Calculation of time-dependent phenomena on a

transmission line

József Pávó

Department of Broadband Infocommunications and Electromagnetic

Theory

Budapest University of Technology and Economics

December 7, 2020

1 Introduction

Voltages and currents along transmission lines excited by steady-state sinusoidal sources
have been considered in the class Introduction to Electromagnetic Fields (EMTA) before.
The subject is discussed in details in Chapter 9 of book [1] or in Hungarian in [2], [3], [4].
General time-dependent excitation of transmission lines, however, have not been consid-
ered on the lectures of EMTA. The goal of this short lecture notes is to discuss methods
that can be applied for the calculation of voltages and currents along transmission lines
if the excitation of the line is a time-dependent function, that is the transient phenomena
of transmission lines due to an arbitrary pulse excitation is analysed. Such transient phe-
nomena play important role in many application areas of electrical engineering. Examples
are: fault analysis of power transmission lines, calculation of the dispersion of telecommu-
nication signals along transmission lines or any transmitting media that can be modelled
by transmission lines (e.g. various waveguides applied in high frequency technique), etc.

2 The analysed model

Assume the transmission line model depicted in Fig. 1. The parameters of the actual
line: R0 , L0 , G0 , C 0 , and l, are assumed to be known. Based on this, one can write
the transmission line equations  the partial dierential equation (PDE) describing the
voltage, u(z, t), and current, i(z, t), along the line, z , in any time instant, t,  in the
following form:
∂u(z, t) ∂i(z, t)
− = R0 i(z, t) + L0 , (1)
∂z ∂t
∂i(z, t) ∂u(z, t)
− = G0 u(z, t) + C 0 , (2)
∂z ∂t
Assume that the transmission line is fed by an ideal voltage source of which time
dependent voltage, u0 (t), is given. Assume also that the two-poles (one-ports) P1 and P2 ,
at the feed and the load of the transmission line are dened in some way. Such denition

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 might be given in various ways. For example, the two-poles can be given by (i) an electric
circuit consisting of lumped elements. Also, one may dene the two-poles by (ii) giving
their impedance functions, Z1 (jω) and Z2 (jω), that give the impedances of the two-poles
for any ω angular frequencies (the actual value of these impedance functions for a given
ω = ω0 is the impedance of the actual two-port in the case of a sinusoidal steady-state
excitation that angular frequency is ω0 ). These functions can be easily determined from
the two-poles if they are given by lumped elements networks or they can be approxi-
mated by performing sucient number of sinusoidal two-pole analysis or measurements.
Alternatively, if the voltages and currents of the two-poles are square-integrable, one can
calculate these impedance functions as,
U1 (jω) U2 (jω)
Z1 (jω) = , Z2 (jω) = , (3)
I1 (jω) I2 (jω)
where U1 (jω), I1 (jω), U2 (jω) and I2 (jω) are the Fourier-transform (FT) of the corre-
sponding two-pole voltages and currents (see also Fig. 1). Similarly, if the systems rep-
resented by the two-poles are causal, they can be dened by (iii) their Laplace-transform
(LT) impedances, Z1 (s) and Z2 (s). Among others, one possibility to calculate these is,
U1 (s) U2 (s)
Z1 (s) = , Z2 (s) = , (4)
I1 (s) I2 (s)
where U1 (s), I1 (s), U2 (s) and I2 (s) are the LT of the two-pole voltages and currents. It is
also easy to get these LT impedances from the network representations of the two-poles.
The goal is to calculate u(z, t), and i(z, t) functions. Possible visualizations of the
results are plots of the obtained functions in given time instances along the transmission
line (u(z) = u(z, t)|t=t0 , i(z) = i(z, t)|t=t0 , where t0 is given) or plots at given locations
with respect of time (u(t) = u(z, t)|z=z0 , i(t) = i(z, t)|z=z0 , where z0 is given).

3 Method based on Fourier-transform

Hereafter we assume that the signals u(z, t) and i(z, t) are square-integrable (they are of
nite energy). This assumption is valid in many of the practical cases. Let us introduce
the Fourier-transform (FT) of the voltages and currents. As an example, the FT of u(z, t)
PSfrag repla ements
is obtained as follows:
Z ∞
U (z, jω) = F {u(z, t)} = u(z, t)e−jωt dt, (5)
−∞

i1 (t) P1 i(z, t)
i2 (t)

u0 (t) u1 (t) u(z, t) u2 (t) P2

z
0 l
Figure 1: The transmission line model

2
the inverse FT is dened accordingly,
∞
1
Z
u(z, t) = F −1
{U (z, jω)} = U (z, jω)ejωt dω, (6)
2π −∞

After taking the FT of (1) and (2), we obtain:

dU (z, jω)
− = (R0 + jωL0 )I(z, jω), (7)
dz
dI(z, jω)
− = (G0 + jωC 0 )U (z, jω). (8)
dz
Eliminating I(z, jω) from (7), we get:
d2 U (z, jω)
− γ 2 (jω)U (z, jω) = 0, (9)
dz 2
where γ 2 (jω) = (R0 +jωL0 )(G0 +jωC 0 ). The general solution of this homogeneous ordinary
dierential equation is,
U (z, jω) = U + (jω)e−γ(jω)z + U − (jω)eγ(jω)z . (10)
Substituting this solution into (7) one can obtain the expression for I(z, jω) as well in
the following form:
U + (jω) −γ(jω)z U − (jω) γ(jω)z
I(z, jω) = e − e , (11)
Z0 (jω) Z0 (jω)
q
R0 +jωL0
where Z0 (jω) = G0 +jωC 0
.
The unknown functions, U + (jω) and U − (jω) are determined by the boundary condi-
tions described by the excitation and the two-poles at the terminals. In our particular
case we assume we know the impedance functions of the terminating two-poles Z1 (jω)
and Zl (jω) dened above (3). Using these, the boundary conditions are the following:
−U0 (jω) + Z1 (jω)I(z = 0, jω) + U (z = 0, jω) = 0, (12)
U (z = l, jω) = Z2 (jω)I(z = l, jω). (13)
Putting (10) and (11) into (12) and (13) and noting that U0 (jω) = F {u0 (t)} one
obtains a closed form expressions for U + (jω) and U − (jω):
Z0 (jω) 1
U + (jω) = U0 (jω) (14)
Z0 (jω) + Z1 (jω) 1 − r1 (jω)r2 (jω)e−2γ(jω)l
Z0 (jω) r2 (jω)e−2γl
U − (jω) = U0 (jω) , (15)
Z0 (jω) + Z1 (jω) 1 − r1 (jω)r2 (jω)e−2γ(jω)l
where,
Z1 (jω) − Z0 (jω) Z2 (jω) − Z0 (jω)
r1 (jω) = , r2 (jω) = . (16)
Z1 (jω) + Z0 (jω) Z2 (jω) + Z0 (jω)
Introducing these into (10) and (11), closed form expressions for U (z, jω) and I(z, jω)
are given:
Z0 (jω) e−γ(jω)z + r2 (jω)e−γ(jω)[2l−z]
U (z, jω) = U0 (jω) (17)
Z0 (jω) + Z1 (jω) 1 − r1 (jω)r2 (jω)e−2γ(jω)l
1 e−γ(jω)z − r2 (jω)e−γ(jω)[2l−z]
I(z, jω) = U0 (jω) (18)
Z0 (jω) + Z1 (jω) 1 − r1 (jω)r2 (jω)e−2γ(jω)l

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 After performing the inverse FT on these functions one obtains u(z, t) = F −1 {U (z, jω)}
and i(z, t) = F −1 {I(z, jω)} describing the time dependent response of the transmission
line. In general, the inverse FT cannot be performed analytically, so it is suggested to
get it by some quadrature (algorithm for the numerical integration) numerically. A good
start is to used one of the standard quadrature functions written for the purpose in the
Matlab or Octave softwares to perform the inverse FT numerically.

Summarizing the above described method, we see that it can be applied for (i) any
transmission lines (both for lossy or lossless lines), if (ii) the excitation, u0 (t), is square in-
tegrable (sucient condition of the existence of the FT of u0 (t)) and (iii) the transmission
line together with their terminating two-poles, P1 and P2 , represents a BIBO stable sys-
tem. The Fourier-transform method cannot be applied if the transmission line is lossless
and the terminating two-poles are of solely reactive elements (capacitances, inductances).
This can be easily understood if we consider that the signal due to a pulse excitation on
an ideal transmission line that has terminals without losses never vanish, consequently it
cannot be Fourier-transformed, so expression (17) and (18) are not existing. As a rule
of thumb: there must be some loss in the system (either the transmission line has to be
lossy or at least one of the terminals has to be passive).

4 Method based on Laplace-transform

Let us introduce the Laplace-transform (LT) of the voltages and currents. As an example,
the LT of u(z, t) is obtained as follows:
Z ∞
U (z, s) = L {u(z, t)} = u(z, t)e−st dt, (19)
−0

Assume that the transmission line is lossless, i.e. R0 = 0 and G0 = 0. If the voltage
and current along the line at the t = −0 time instant was zero (u(z, t = −0) = 0 and
i(z, t = −0) = 0; in other words the transmission line was energy free at t = 0), the LT
of (1) and (2), is written by using the dierential theory of the LT:
dU (z, s)
− = sL0 I(z, s), (20)
dz
dI(z, s)
− = sC 0 U (z, s). (21)
dz
Eliminating I(z, s) from (20), we get:

d2 U (z, s)  s 2
− U (z, s) = 0, (22)
dz 2 c
q
where c = L01C 0 is usually referred to as the speed of propagation along the transmission
line. The general solution of this homogeneous ordinary dierential equation is,
z z
U (z, s) = U + (s)e−s c + U − (s)es c . (23)

Substituting this into (20) gives the expression for I(z, s),
U + (s) −s z U − (s) s z
I(z, s) = e c− e c, (24)
Z0 Z0

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 q
0
where Z0 = CL 0 . Using the LT impedances of the two-poles (4), the boundary conditions
at z = 0 and z = l are formulated as,

−U0 (s) + Z1 (s)I(z = 0, s) + U (z = 0, s) = 0, (25)

U (z = l, s) = Z2 (s)I(z = l, s), (26)

where U0 (s) = L {u0 (t)}.

Substituting (23) and (24) into (25) and (26) we get the following analytical expressions
for the LT of the voltages and currents along the transmission line:
z 2l−z
Z0 e−s c + r2 (s)e−s c
U (z, s) = U0 (s) , (27)
Z0 + Z1 (s) 1 − r1 (s)r2 (s)e−s 2lc
z 2l−z
1 e−s c − r2 (s)e−s c
I(z, s) = U0 (s) , (28)
Z0 + Z1 (s) 1 − r1 (s)r2 (s)e−s 2lc

where
Z1 (s) − Z0 Z2 (s) − Z0
r1 (s) = , r2 (s) = . (29)
Z1 (s) + Z0 Z2 (s) + Z0
Let us introduce the notations, τ = zc , T = cl and U (0) (s) = U0 (s) Z0 +Z Z0
1 (s)
. By
rearranging (27), we can realise that this is in fact the sum of two geometrical series, both
have the common ratio q = r1 (s)r2 (s)e−s2T . These geometrical series can be expanded
accordingly,

e−sτ r2 (s)e−s(2T −τ )
 
(0)
U (z, s) = U (s) + =
1 − r1 (s)r2 (s)e−s2T 1 − r1 (s)r2 (s)e−s2T
∞
X X∞
U (0) (s) [r1 (s)r2 (s)]n e−s(2nT +τ ) + U (0) (s)r2 (s) [r1 (s)r2 (s)]m e−s(2[m+1]T −τ ) =
n=0 m=0
(0) −sτ (1) −s(2T −τ )
U (s)e +U (s)e + U (2) (s)e−s(2T +τ ) + U (3) (s)e−s(4T −τ ) +
U (4) (s)e−s(4T +τ ) + U (5) (s)e−s(6T −τ ) + . . . , (30)

where

U (1) (s) = U (0) (s)r2 (s), U (2) (s) = U (0) (s)r1 (s)r2 (s), U (3) (s) = U (0) (s)r1 (s)r22 (s),
U (4) (s) = U (0) (s)r12 (s)r22 (s), U (5) (s) = U (0) (s)r12 (s)r23 (s).

In general,
∞
X
(31)
 (2k)
U (s)e−s(2kT +τ ) + U (2k+1) (s)e−s(2[k+1]T −τ ) ,

U (z, s) =
k=0

where,

U (2k) (s) = U (0) (s)r1k (s)r2k (s), U (2k+1) (s) = U (0) (s)r1k (s)r2k+1 (s), k = 0, 1, 2, . . . (32)

If the LT impedances, Z1 (s) and Z2 (s), are given in the form of rational fractions (this
is true, e.g., if the two-poles are realised by the connections of linear lumped-parameter
elements), r1 (s) and r2 (s) became rational fraction too. Consequently the LT functions,

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U (2k) (s) and U (2k+1) (s), can be inverse transformed based on partial fraction expansions
widely used in, e.g., network theory. Let us denote these inverse LT functions as,

u(2k) (t) = L−1 U (2k) (s) , u(2k+1) (t) = L−1 U (2k+1) (s) . (33)
 

We will apply the time shifting property of the LT, i.e. for any causal time functions,
f (t),
L {ε(t − t0 )f (t − t0 )} = e−st0 L {ε(t)f (t)} , (34)
where ε(t) is the unit step function and t0 > 0.
Finally, using (32)-(34) the inverse LT of (31) will give us the voltages along the
transmission line in the following form,
∞
X
−1
ε(t − 2kT − τ )u(2k) (t − 2kT − τ ) +

u(z, t) = L {U (z, s)} =
k=0

ε(t − 2[k + 1]T + τ )u(2k+1) (t − 2[k + 1]T + τ ) . (35)



Similar procedure is used to obtain the current along the transmission line. From (28)
one obtains the expression for the LT of the current,
∞  (2k)
U (2k+1) (s) −s(2[k+1]T −τ )

X U (s)
I(z, s) = e −s(2kT +τ )
− e . (36)
k=0
Z0 Z0

Taking the inverse LT of this result we get,

∞
X
−1
ε(t − 2kT − τ )i(2k) (t − 2kT − τ ) +

i(z, t) = L {I(z, s)} =
k=0

ε(t − 2[k + 1]T + τ )i(2k+1) (t − 2[k + 1]T + τ ) , (37)



where
U (2k) (s) U (2k+1) (s)
   
(2k)
i (t) = L −1
, (2k+1)
i (t) = L −1
− . (38)
Z0 Z0

The physical interpretation of the obtained results, (35) and (37), can be expressed
in the following practical statements:

ˆ If the transmission line is lossless, the voltage and current signals are travelling
without any disturbance along the line. Suppose that we observe the voltage of the
transmission line in the time interval 0 < t < T . In this case  from (35)  the
voltage signal at z = z1 position is ε(t − τ )u(0) (t − τ ), where τ = zc1 . If we consider
the line at the z2 = z1 + ∆z position, we obtain that the voltage signal there is
ε(t − [τ + ∆τ ])u(0) (t − [τ + ∆τ ]), where ∆τ = ∆z c
. We can see that the shape of
the voltage signal at z2 is identical to the shape of the signal at z1 (in other words,
u(0) (t) is the same in both expressions), the only dierence is that the voltage at z2
is delayed in time by ∆τ compared to the one at the z1 position. This behaviour
means that the signal travels along the transmission line without disturbance.

ˆ The signal travels along the transmission line and it reects by returning its prop-
agation direction when it arrives to any of the terminals. Now let us consider the

6
 time interval 0 < t < 2T . Again, considering expressions (35), we can see that
in the time interval 0 < t < T only the travelling of the voltage signal, u(0) (t), is
observed as it is described above; u(0) (t) is called as incident signal. From the time
instant t = T , however, a second signal, ε(t − T )u(1) (t − T ) is emerged that travels
to the negative z direction; we will call this signal component as reected signal.
Travelling to the negative z directions means the following. The reected signal at
the z = za position is
ε(t − 2T + τ )u(1) (t − 2T + τ ) = ε(t − T − τr )u(1) (t − T − τr ), (39)
where τr = T − τ = l−za
c
. At the zb = za − ∆z location this signal is

ε(t − T − [τr + ∆τ ])u(1) (t − T − [τr + ∆τ ]), (40)

where ∆τ = ∆z c
. Consequently, if we travel ∆z distance to the negative z direction,
the reected signal delays by ∆τ . We can similarly understand the reection of
the signal at the t = 2T time instant from the input terminal (z = 0 location) of
the transmission line; here the direction of the travel to the negative z direction
is reversed turning the propagation again to the positive z direction. Finally, the
innite sum expression (35) can be interpreted in the whole 0 < t < ∞ interval as
the sum of an incident and innite number of reected signals travelling into the
positive and negative z directions.
ˆ When a signal reects from any of the terminals, its shape is distorted. This can be
easily seen from (32)-(33) if we consider that the LT of the incoming and reected
voltage signals at the load are, e.g., U (0) (s) and U (1) (s) = U (0) (s)r2 (s), respectively.
Since, in general, r2 (s) is not independent of s, the shape of
u(1) (t) = L−1 U (1) (s) = L−1 U (0) (s)r2 (s) (41)
 

is dierent from u(0) (t) = L−1 U (0) (s) . Similarly, the signal U (1) (s) modies to


U (2) (s) = U (1) (s)r1 (s) when it is reected at the feed and its shape is changed due
to the fact that  in general  r1 (s) is not independent of s. One can see that the
presented examples are applicable for the whole procedure as one can write for any
reection at the load,
u(2k+1) (t) = L−1 U (2k+1) (s) = L−1 U (2k) (s)r2 (s) , k = 0, 1, . . . (42)
 

and at the feed,

u(2[k+1]) (t) = L−1 U (2[k+1]) (s) = L−1 U (2k+1) (s)r1 (s) , (43)
 
k = 0, 1, . . . .

ˆ If a terminal is composed of resistive components  i.e. the LT impedance of it is

independent of s  only the amplitude but not the shape of the reected signal is
changed. Assuming, e.g., a resistive load where Z2 is independent of s one get form
(29) that r2 became constant. Consequently from (32),
u(2k+1) (t) = L−1 U (2k) (s)r2 = r2 L−1 U (2k) (s) = r2 u(2k) (t), (44)
 

meaning that only the amplitude but not the shape has changed by the reection at
the load. Similar explanation is valid for the feed, as a result we may conclude that
if the two-poles at both the load and the feed are made of resistive components, the
shape of the signal is the same for all of the reected signals that are the same as
the shape of the incident signal.

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 ˆ If the frequency independent resistance of the load of the transmission line is equal to
Z0 , there will be no reection at z = l, consequently the only signal travelling along
the line will be the incident signal. If we substitute Z2 (s) = Z0 into (29), r2 = 0 is
obtained. Putting this into (32) one obtains that U (m) = 0 for any m = 1, 2, . . .,
consequently the voltage and current signals at a z location will be:
1 (0)
u(z, t) = ε(t − τ )u(0) (t − τ ), i(z, t) = ε(t − τ ) u (t − τ ), (45)
Z0
where τ = zc . In other words, there is only one signal propagates along the line and
this only signal is the incident one.

ˆ The above statements are valid for the current signals too. This can be proved
based on (36)-(38) by using similar considerations applied for the voltage signals.
The results are almost the same, the main dierence is that functions r1 (s) and
r2 (s) used for voltage signals have to be multiplied by −1 when the current signals
are derived.

Based on the discussed considerations a very useful graphical method is developed

for the calculation of time-dependent signals on lossless transmission lines with resistive
terminals. This method is discussed in Subsection 3.3 − 1. of [3]. The application and
understanding of this graphical method is strongly recommended.

References

[1] David K. Cheng, Field and Wave Electromagnetics, Second Edition, Addison-Wesley,
Reading, Massachusetts, USA, 1989.

[2] Simonyi Károly, Elméleti Villamosságtan, 3. fejezet C rész, 8. kiadás, Tankönyvkiadó,

Budapest, 1981.

[3] Fodor György, Elektromágneses terek, 3. fejezet, M¶egyetem Kiadó, Budapest, 2005.

[4] Zombory László, Elektromágneses terek, M¶szaki Kiadó, Budapest, 2008.

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