Transmission Lines

TRANSMISSION LINES

In communication, the signals are transmitted from one device to another in the form of
electromagnetic energy. Electromagnetic signals can travel through a vacuum, air, or
transmission lines.

A transmission line is a Guided medium to transmit or transfer electrical energy in the form
EM energy from one place to another.

• Power (50 Hz) and voice frequencies (20 Hz – 3 KHz) are generally transmitted as current
over metal cables (such as two-wire line, coaxial cable).
• Radio frequencies (3 KHz – 300 GHz) can travel through air or space, or metal cables
(such as two-wire line, coaxial cable or microstrip line).
• Visible light (430 THz – 750 THz) for communications uses fiber-optic cable.

➢ Unguided medium → a medium of infinite extent, i.e. air or space.

In unguided wave propagation, the wave exists throughout all space and EM energy associated
with the wave spreads over a wide area.

Applications: Unguided wave propagation is used in radio or TV broadcasting, mobile

telephony, radar etc. where the information being transmitted is meant for many people.

Drawback: Unguided wave causes a wastage of large power in a Point-to-Point

Communication like Telephone Conversation where information is received privately by
one person.

➢ Guided medium → constituted of wires / conduit (pipe or tube-like structures) from one
device to another, e.g.
• Transmission lines (two-wire line, coaxial cable, microstrip line, fiber-optic cable, etc)
• Waveguides.

In guided wave propagation, transmitting of power or information is by guided structures.

The guided structures guide (or direct) the propagation of energy from one point
(generator/source) to another (load) without radiation of energy.

Transmission lines and waveguides are used to transport electromagnetic energy from one
point in a system to another without radiation of energy taking place.
Two-wire line, coaxial line, microstrip line use metallic (copper) conductors that accept
and transport signals in the form of EM energy.
Optical fiber is a glass or plastic cable that accepts and transports signals in the form
of light.
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Types of Transmission Lines

Transmission lines are commonly used
(1) in power distribution (at low frequencies)
(2) in communications (at high frequencies).

A transmission line basically consists of two parallel conductors to connect a source to a load.
One conductor is used to carry the signal and the other one is used as a ground or return
conductor. The source may be a hydroelectric generator, a transmitter, or an oscillator; the load
may be a factory, an antenna, or an oscilloscope, respectively.

Typical transmission lines :

(i) coaxial cable, (ii) two-wire line, (iii) parallel-plate or planar line,
(iv) a wire above the conducting plane, (v) microstrip line, (vi) fibre optic cable.

• Two-wire Line

In a two-wire transmission line the two conductors are generally identical.

Two-wire lines are used

(i) in power transmission (50Hz) (ii) in voice communication
(iii) in low frequency electric/electronic circuits (iv) in telephone systems
(v) in data communication (computer network- internet, LAN)

• Coaxial Cable

The coaxial cable is composed of two coaxial conductors separated by dielectric material
(continuous or discs). The central conductor is solid conductor or stranded wire. The external
conductor can be solid or a metallic braid.

Coaxial cables are used

(i) in electrical laboratories, (ii) in connecting TV sets to TV antennas,
(iii) as the long distance transmission medium in telephone networks,
(iv) in cable television networks (v) in local area networks for computer communications.
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• Microstrip Line

Microstrip lines belong to a group of parallel-plate transmission lines.

It consists of a strip metallic conductor on one side of a dielectric substrate, the other side of
the substrate has a ground plane.

Usage : (i) Microstrip line is widely used form of transmission line in microwave integrated
circuits (MIC).
(ii) Section of microstrip lines are used for circuit components such as filters, couplers,
resonators, antennas, and so on.

• Optical Fibre

An optical fibre consists of an inner glass core surrounded by a cladding also of glass but
having a lower refractive index.

Transmission of digital signals is in the form of intensity-modulated light signal which is

trapped in the core. Light is launched into the fibre using a light source (LED or Laser) and is
detected at the other end using a photo detector.

• Waveguide

A waveguide is a metallic cylinder with two ends open.

Commonly used shapes are rectangular or circular.

Usage : (i) A waveguide guides EM energy from one point (generator) to another (load).
(ii) Sections of waveguides are used as circuit components such as filters, couplers,
resonators, antennas.

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Analysis of Transmission Lines

by
Transmission Line Theory
Transmission line problems are usually solved using
• EM field theory
• Electric circuit theory,
the two major theories on which electrical engineering is based.

Transmission line theory is a combination of both EM field theory and Electric circuit theory.

This theory uses the basic concepts of wave propagation based on EM theory (such as
propagation, reflection, and standing wave).
In this theory, Circuit theory is used since it is easier to deal with mathematically
(simpler and more convenient).

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