
affect the matching degree of the SMA coaxial connector
to the microstrip line and have a significant impact on the
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VSWR of the assembly. Besides, the length of “len_out”
and the height of “hei_pad”would cause a certain degree
of distortion of the electromagnetic field mode at the
joint of the SMA coaxial connector to the microstrip line
with the result of the generation of standing wave.The
VSWR of SMA coaxial connector and microstrip line
assembly is analyzed by changing the length of “len_out”
and the height of the “hei_pad” (see below).
Zin Zo Zsma Zout
Z
z=0 10
Fig.4 Equivalent circuit of inverted matching structure of the
SMA coaxial connector to a microstrip line
Fig.5 Effect of “len_out”length on the frequency characteristics
of VSWR
Fig.6 Effect of “hei_pad” heigth on the frequency
characteristics of VSWR
Figure 5 and figure 6 reveal the effects of “len_out”
and “hei_pad” on the VSWR frequency characteristics of
the inverted matching structure. From the figure 5 we can
see that the longer the “len_out”, the larger the VSWR of
the inverted matching structure and the VSWR is very
large when “len_out” is equal to 2mm. The higher the
“hei_pad” is, the larger the VSWR of the inverted
matching structure becomes, which can be seen from
figure 6. Accordingly, if the inverted matching structure
of the SMA coaxial connector to a microstrip line is
adopted in practical engineering application, via hole
should be set at the end of microstrip line without the
open-circuited microstrip line. In addition, the inner
 2017 11th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP)
conductor and the legs of SMA coaxial connector should
be cut shorter after soldering.
IV. THE UPRIGHT MATCHING STRUCTURE OF THE SMA
COAXIAL CONNECTOR TO A MICROSTRIP LINE
The upright matching structure of the SMA coaxial
connector to a microstrip line means that the connector is
placed on the top of circuit board and microstrip line, but
its outer conductor is not in contact with the microstrip
line. At the bottom of circuit board a circle as the same
size as the insulating support is also not covered with
copper so as to solder the inner conductor to the
microstrip line. On the basis of the optimization results
of the inverted matching structure, the length of
“len_out” is equal to 0mm and the height of “hei_pad” is
equal to 1mm in the upright matching structure, as Figure
7 illustrates.
Fig.7 The upright matching structure of the SMA coaxial
connector to a microstrip line
The SMA coaxial connector is placed on the top of the
circuit board and is close to the microstrip line, which
would cause the electromagnetic leakage and the
electromagnetic coupling between the outer conductor of
SMA coaxial connector (GND) and the microstrip line.
The lower the “offset” makes the greater the
electromagnetic coupling and the higher the “offset”, the
more serious the leakage of electromagnetic waves
transmitted from the SMA coaxial connector to the
microstrip line, so it is necessary to optimize the height
of “offset”.
Fig.8 Effect of “offset” on the frequency characteristics of
VSWR
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From Figure 5, we can see that, generally speaking,
the VSWR of the upright matching structure is relatively
large and more than 1.2 at 5GHz. The effect of “offset”
on the VSWR of the upright matching structure is
relatively obvious. The lower the “offset” is, the larger
the VSWR becomes, and as “offset” continues to grow,
the VSWR gradually improves and then becomes worse.
Accordingly, if the upright matching structure of the
SMA coaxial connector to a microstrip line is adopted in
practical engineering application, the SMA coaxial
connector should not be close to the microstrip line and
the height of the gap should be kept 1mm-2mm between
the SMA coaxial connector and the microstrip line.
V. THE HORIZONTAL MATCHING STRUCTURE OF THE SMA
COAXIAL CONNECTOR TO A MICROSTRIP LINE
The SMA coaxial connector interface type of the
horizontal matching structure is end launch and the
connector’s up and down two legs can be clamped on the
circuit board. The SMA coaxial connector whose inner
conductor is flush with the microstrip line is placed
horizontally as shown in Figure 9.
Fig.9 The horizontal matching structure of the SMA coaxial
connector to a microstrip line
The propagation direction of TEM wave transmitted in
the SMA coaxial connector is the same as that of quasi
TEM wave transmitted in the microstrip line, which is
conducive to the transmission of electromagnetic wave.
The optimization results of the horizontal matching
structure can be obtained after simulation and analysis of
the length of “len_gap” and “len_con” (see below).
Fig.10 Effect of ‘len_gap’ on the frequency characteristics of
VSWR
Figure 10 reveals when the len_con is equal to 4mm
the effect of “len_gap” on the VSWR of the horizontal
matching structure is very obvious. The primary reason
 2017 11th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP)

why the longer the “len_gap”is, the worse the VSWR
becomes is the longer the “len_gap”, the more serious the
[1]
leakage of electromagnetic wave transmitted from the
SMA coaxial connector to the microstrip line. [2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
Fig.11 Effect of “len_con” on the frequency characteristics of
VSWR
The optimization of the length of “len_con” is carried [7]
out with the result that when the length of “len_con” is [8]
equal to 2mm, the VSWR of the horizontal matching
structure is the best and the VSWR is less than 1.1 in the
frequency band DC –10GHz. Furthermore, by simulating
and analyzing the length of the connector’s four legs it is
concluded that its effect on VSWR is not distinct.
Accordingly, if the horizontal matching structure of the
SMA coaxial connector to a microstrip line is adopted in
practical engineering application, the microstrip line
should be extended to the edge of the circuit board with
the SMA coaxial connector close to the end of microstrip
line, and the connector’s inner conductor should be cut in
half. In this way, the VSWR of the horizontal matching
structure would be extremely low.
REFERENCES
Jia-Sheng Hong and M. J. Lancaster.Microstrip Filters
forRF/Microwave Applications. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2001
E. Nhan, P. M. Lafferty, R. K. Stilwell, Kedong Chao,
Radio-Frequency Connector and Interconnect Reliability in
Spaceborne Applications. IEEE Transactions on Components,
Packaging and Manufacturing Technology, Part A, 1995, 18:
163-169.
David M. Pozar, Microwave Engineering, 3rded, John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., 2012.
Reinhold Ludwig, Gene Bogdanov, RF Circuit Design: Theory
and Application, 2nd ed., Pearson Education, Inc., 2009.
L. Halme and R. Kytonen, "Background and introduction to EM
screening (shielding) behaviours and measurements of coaxial
and symmetrical cables, cable assemblies and
connectors,"Screening Effectiveness Measurements, IEE
Colloquium on, London, 1998, pp. 4/1-428.
H. M. Kudyan, "A time-domain method for measuring the
minimum shielding effectiveness of coaxial cable
assemblies," Electromagnetic Compatibility, 2001. EMC. 2001
IEEE International Symposium on, Montreal, Que., 2001, pp.
63-68 vol.1.
SJ/T 11073-1996, RF coaxial connectors of type SMA
HFSS, Version 13.0.2, Ansoft Corporation LLC, 225 West
Station, Square Suite 200, Pittsburgh, PA 15219-1119, 2011.

VI. CONCLUSION
The measurement of the objects has not been taken
because an ideal matching load soldered on the
microstrip line can not be implemented. However the
simulation analyses show the conclusion that the
horizontal matching structure is the best in VSWR which
can be less than 1.1 in the frequency band DC–10GHz,
the next is the inverted matching structure, and the
upright matching structure is the worst, which can
provide certain reference value for the engineering
application and the measurement of microwave devices,
because many practical radio-frequency circuits has used
SMA coaxial connectors of the upright matching
structure as input/output ports.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors wish to thank Mr. Liu Mingjian for his

assistance in HFSS simulation. The authors also would
like to acknowledge Mr.Mo Fan for his suggestions in
writing. This work was supported by Guangzhou Science
Technology and Innovation Commission under grant
no.201510010093.

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