EED 333: Electromagnetic Waves

Lecture 8

Dr. Hussein Kotb

hussein.kotb@eng.asu.edu.eg
 The terminated lossless transmission line
• A lossless transmission line is terminated with an arbitrary load
impedance 𝑍𝐿.
• Assume that an incident wave of the form 𝑉𝑜+ 𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑧 is generated
from a source at 𝑧 < 0.
• The ratio of voltage to current for such a traveling wave is 𝑍𝑜, the
characteristic impedance of the line.
• However, when the line is terminated in an arbitrary load 𝑍𝐿 ≠ 𝑍𝑜 ,
the ratio of voltage to current at the load must be 𝑍𝐿.

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 The terminated lossless transmission line (cont’d)
• The total voltage on the line can then be written as a sum of
incident and reflected waves: 𝑉 𝑧 = 𝑉𝑜+ 𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑧 + 𝑉𝑜− 𝑒 𝑗𝛽𝑧 .
• A reflected wave must be excited with the appropriate amplitude.
𝑉𝑜+ −𝑗𝛽𝑧 𝑉𝑜− 𝑗𝛽𝑧
• The total current on the line is: 𝐼 𝑧 = 𝑒 − 𝑒 .
𝑍𝑜 𝑍𝑜
• The total voltage and current at the load are related to the load
impedance (at 𝑧 = 0).
𝑉(0) 𝑉𝑜+ +𝑉𝑜− 𝑍𝐿 −𝑍𝑜 +
o 𝑍𝐿 = = 𝑍 . Then: 𝑉𝑜− = 𝑉
𝐼(0) 𝑉𝑜+ −𝑉𝑜− 𝑜 𝑍𝐿 +𝑍𝑜 𝑜
• The amplitude of the reflected voltage wave normalized to the
amplitude of the incident voltage wave at the load is defined as the
voltage reflection coefficient, Г:
𝑉𝑜− 𝑍𝐿 −𝑍𝑜
o Γ= =
𝑉𝑜+ 𝑍𝐿 +𝑍𝑜
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 The terminated lossless transmission line (cont’d)
• The total voltage and current waves on the line can then be written
as:
o 𝑉 𝑧 = 𝑉𝑜+ 𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑧 + Γ𝑒 𝑗𝛽𝑧
𝑉𝑜+
o 𝐼 𝑧 = 𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑧 − Γ𝑒 𝑗𝛽𝑧
𝑍𝑜
• The voltage and current on the line consist of a superposition of an
incident and a reflected wave; such waves are called standing
waves.
• Only when Г = 0 is there no reflected wave.
o The load impedance 𝑍𝐿 must be equal to the characteristic
impedance 𝑍𝑜 of the transmission line.
o Such a load is said to be matched to the line since there is no
reflection of the incident wave.

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 The terminated lossless transmission line (cont’d)
• The time-average power flow along the line at the point z:
1 ∗ 1 𝑉𝑜+∗
o 𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑔 = Re 𝑉 𝑧 𝐼 𝑧 = Re ቄ𝑉𝑜+ 𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑧 + Γ𝑒 𝑗𝛽𝑧 ൫𝑒 𝑗𝛽𝑧 −
2 2 𝑍𝑜
2
∗ −𝑗𝛽𝑧 1 𝑉𝑜+
Γ 𝑒 ൯ቅ = Re 1 − Γ ∗ 𝑒 −2𝑗𝛽𝑧 + Γ𝑒 2𝑗𝛽𝑧 − Γ 2
2 𝑍𝑜
o The middle two terms in the brackets are of the form 𝐴 − 𝐴∗ =
2𝑗𝐼𝑚 𝐴 and so are purely imaginary.
2
1 𝑉𝑜+ 2
o 𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑔 = 1− Γ .
2 𝑍𝑜

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 The terminated lossless transmission line (cont’d)
• The average power flow is constant at any point on the line and that
the total power delivered to the load (𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑔) is equal to the incident
2 2
1 𝑉𝑜+ 1 2 𝑉𝑜
+
power minus the reflected power Γ .
2 𝑍𝑜 2 𝑍𝑜
• If Γ = 0, maximum power is delivered to the load, while no power is
delivered for Γ = 1.

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 The terminated lossless transmission line (cont’d)
• The return loss (RL) is defined (in dB) as: 𝑅𝐿 = −20 log Γ dB.
• A matched load (Γ = 0) has a return loss of ∞ dB (no reflected
power).
• while a total reflection ( Γ = 1) has a return loss of 0 dB (all
incident power is reflected).
• Note: return loss is a nonnegative number for reflection for a
passive network.
• If the load is matched to the line, Γ = 0 and the magnitude of the
voltage on the line is |𝑉 𝑧 | = |𝑉𝑜+ |, which is a constant. Such a line
is sometimes said to be flat.

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 The terminated lossless transmission line (cont’d)
• When the load is mismatched, the presence of a reflected wave
leads to standing waves, and the magnitude of the voltage on the
line is not constant.
o 𝑉 𝑧 = 𝑉𝑜+ 1 + Γ𝑒 2𝑗𝛽𝑧 = 𝑉𝑜+ 1 + Γ𝑒 −2𝑗𝛽𝑙 = 𝑉𝑜+ ห1 +
Γ 𝑒 𝑗 𝜃−2𝛽𝑙 ห, where 𝑙 = −𝑧, and 𝜃 is the phase of the reflection
line Γ = Γ 𝑒 𝑗𝜃 .
• The maximum voltage occurs when the phase term 𝑒 𝑗 𝜃−2𝛽𝑙 = 1:
o 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑉𝑜+ 1 + Γ
• The minimum voltage occurs when the phase term 𝑒 𝑗 𝜃−2𝛽𝑙 = −1:
o 𝑉𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 𝑉𝑜+ 1 − Γ

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 The terminated lossless transmission line (cont’d)
• As Γ increases, the ratio of 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 to 𝑉𝑚𝑖𝑛 increases, so a measure of
the mismatch of a line, called the Voltage standing wave ratio
(SWR), can be defined as:
𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 1+ Γ
o SWR = =
𝑉𝑚𝑖𝑛 1− Γ
• SWR is a real number: 1 ≤ SWR ≤ ∞. SWR = 1 implies a matched
load.

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 The terminated lossless transmission line (cont’d)
• The distance between two successive voltage maxima (or minima)
is: 𝑙 = 2𝜋Τ2𝛽 = 𝜆𝑔 Τ2
o 𝑒𝑗 𝜃−2𝛽𝑙1 =1
o 𝑒𝑗 𝜃−2𝛽𝑙2
=1
o 𝑒𝑗 𝜃−2𝛽𝑙1 = 𝑒𝑗 𝜃−2𝛽𝑙2

o 𝑒 𝑗 2𝛽𝑙2−2𝛽𝑙1 = 𝑒 𝑗2𝛽𝑙 = 𝑒 𝑗2𝑚𝜋 , where 𝑙 = 𝑙2 − 𝑙1 and 𝑚 =

1, 2, 3, …
• The distance between a maximum and a minimum is 𝑙 = 𝜋Τ2𝛽 =
𝜆𝑔 Τ4, where 𝜆𝑔 is the guide wavelength.

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 The terminated lossless transmission line (cont’d)
• The reflection coefficient can be generalized at any point 𝑧 = −𝑙:

𝑉𝑜− 𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑙
o Γ 𝑙 = = Γ 0 𝑒 −2𝑗𝛽𝑙 , where Γ 0 is the reflection
𝑉𝑜+ 𝑒 𝑗𝛽𝑙
coefficient at 𝑧 = 0.
• The real power flow on the line is a constant (for a lossless line) but
the voltage amplitude, at least for a mismatched line, is oscillatory
with position on the line.

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 The terminated lossless transmission line (cont’d)
• The impedance seen looking into the line must vary with position.
• At a distance 𝑙 = −𝑧 from the load, the input impedance seen looking
towards the load is:

𝑉 −𝑙 𝑉𝑜+ 𝑒 𝑗𝛽𝑙 +Γ𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑙 𝑒 𝑗𝛽𝑙 +Γ𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑙 𝑍𝐿 +𝑗𝑍𝑜 tan 𝛽𝑙

o 𝑍𝑖𝑛 = = 𝑍𝑜 = 𝑍 = 𝑍𝑜
𝐼 −𝑙 𝑉𝑜+ 𝑒 𝑗𝛽𝑙 −Γ𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑙 𝑒 𝑗𝛽𝑙 −Γ𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑙 𝑜 𝑍𝑜 +𝑗𝑍𝐿 tan 𝛽𝑙
(Transmission line impedance equation).

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 Special cases of lossless terminated lines
• The line is terminated with a short circuit, 𝑍𝐿 = 0. The voltage
reflection coefficient for a short circuit is Γ = −1. The SWR is
infinite.
o 𝑉 𝑧 = 𝑉𝑜+ 𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑧 − 𝑒 +𝑗𝛽𝑧 = −2𝑗𝑉𝑜+ sin 𝛽𝑧
𝑉𝑜+ 2𝑉𝑜+
o 𝐼 𝑧 = 𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑧 + 𝑒 +𝑗𝛽𝑧 = cos 𝛽𝑧
𝑍𝑜 𝑍𝑜

• 𝑉 = 0 at the load (as expected, for a short circuit), while the current
is a maximum there.

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 Special cases of lossless terminated lines (cont’d)
𝑉 −𝑙
• The input impedance is: 𝑍𝑖𝑛 = = 𝑗𝑍𝑜 tan 𝛽𝑙, which is pure
𝐼 −𝑙
imaginary for any length, 𝑙, and to take on all values between +𝑗∞
and −𝑗∞.
• For example, when 𝑙 = 0 we have 𝑍𝑖𝑛 = 0, but for 𝑙 = 𝜆𝑔 Τ4 we
have 𝑍𝑖𝑛 = ∞ (open circuit).
• 𝑍𝑖𝑛 also shows that the impedance is periodic in 𝑙, repeating for
multiples of 𝜆𝑔 Τ2.

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 Special cases of lossless terminated lines (cont’d)
• The voltage, current, and input reactance for the short-circuited Line
are:

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 Special cases of lossless terminated lines (cont’d)
• The open-circuited line (𝑍𝐿 = ∞). The voltage reflection coefficient
for this case is Γ = 1, and the voltage standing wave ratio is again
infinite.
o 𝑉 𝑧 = 𝑉𝑜+ 𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑧 + 𝑒 +𝑗𝛽𝑧 = 2𝑉𝑜+ cos 𝛽𝑧
𝑉𝑜+ −2𝑗𝑉𝑜+
o 𝐼 𝑧 = 𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑧 − 𝑒 +𝑗𝛽𝑧 = sin 𝛽𝑧
𝑍𝑜 𝑍𝑜
• 𝐼 = 0 at the load, as expected for an open circuit, while the voltage
is a maximum.
𝑉 −𝑙
• The input impedance is: 𝑍𝑖𝑛 = = −𝑗𝑍𝑜 cot 𝛽𝑙, which is pure
𝐼 −𝑙
imaginary for any length, 𝑙.

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 Special cases of lossless terminated lines (cont’d)
• The voltage, current, and input reactance for the open-circuited Line
are:

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 Special cases of lossless terminated lines (cont’d)
• Now consider terminated transmission lines with some special lengths.
𝑍𝐿 +𝑗𝑍𝑜 tan 𝛽𝑙
• 𝑍𝑖𝑛 = 𝑍𝑜
𝑍𝑜 +𝑗𝑍𝐿 tan 𝛽𝑙
• If 𝑙 = 𝜆𝑔 Τ2, 𝑍𝑖𝑛 = 𝑍𝐿 . This means that a half-wavelength line (or any
multiple of 𝜆𝑔 Τ2) does not alter or transform the load impedance,
regardless of its characteristic impedance.
• If the line is a quarter-wavelength long or, more generally, 𝑙 = 𝜆𝑔 Τ4 +
𝑛 𝜆𝑔 Τ2, for n =1, 2, 3, . . . . The input impedance is given by:
o 𝑍𝑖𝑛 = 𝑍𝑜2 Τ𝑍𝐿 .
o It is known as a quarter-wave transformer because it has the effect of
transforming the load impedance in an inverse manner, depending on
the characteristic impedance of the line.
𝑍𝑖𝑛 𝑍𝑜
o = ; normalized input impedance=normalized load admittance.
𝑍𝑜 𝑍𝐿
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 Special cases of lossless terminated lines (cont’d)
• A transmission line of characteristic impedance 𝑍𝑜 feeds another
transmission line of different characteristic impedance, 𝑍1 .
o It is infinitely long or terminated in its own characteristic
impedance, so that there are no reflections from its far end.
Then the input impedance seen by the feed line is 𝑍1 .
𝑍1 −𝑍𝑜
o The reflection coefficient is: Γ =
𝑍1 +𝑍𝑜

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 Special cases of lossless terminated lines (cont’d)
• Not all the incident wave is reflected; some is transmitted onto the
second line with a voltage amplitude given by a transmission
coefficient.
• The voltage for 𝑧 < 0 is: 𝑉 𝑧 = 𝑉𝑜+ 𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑧 + Γ𝑒 𝑗𝛽𝑧 , where 𝑉𝑜+ is
the amplitude of the incident voltage wave on the feed line.
• The voltage wave for 𝑧 > 0, in the absence of reflections, is
outgoing only and can be written as: 𝑉 𝑧 = 𝑉𝑜+ 𝑇𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑧 .

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 Special cases of lossless terminated lines (cont’d)
• Equating these voltages at z = 0 gives the transmission coefficient, T ,
as:
𝑍1 −𝑍𝑜 2𝑍1
o 𝑇 =1+Γ= 1+ =
𝑍1 +𝑍𝑜 𝑍1 +𝑍𝑜

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 Decibels and Nepers
• The ratio of two power levels P1 and P2 in a microwave system is
𝑃
expressed in decibels (dB) as: 10 log 2 dB.
𝑃1
• A power ratio of 2 is equivalent to 3 dB, while a power ratio of 0.1 is
equivalent to −10 dB.
• Using power ratios in dB makes it easy to calculate power loss or
gain through a series of components since multiplicative loss or gain
factors can be accounted for by adding the loss or gain in dB for
each stage.
• For example, a signal passing through a 6 dB attenuator followed by
a 23 dB amplifier will have an overall gain of 23 − 6 = 17 dB.

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 Decibels and Nepers (cont’d)
• Decibels are used only to represent power ratios, but if 𝑃1 = 𝑉12 Τ𝑅1
and 𝑃2 = 𝑉22 Τ𝑅2 . Then the resulting power ratio in terms of voltage
ratios is:
𝑉22 𝑅1 𝑉2 𝑅1
o 10 log 2 = 20 log dB, where 𝑅1 and 𝑅2 are the load
𝑉1 𝑅2 𝑉1 𝑅2
resistances, and 𝑉1 and 𝑉2 are the voltages appearing across these
𝑉2
loads. If the load resistances are equal, then: 20 log dB.
𝑉1
• The ratio of voltages across equal load resistances can also be
𝑉
expressed in terms of Nepers (Np) as: ln 2 Np.
𝑉1
1 𝑃2
• The corresponding expression in terms of powers is: ln Np.
2 𝑃1
1 𝑃2 𝑃2
• 1 Np means: ln =1 = 𝑒 2.
2 𝑃1 𝑃1
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 Generator and load mismatches
• Arbitrary generator and load impedances 𝑍𝑔 and 𝑍𝑙 may be
complex.
• The transmission line is assumed to be lossless, with a length 𝑙 and
characteristic impedance 𝑍𝑜 .
• Because both the generator and load are mismatched, multiple
reflections can occur on the line.

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 Generator and load mismatches (cont’d)
• The input impedance looking into the terminated transmission line
from the generator end is:

1+Γ𝑙 𝑒 −2𝑗𝛽𝑙 𝑍𝑙 +𝑗𝑍𝑜 tan 𝛽𝑙

o 𝑍𝑖𝑛 = 𝑍𝑜 = 𝑍𝑜 , where Γ𝑙 is the reflection
1−Γ𝑙 𝑒 −2𝑗𝛽𝑙 𝑍𝑜 +𝑗𝑍𝑙 tan 𝛽𝑙
𝑍𝑙 −𝑍𝑜
coefficient of the load: Γ𝑙 = .
𝑍𝑙 +𝑍𝑜

• The voltage on the line can be written as: 𝑉 𝑧 = 𝑉𝑜+ ൫𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑧 +

Γ𝑙 𝑒 𝑗𝛽𝑧 ൯.
• We can find 𝑉𝑜+ from the voltage at the generator end of the line,
where 𝑧 = −𝑙:
𝑍𝑖𝑛
o 𝑉 −𝑙 = 𝑉𝑔 = 𝑉𝑜+ 𝑒 𝑗𝛽𝑙 + Γ𝑙 𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑙 .
𝑍𝑖𝑛 +𝑍𝑔

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 Generator and load mismatches (cont’d)
𝑍𝑖𝑛 1 𝑍𝑜 𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑙
• Then: 𝑉𝑜+ = 𝑉𝑔 and 𝑉𝑜+ = 𝑉𝑔 ,
𝑍𝑖𝑛 +𝑍𝑔 𝑒 𝑗𝛽𝑙 +Γ𝑙 𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑙 𝑍𝑜 +𝑍𝑔 1−Γ𝑙 Γ𝑔 𝑒 −2𝑗𝛽𝑙
where Γ𝑔 is the reflection coefficient seen looking into the generator:
𝑍𝑔 −𝑍𝑜
o Γ𝑔 = .
𝑍𝑔 +𝑍𝑜

1+ Γ𝑙
• The standing wave ratio on the line is then: SWR =
1− Γ𝑙

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 Power delivered to the load
• The power delivered to the load is:
2
1 ∗ 1 1 1 2 𝑍𝑖𝑛 1
o 𝑃= Re 𝑉𝑖𝑛 𝐼𝑖𝑛 = 𝑉𝑖𝑛 2 Re ∗ = 𝑉𝑔 Re ∗ .
2 2 𝑍𝑖𝑛 2 𝑍𝑖𝑛 +𝑍𝑔 𝑍𝑖𝑛
Now let 𝑍𝑖𝑛 = 𝑅𝑖𝑛 + 𝑗𝑋𝑖𝑛 and 𝑍𝑔 = 𝑅𝑔 + 𝑗𝑋𝑔 .
1 2 𝑅𝑖𝑛
o Then: 𝑃 = 𝑉𝑔 2 2 .
2 𝑅𝑖𝑛 +𝑅𝑔 + 𝑋𝑖𝑛 +𝑋𝑔

• We now assume that the generator impedance, 𝑍𝑔 , is fixed

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 Conjugate Matching
• What is the optimum load impedance?
• What is the optimum input impedance, to achieve maximum power
transfer to the load for a given generator impedance?
• To maximize 𝑃, we differentiate with respect to the real and
imaginary parts of 𝑍𝑖𝑛 .
𝜕𝑃 1 −2𝑅𝑖𝑛 𝑅𝑖𝑛 +𝑅𝑔
• =0→ 2 2 + 2 2 2
= 0, or:
𝜕𝑅𝑖𝑛 𝑅𝑖𝑛 +𝑅𝑔 + 𝑋𝑖𝑛 +𝑋𝑔 𝑅𝑖𝑛 +𝑅𝑔 + 𝑋𝑖𝑛 +𝑋𝑔

2 2
o 𝑅𝑔2 − 𝑅𝑖𝑛 + 𝑋𝑖𝑛 + 𝑋𝑔 =0

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 Conjugate Matching (cont’d)

𝜕𝑃 −2𝑋𝑖𝑛 𝑋𝑖𝑛 +𝑋𝑔

• =0→ 2 2 2
= 0, or: 𝑋𝑖𝑛 𝑋𝑖𝑛 + 𝑋𝑔 = 0.
𝜕𝑋𝑖𝑛 𝑅𝑖𝑛 +𝑅𝑔 + 𝑋𝑖𝑛 +𝑋𝑔

• Then: 𝑅𝑖𝑛 = 𝑅𝑔 and 𝑋𝑖𝑛 = −𝑋𝑔 or 𝑍𝑖𝑛 = 𝑍𝑔∗ .

• This condition is known as conjugate matching, and it results in
maximum power transfer to the load for a fixed generator
impedance.
1 2 1
• The power delivered is: 𝑃 = 𝑉𝑔
2 4𝑅𝑔

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 Conjugate Matching (cont’d)
• This is also the maximum available power from the generator.
• Note that the reflection coefficients Γ𝑙 , Γ𝑔 , and Γ may be nonzero.
• In some cases the power in the multiple reflections on a
mismatched line may add in phase to deliver more power to the
load than would be delivered if the line is flat (no reflections).

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