IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. 56, NO.
1, JANUARY 2008
Analysis and Design Procedure of
Transmission-Line Transformers
Pablo Gómez-Jiménez, Pablo Otero, Member, IEEE, and Enrique Márquez-Segura, Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract—Transmission-line transformers are devices used
to match RF and microwave devices, to make the conversion
balanced–unbalanced, or both things simultaneously. Trans-
mission-line transformers are mandatory at frequencies where
traditional magnetic coupling transformers do not operate
properly. In this paper, a procedure to design transmission-line
transformers with different configurations is presented. The pro-
cedure is based on the theoretical analysis of the device and has
been validated via experimental study.
Index Terms—Balun, matching network, microwave passive cir-
cuits, transmission-line transformer.
I. INTRODUCTION
IFFERENTIAL circuits and symmetric transmission lines
D are preferred to asymmetric devices and open transmis-
sion lines due to their better noise rejection. Communications
systems and circuits incorporate both symmetric and asym-
metric devices with different impedance values. Hence, the
connections of those devices need transitions that have to
be, simultaneously, impedance transformers and topological
transformers. At microwave frequencies, impedance transfor-
mation is usually done by means of transmission-line matching
networks consisting of serial and parallel stubs, which is not a
wideband technique, and is cumbersome at lower frequencies.
Topological transformations are mandatory when an asym-
metric circuit has to be connected to a symmetric one, and vice
versa. Baluns, the devices which make this transition and which
can be implemented with different techniques, are typically
narrowband devices. Half-wavelength transmission-line baluns
are also cumbersome at lower frequencies, while concentrated
L–C networks are not suitable for higher frequencies. Mag-
netic flux transformers can be used to perform both functions,
balun and matching, and are wideband devices. However, their
performances degrade at higher frequencies due to parasitic
capacitive effects in the coils.
The preferred wideband device that also performs both func-
tions is the transmission-line transformer, which consists of one
or more sections of a transmission line, wound on a magnetic
Manuscript received June 4, 2007; revised September 9, 2007.
P. Gómez-Jiménez was with the Departamente Ingeniería de Comuni-
caciones, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Telecomunicación,
Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain. He is now with Indra Centros
de Desarrollo, 29590 Campanillas, Málaga, Spain.
P. Otero and E. Márquez-Segura are with the Departamente Ingeniería de
Comunicaciones, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Telecomunicación,
Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain (e-mail: otero@ic.uma.es).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TMTT.2007.912246
0018-9480/$25.00 © 2007 IEEE
163
Fig. 1. Guanella’s 1 : 1 transmission-line transformer in balun configuration.
Fig. 2. Unit cell (or basic block) of a transmission-line transformer.
core to improve its performance at lower frequencies, and inter-
connected in a particular way, depending on the required topo-
logical transformation. Transmission-line transformers were in-
troduced and described for the first time by Guanella in 1944 [1].
Guanella showed that a single transmission-line section can be a
balun as long as its characteristic impedance is equal to the load
and source impedances, as shown in Fig. 1. This circuit does not
work properly at lower frequencies, where the transmission-line
section is a short circuit. To overcome this problem, Guanella
wound the transmission line on a magnetic core so that the mag-
netic coupling between conductors was more intense and, con-
sequently, there was an improvement of the low-frequency re-
sponse. For this reason, a single section of wound transmission
line, acting as a transmission-line transformer, will be schemat-
ically represented by the symbol shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 3 shows
a couple of transmission-line transformers wound on a toroidal
core. In addition, different transformation ratios are possible if
several unit cells are connected serially at one end and parallelly
at the other, as shown in Fig. 4 and discussed in Section III. For
this reason, we will refer to the symbol of Fig. 2 as a unit cell
or basic block.
Fifteen years later, Ruthroff [2] completed Guanella’s work
with the development of new transmission-line transformers,
which allowed the same transformation ratios using a smaller
number of basic blocks, as shown in Fig. 5. Despite the time of
their first development, transmission-line transformers are not
well known in the sense of a design procedure being readily ac-
cessible in textbooks, or even in research literature. Moreover,
little technical literature has been written about this device com-
pared to others, even in texts on circuits or matching networks.
Good recent examples are [3]–[8]. In [4], Sevick provides
a simplified analysis method of the transmission-line trans-
former. In [5], Horn and Boeck obtain the equivalent circuit of
164 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. 56, NO. 1, JANUARY 2008
Fig. 3. Transmission-line transformer using toroidal cores and twisted pair or
coaxial cables.
Fig. 4. Guanella’s 1 : n transmission-line transformer in balun configura-
tion.
Fig. 5. Ruthroff’s 1 : 4 transmission-line transformer in balun configuration.
a straight transmission-line transformer. The particular case of
printed coupled-line transmission-line transformers has been
considered by Ang et al. [6], and Post [7]. Malinen et al. [8]
presented two circuit models of commercial transmission-line
transformers; their characteristics were obtained and compared
to those of magnetic coupling transformers. In this paper, the
theoretical analysis of the first developed and more common
transmission-line transformers, namely, those consisting of
several transmission lines wound on a ferrite core, is carried
out. Section IV describes a new analysis, which is based on the
mixed mode scattering matrix, to obtain a simple admittance
matrix of the device. A design procedure, which stems from the
theoretical analysis, is eventually presented in Section V. The
analysis and subsequent design procedure have been validated
with experimental study, which is also presented in Section VI.
II. BASIC BUILDING BLOCK
Any transmission-line transformer consists of one or more
elements, the so-called basic blocks, interconnected in a partic-
ular way, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The basic block is actually
a short section of a transmission line wound on a ferrite or air
Fig. 6. Voltages and currents in the basic block.
core. It is, therefore, a two-port circuit. For the analysis, how-
ever, any conductor termination will be considered a port when
taken together with a reference or ground point. This means that
the basic block will be a four-port device. Once the behavior of
the basic block is represented by an accurate model, the connec-
tion of two or more blocks can be easily analyzed by means of
common circuit analysis techniques.
In general, the propagation on a transmission line can be split
into odd (or differential) mode and even (or common) mode.
A transmission line is commonly used to interconnect devices.
When the current entering one of the conductors of a device port
equals the current coming out the second conductor of the same
port, and this is true for all the devices connected through a sec-
tion of transmission line, the common mode is canceled. Hence,
only the differential mode propagates, the line is easily analyzed
with the help of transmission-line theory, and a line section is
fully defined by means of its characteristic impedance , its
propagation constant , and its length . However,
in our transformers, the transmission line is connected in such a
way that the common mode current is not canceled and, there-
fore, the currents in both conductors of the line will be different,
as shown in Fig. 6. Let us call the propagation axis. The ef-
fective current is defined as
(1)
where and are, respectively, the currents flowing, in the
propagation direction, through the two conductors of the trans-
mission line, and is the common mode current. The effective
current must be constant along the transmission line [9], which
implies that the common mode current is also constant along
the line. The common mode current in each conductor cre-
ates a finite magnetic field in the core of the transmission line,
which can be viewed as an inductive effect, and a common mode
voltage in the opposite conductor, similar to what happens in
a magnetic coupling transformer. The inductive effect is taken
into account by means of the self-inductance of the conductors
of the transmission line.
Let us consider the common mode current. If both conductors
of the line are close to each other and wound in the same way,
their self-inductances will be equal, and the voltage drop along
each conductor will also be equal. Let be that voltage drop, as
graphically represented in Fig. 6. If both conductors are wound
very close to each other, the magnetic coupling between both
windings will be almost perfect, and the mutual inductance will
GÓMEZ-JIMÉNEZ et al.: ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCEDURE OF TRANSMISSION-LINE TRANSFORMERS
be approximately equal to the self-inductance. The voltage drop
will then be
(2)
where is the self-inductance of one conductor of the line.
There is also a second voltage equation for the circuit shown
in Fig. 6. Let to be the voltages in the four ports of the
circuit, respectively, referred to as the common ground. Kirch-
hoff’s voltage law states that
(3)
Combining (2) and (3),
(4)
The equation in (4) will be used to obtain the admittance matrix
of the basic block.
Let us now consider the differential mode current. Transmis-
sion-line theory, when applied to the four-port basic block, and
losses are neglected gives
(5)
where is the characteristic admittance of the line,
is its phase constant, and is the length of the line section, as
previously indicated. Given the direction of the currents and the
polarity of the voltages shown in Fig. 6, and calling upon (4) for
the common mode and (5) for the differential mode, we get
(6)
A. Guanella’s 1 : 1 Transformer
Guanella’s transmission-line transformer is graphically
represented in Fig. 1, and is the simplest one. It consists of a
single basic block with one grounded port. It is not actually
165
Fig. 7. Ruthroff’s 1 : 4 transmission-line transformer in unbalanced–unbal-
anced configuration.
an impedance transformer since the transformation ratio is the
unit, but is a topological transformer, in other words, a balun.
It is simple to obtain the admittance matrix of Guanella’s
transmission-line transformer from that of the basic block. If
one port, i.e., port 2 is grounded, and (6) becomes
(7)
B. Ruthroff’s 1 : 4 Transformer
As opposed to Guanella’s, Ruthroff’s transmission-line trans-
formers, as graphically represented in Figs. 5 and 7, perform the
impedance transformation. With a single basic block, Ruthroff’s
transmission-line transformers achieve an impedance transfor-
mation ratio of 1 : 4 and can operate in a balun (see Fig. 5) or
unbalanced-unbalanced configuration (see Fig. 7). Each config-
uration requires a separate analysis.
Ruthroff’s transmission-line transformer in balun configura-
tion (Fig. 5) is a three-port device that consists of a basic block
with ports 2 and 4 of the basic block grounded and the bal-
anced load connected between ports 1 and 3. The three ports
of the balun are indicated in Fig. 5 with letters A–C. Due to
its particular topology, with equal voltages in ports A and B,
its impedance matrix is singular, which means that it is not
possible to compute the corresponding admittance matrix. The
impedance matrix is shown in (8) at the bottom of this page.
Ruthroff’s transmission-line transformer in a unbalanced–un-
balanced configuration (Fig. 7) is a two-port device that consists
of a basic block with ports 1 and 3 short circuited and port 2
grounded. The unbalanced load is connected to port 4. Its ad-
mittance matrix is
(9)
(8)
166 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. 56, NO. 1, JANUARY 2008
Fig. 8. Parallel/series connection to change the transformation ratio.
Fig. 9. Series/parallel connection.
III. TRANSMISSION-LINE TRANSFORMERS WITH
ARBITRARY TRANSFORMATION RATIO
Thus far, only impedance transformation ratios
(Guanella) or 1 : 4 (Ruthroff) are possible. Rotholz proposed
an algorithm to design transmission-line transformers with an
arbitrary voltage transformation ratio (equivalent to turns ratio
in magnetic coupling transformers) of with and
being natural numbers [10]. The idea is graphically represented
in Fig. 8. Let us consider for a moment that a transmission-line
transformer having a voltage transformation ratio of is
available. If ports 1 and 2 of a basic block are connected to
the same ports of the transmission-line transformer, and
ports 3 and 4 of both devices are connected as shown in Fig. 8,
the resulting device is a transmission-line transformer with a
voltage transformation ratio of . If ports 1 and
2, without ground, are considered a single differential port,
and likewise ports 3 and 4, we could say that the basic block
and the transmission-line transformer are connected
parallelly/serially. Since the resulting device is reciprocal, the
voltage transformation ratio of is obtained when
using the circuit in Fig. 8 from right to left (see Fig. 9).
Starting from a Guanella 1 : 1 transmission-line transformer
or a Ruthroff 1 : 4 transmission-line transformer (impedance
transformation ratio), a wide set of transformation ratios can
be implemented. Table I contains all the possible transforma-
tion ratios that can be obtained starting from a Guanella 1 : 1
transmission-line transformer and using up to five basic blocks.
Starting from a Ruthroff 1 : 4 transmission-line transformer,
the same transformation ratios can be obtained, but one basic
block is economized. The two constraints of the second option
are, firstly, that an unbalanced–unbalanced configuration of
the starting transmission-line transformer forces the unbal-
anced–unbalanced configuration of the final transmission-line
transformer and, secondly, that a balun configuration of the
starting transmission-line transformer does not allow the inver-
sion of the transformation ratio.
The recursive algorithm to design a transmission-line trans-
former with a voltage transformation ratio of is as follows.
Step 1) We start with a black box representing the desired
transmission-line transformer.
TABLE I
POSSIBLE IMPEDANCE TRANSFORMATION RATIOS STARTING FROM A
GUANELLA 1 : 1 TRANSMISSION-LINE TRANSFORMER
AND USING 1–5 BASIC BLOCKS
Fig. 10. Design procedure of a 3 : 5 transmission-line transformer (voltage
transformation ratio).
Step 2) If , the first box is split into a basic block
and a transmission-line transformer
connected parallelly/serially.
Step 3) If , the first box is split into a basic block
and a transmission-line transformer
connected parallelly/serially.
Step 4) Steps 2) and 3) above are applied as many times as
needed.
Step 5) If we want Guanella’s 1 : 1 transmission-line trans-
former to be the final block, Steps 2) and 3) stop
when . If we want Ruthroff’s 1 : 4 trans-
mission-line transformer, Steps 2) and 3) stop when
or .
To illustrate the process, the design procedure of an 3 : 5 trans-
mission-line transformer is graphically represented in Fig. 10.
Four basic blocks are needed if we want to finish with a Guanella
transmission-line transformer, and only three if we finish with a
Ruthtoff transmission-line transformer.
The admittance matrix of the transmission-line transformers
designed with the recursive algorithm is not easy to compute. It
is not possible to obtain a compact expression for the admittance
matrix, but it is possible to find a number of recursive equations
that allow the designer to compute the matrix in an iterative way.
Consider a transmission-line transformer with a voltage trans-
formation ratio of and a basic block connected paral-
lelly/serially. As previously explained, a new transmission-line
GÓMEZ-JIMÉNEZ et al.: ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCEDURE OF TRANSMISSION-LINE TRANSFORMERS 167

transformer with a transformation ratio of is ob- where is the standard admittance matrix and
tained. Two cases have to be considered: firstly, when the last
transmission-line transformer (the inner transmission-line trans-
former in Fig. 10) is of Guanella type, and secondly, when the (17)
last transmission-line transformer is of Ruthroff type. The cur-
rents in the primed ports of the circuit of Fig. 9 correspond to
Guanella’s case (18)

The frequency behavior of a transformer is well represented

in terms of transducer gain. We define the balun transducer gain
as if the balanced port is the input port, or
in the reciprocal case, where denotes available
power, and the subscripts , , and denote the input, output, and
differential respectively. The mixed-mode admittance matrix is
(10) very convenient to compute the transducer gain. For the 1 : 1
Guanella case, for instance, the mixed-mode admittance matrix
can be obtained from the admittance matrix in (7), and using the
mixed-mode transformation given in (16)–(18),

(11) (19)

Considering a perfectly balanced load, the transducer gain is

given by
(12)

(20)
where and are, respectively, the source and load admit-
(13) tances.
Similar developments can be carried out for the 1 : 4 Ruthroff
where is the admittance matrix of the transmis- configuration to obtain the corresponding transducer gain. For
sion-line transformer, and is that of the basic block, i.e., the balun case,
the matrix whose elements are computed with the help of (6).
For Ruthroff’s case in the unbalanced–unbalanced configura- (21a)
tion, the currents are where is

(14)
(15)

Using (10)–(15) in an iterative way, it is possible to compute the (21b)

admittance elements of any transmission-line transformer.
When one of the ends of the transmission-line transformer and for the unbalanced–unbalanced case,
is balanced, as is the case of the balun, it is practical to use
the mixed-mode scattering matrix. The conversion between the
(22a)
standard admittance elements and the mixed-mode admittance
elements is performed similarly to when converting scattering where is
elements in mixed-mode scattering elements [11]

(16) (22b)
168 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. 56, NO. 1, JANUARY 2008
Similar expressions can be obtained for the cases in
different configurations.
IV. DESIGN PROCEDURE OF THE
TRANSMISSION-LINE TRANSFORMER
There are four important design parameters in a transmis-
sion-line transformer, which are: 1) the lower 3-dB cutoff fre-
quency ; 2) the higher 3-dB cutoff frequency ; 3) the load
resistance ; and 4) the source resistance . The design of
the transmission-line transformer is based on these four param-
eters and is carried out in several steps.
The first step is to calculate the impedance transformation
ratio, which is . The second step is to determine the
structure of the transmission-line transformer, which is carried
out using the algorithm described in Section III and graphically
represented in Fig. 10. It should be noted that we can finish with
a Guanella 1 : 1 transmission-line transformer in balun configu-
ration or with a Ruthroff 1 : 4 transmission-line transformer ei-
ther in balun or unbalanced–unbalanced configuration.
The next step is to compute the physical parameters of the
basic block: characteristic impedance , length , number of
turns of the winding , and core of the winding. The transducer
gain of the transmission-line transformer has a maximum when
[10]
(23)
Once is determined, we can choose the line type. The most
common is a twisted pair because it allows the designer to
slightly change the value of . Coaxial lines are also com-
monly used.
Prior to computing and , it is mandatory to compute the
self-inductance of a single conductor of the basic block , which
first appeared in (2). We need to establish the relationship be-
tween and . The computation of the lower cutoff frequency
of a transmission-line transformer is not straightforward, and
could be done from the expressions for the transducer gain,
i.e., (20)–(22). Nevertheless, the low-frequency behavior of the
transmission-line transformer strongly depends on the value of
the self-inductance . Therefore, when (23) is satisfied, it is a
good approximation to consider the lower cutoff frequency to
be inversely proportional to the self-inductance . We can state
then
(24)
where is a parameter, which depends on the structure of the
transmission-line transformer; in other words, on the values of
and . The computation of is carried out as follows. We
start with a transmission-line transformer with exactly the same
structure as the desired one, but arbitrary values of and .
We compute the mixed-mode admittance matrix of this trans-
former and, subsequently, the transducer gain. The lower cutoff
frequency is then computed. The value of the constant can
be obtained by means of (24). Finally, the value of can also
be computed with (24), but using and the actual value of
instead of the initial arbitrary values. Tables II and III contain
the values of computed for a number of transformation ra-
tios when the last transmission-line transformer is of a Guanella
TABLE II
VALUES OF k FOR ALL TRANSMISSION-LINE TRANSFORMERS OF UP TO FIVE
LINES AND INNER TRANSFORMER OF GUANELLA TYPE. THE VALUE OF
k OF AN n : m TRANSMISSION-LINE TRANSFORMER IS
THE SAME AS THAT OF AN m : n TRANSFORMER)
TABLE III
VALUES OF k FOR ALL TRANSMISSION-LINE TRANSFORMERS OF UP TO FIVE
LINES AND INNER TRANSFORMER OF RUTHROFF TYPE. THE VALUE OF
k OF AN n : m TRANSMISSION-LINE TRANSFORMER IS
THE SAME AS THAT OF AN m : n TRANSFORMER)
TABLE IV
VALUES OF k FOR ALL TRANSMISSION-LINE TRANSFORMERS OF
UP TO FOUR LINES AND BASED ON RUTHROFF’S CONFIGURATION
(3 DENOTES THAT THERE IS NO HIGHER 3-dB CUTOFF FREQUENCY)
or Ruthroff type, respectively. The value of obtained from
Tables II and III is the value which the designer has to use to
compute the value of .
We continue with the computation of the length , which is
done using the higher cutoff frequency. At higher frequencies,
the magnetic coupling can be neglected and the basic block be-
haves as a regular transmission-line section. When the inner
transmission-line transformer is of a Guanella type, the theoret-
ical higher cutoff frequency is infinite since, at higher frequen-
cies, the basic block and the Guanella transformer follow the
transmission-line model. If this is not the case, we must find a
relationship between the transmission-line parameters and the
higher cutoff frequency. The frequency where the transducer
gain is 3 dB below its low-frequency value is found to be of
the form
(25)
where is the phase velocity of the line and is a parameter
that depends on , , and the structure of the transmission-
line transformer. The phase velocity depends on the electrical
parameters of the line, and it is not possible to change it without
changing the characteristic impedance. Consequently, we will
consider that is a fixed parameter and the line length is
computed from (25). Similar to , the value of is computed
for a transformer with the same structure, but arbitrary values
of and . Table IV contains the value of for a number
of transmission-line transformers. Once the line type has been
GÓMEZ-JIMÉNEZ et al.: ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCEDURE OF TRANSMISSION-LINE TRANSFORMERS 169

Fig. 11. Calculated (dashed line) and measured (solid line) scattering matrix elements of the transmission-line transformer prototype. Measurement ports 1–3
correspond to ports A–C, respectively, of Fig. 5. (a) S . (b) S . (c) S . (d) S . (e) S .

chosen, the value of obtained from Table IV is the value that
the designer has to use to compute the value of length .
We can see from (24) and (25) that, on the one hand, the
transmission-line section should be as short as possible, for the
upper cutoff frequency to be high. However, on the other hand,
the line should be as long as possible to increase the inductance
, and hence, to low the lower cutoff frequency. For a particular
application, a compromise between those two opposing criteria
should be adopted.
We continue with the computation of the number of turns of
the winding and the core of the winding. Cylindrical, as well
as toroidal cores are possible, but the latter are preferred since
the gap between turns does not matter, as long as the winding
covers the entire core. Contrarily, turns must be equally spaced
on a cylindrical core. The additional benefits of using toroidal
cores are that they are smaller, allow for larger inductances, and
can handle higher power. In the following procedure, the core
material will be ferrite.
The inductance of the winding is given by
(26)
where is the magnetic permeability of the core material, is
the number of turns, is the area of one turn, is the effective
length of the winding, and is a parameter given by the core
170 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. 56, NO. 1, JANUARY 2008

manufacturer. The line length is determined by the core size in

the following way:

(27)

where and are the dimensions of the transversal section of

the toroid. The core must be chosen to satisfy (26) and (27).
Upon combining these two equations, we get

(28)

and also

where is the mean radius of the toroid,
transversal section, and the parameter is
(29)
Fig. 12. Calculated (dashed line) and measured (solid line) transducer gain pro-
vided that the common mode load resistance is infinite.
is the area of the

(30)

We now propose the following procedure to find the adequate

core and the number of turns.
• First, choose the ferrite, which means choosing the mag-
netic permeability.
• Second, for a number of toroidal cores made out of the
chosen ferrite, the effective length is computed with the
help of (28). If the mean length of the toroid (which is ,
being the mean radius) is longer than the computed ,
then the core is valid.
• Third, the number of turns is computed with (29).
Let us now consider the ferrite. The higher the permeability,
the fewer the number of turns, but the core will be, in general,
Fig. 13. Some of the prototypes designed and built using the proposed proce-
more expensive and saturation will take place with less magnetic dure.
flux, which results in a smaller power-handling capability.

with an outer diameter of 26.8 mm, inner diameter

V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Thus far, a design procedure has been presented. A number
of experiments have been undertaken to demonstrate the validity
of the procedure. A 1 : 4 Ruthroff transmission-line transformer
in a balun configuration (see Fig. 5) with the following speci-
fications has been designed, built, and measured: a 3-dB lower
cutoff frequency of 20 kHz, a 3-dB upper cutoff frequency of
150 MHz, a load resistance of 160 , and a source resistance of
40 . Following the design procedure described in Section IV,
we find that the characteristic impedance of the line must be
80 . From Table III, we get . The inductance is then
H. From Table IV, we get . The transmis-
sion line was built with a coated 26 AWG wire. A number of
sections of different length were built to measure the character-
istic impedance and phase velocity. We measured , help in measuring. Fig. 13 shows some of the prototypes. Sub-
and a phase velocity approximately half of the free-space value.
Using (25), a maximum length of 30 cm was obtained for the
transmission-line section.
Finally, the ferrite core was chosen. The ferrite is Epcos
N30 with a relative permeability of 4300. The core model is
of 13.5 mm, height of 11 mm, effective length of 60.07 mm,
and area of the transversal section of 51.3 mm . With this core,
turns were needed to obtain the necessary inductance.
Fig. 11 shows the measured (continuous lines) and calculated
(dashed lines) scattering matrix elements of the transmission-
line transformer prototype. The calculated elements have been
obtained from the admittance matrix elements using the con-
version chart that can be found in many microwave circuit text-
books. There is good concordance between the calculated and
measured results. The concordance is better at lower frequen-
cies. Fig. 12 shows the transducer gain of the transmission-line
transformer. It can be observed that the frequency specification
is satisfied.
All prototypes were mounted on a printed circuit board to
miniature A (SMA) connectors (not shown in Fig. 13) were used
to connect the basic block to a two-port vector network analyzer.
Measurements were carried out two ports at a time with matched
loads (50 ) connected to the third and fourth ports. Calibration
was set at the connectors’ plane.
GÓMEZ-JIMÉNEZ et al.: ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCEDURE OF TRANSMISSION-LINE TRANSFORMERS
Three more different specifications were established and the
corresponding transformers were designed using the proposed
procedure, built, and measured (see Fig. 13). In all cases, con-
cordance between expected and measured results was good.
VI. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a theoretical model of a transmission-line trans-
former has been presented. The model explains the frequency
response of the transmission-line transformer and how the
different mechanical, electrical, and magnetic parameters take
part in the behavior of the device. The presented model allows
an engineer to design a transmission-line transformer from a
specification consisting of the cutoff frequencies and the source
and load resistances. A design procedure, which stems from the
theoretical model, has been presented, which allows a designer
to compute the physical parameters of the transmission-line
transformer. A number of experiments have been conducted to
demonstrate the validity of the design procedure. Experimental
results show good concordance with theoretical predictions.
One of the prototypes, a 1 : 4 Ruthroff transmission-line trans-
former with a desired response over a wide frequency range
has been presented.
REFERENCES
[1] G. Guanella, “Nouveau transformateur d’adaptation pour haute
fréquence,” Rev. Brown Boveri, pp. 327–329, Sep. 1944.
[2] C. L. Ruthroff, “Some broadband transformers,” Proc. IRE, vol. 47, no.
8, pp. 1337–1342, Aug. 1959.
[3] J. Sevick, Transmission Line Transformers, 4th, Ed. New York:
Noble, 2001.
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Pablo Gómez-Jiménez received the Ingeniero de
Telecomunicación degree from the University of
Málaga, Málaga, Spain, in 2005.
In 2005, he joined Vodafone España, Málaga,
Spain. From 2005 to 2006, he participated in a
postgraduate program on communications software
with the University of Málaga. In 2006, he joined
Indra Centros de Desarrollo, Campanillas, Málaga,
Spain, where he is currently involved in software
development projects.
Pablo Otero (S’84–M’93) was born in Seville,
Spain, in 1958. He received the Ingeniero de Teleco-
municación degree from the Universidad Politécnica
de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, in 1983, and the Ph.D. de-
gree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
(EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1998.
From 1983 to 1993, he was with the Spanish
companies Standard Eléctrica, E.N. Bazán, and
Telefónica, where he was involved with communi-
cations and radar systems. In 1993, he joined the
Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain, where he was
a Lecturer for two years. In 1996, he joined the Laboratory of Electromagnetism
and Acoustics, EPFL, where he was a Research Associate, working under a
Spanish Government grant. In 1998, he joined the Escuela Técnica Superior
de Ingeniería (ETSI) de Telecomunicación, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga,
Spain, where he is currently an Associate Professor. His research interests
include electromagnetic theory and printed microwave circuits and antennas.
Enrique Márquez-Segura (S’93–M’95–SM’06)
was born in Málaga, Spain, in April 1970. He
received the Ingeniero de Telecomunicación and
Doctor Ingeniero degrees from the Universidad de
Málaga, Málaga, Spain, in 1993 and 1998, respec-
tively.
In 1994, he joined the Departamento de Ingeniería
de Comunicaciones, Escuela Técnica Superior de
Ingeniería (ETSI) de Telecomunicación, Universidad
de Málaga, where, in 2001, he became an Associate
Professor. His current research interests include
electromagnetic material characterization, measurement techniques, and RF
and microwave circuits design for communication applications.