Communication Theory 3 Propagation movement through a medium Wave disturbance that moves through a medium Wave Motion recurring

ing disturbance advancing through space with or without a medium Wave Propagation the travel of electromagnetic waves or sound waves through a medium, or the travel of a sudden electric disturbance along a transmission line Types of Wave Motion Transverse Waves travels at right angles to the direction of propagation Longitudinal Waves (Compression Waves) travels back and forth in the same direction as the wave motion Two Categories of Transmission Media Guided - Wired system - Uses conductor that provides conduit in which electromagnetic signals are contained Ex: copper cables, pair of wire, coaxial cable, fiber optic Unguided - Wireless system - Emitted then radiated through air or vacuum Ex: Earths atmosphere, free space (vacuum) Metallic Transmission Lines metallic conductor system used to transfer electrical energy from one point to another using electrical current flow Transverse Electromagnetic Waves a TEM propagates primarily in non conductor (dielectric) that separates the two conductors. Electromagnetic waves are produced through acceleration of electric charge. Three Primary Characteristics of Electromagnetic Waves Wave Velocity Frequency Wavelength

Wave Velocity speed of wave that travels Frequency the rate at which the wave repeat itself Wavelength distance of one cycle = c/ Where: = wavelength (meter per cycle) c = velocity of light (3x108 m/s) = frequency (Hertz) Types of Transmission Line Balanced - With two wired, both conductors carry current. One conductor carries signal while the other is a return path. - Signal that travels in opposite direction (metallic circuit current) - Signal that travels in the same direction (longitudinal current) Unbalanced - One wire is at ground potential, other wire at signal potential

ADV: requires only one wire for each signal D-ADV: less immunity noise BALUN (Balanced-UNBALANCED) - Circuit that connects balanced and unbalanced transmission line. Ex: narrowband balun or sleeve Parallel Conductor Lines comprised of two or more metallic conductors separated by non conductive insulating material called dielectric Ex: air, rubber, propylene Most Common Parallel Conductor Transmission Lines Open Wire Transmission Line - Two parallel wires, closely spaced, separated by air - The distance between tow conductors is generally between 2 to 6 inches, the dielectric is air - Radiation losses are high - Crosstalk is present - Used for standard voice grade telephone Twin Lead Transmission Line - Same as open wire transmission line, except the insulating material is a solid dielectric - Commonly used to connect TV to rooftop antenna Twisted Pair Transmission Line - Is formed by twisting two insulated conductors around each other, mostly stranded in units, the units are cabled into cores containing up to 3000 pairs of wire and is covered by sheaths. - Neighboring pairs are sometimes twisted with different pitches (twist length) to reduce the effects of EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) and RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) from external sources (man-made) - Twisting the wires also reduces crosstalk between cable pairs - The size varies from 16-26 gauge (AWG-American Wire Gauge) - The higher the gauge the smaller the diameter and the higher the resistance - Used in telephone networks - Simple to install and relatively inexpensive Two Types of Twisted Pairs Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) - Consists of two copper wires where each wire is separated by PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) insulation - The maximum number of twists for UTP cable is two/foot - Inexpensive, flexible, easy to install - Least expensive transmission medium and most susceptible to noise Shielded Twisted Pair - Parallel two wire transmission line separated by dielectric material - The wires are enclosed in a conductive metal sleeve called Foil - Sleeve is a woven into a mesh called Braid (SLEEVE connected to ground and acts as a shield, preventing signals from radiating beyond their boundaries) - More expensive - Greater immunity noise Metallic Transmission Line Equivalent Circuit Primary Electrical Constant (Distributed Parameters) uniformly distributed throughout the length of line A. Series DC Resistance (R) B. Series Inductance (L)

C. Shunt Capacitance (C) D. Shunt Conductance (G) Lumped Parameters Combined parameters Transmission Characteristics for a maximum power transfer from the source to load; transmission line must be terminated in a purely resistive load equal to the characteristic impedance, Zo, of a transmission line Characteristic Impedance, Zo define as the impedance seen looking into an infinitely long line or the impedance seen looking into a finite line that is terminated in a purely resistive load equal to Zo of the line Zo = (R + jL)/(G + jC) For extremely low frequency, use Zo = R/G For extremely high frequency, use Zo = L/C Characteristic Impedance of a Two Wire Parallel Line Zo = 276log D/r Characteristic Impedance of a Concentric Coaxial Cable Zo = (138/r) log D/d r = Relative dielectric constant of the insulating material Summary of a Transmission Line 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The input impedance of an infinite long line radio frequency is resistive and equal to Zo Electromagnetic waves travel down without reflections, such a line is called non resonant The ratio of the voltage and current at any point along the line is equal to zero The incident voltage and current at any point along the line is in phase Line losses on a resonant line are minimum per unit length Any transmission line that is terminated in purely resistive load equal to Zo acts as if it were an infinite line a. Zi = Zo b. No reflected waves c. V and I are in phase d. There is maximum power transfer

Propagation Constant (Propagation Coefficient) used to express the attenuation (signal loss) and the phase shift per unit length = + j propagation constant (unitless) phase shift coefficient (radians/unit length) attenuation coefficient (meters/unit length) expressing with complex quantity = (R + jL)(G + jC) because a phase shift of 2 rad occurs over a distance of 1

 = 2/ an intermediate and radio frequency, L > R and C > G: = LC Velocity Factor (Velocity Constant), Vf defined by the ratio of the actual velocity of propagation of an electromagnetic wave through a given medium to the velocity of propagation through a vacuum Vf = Vp/c; Vf = 1/ r; r = /o

r dielectric constant of a given material - permittivity of dielectric o peermitivity of air Dielectric Constant relative permittivity of a material T = LC, sec Vp = D/T = D/LC, m/sec If distance is normalized to 1 meter, the velocity of propagation for a LOSSLESS Transmission Line is Vp = 1/LC, m/sec Electrical Length of a Transmission Line - At low freq (long wavelength), the voltage along the line remains constant - At high freq (short wavelength), several wavelengths of the signal maybe present on the line at the same time. Therefore, the voltage along the lines varies - A transmission line is defined as long if its length exceeds 1/16th of a wavelength, otherwise it is considered short Transmission Line Losses 1. Conductor Losses (I2R Power Loss) inherent and unavoidable power loss 2. Dielectric Heating Losses increases with freq caused by difference of potential between 2 conductors 3. Radiation Loss - reduced by properly shielding the cable, directly proportional to freq - depends on dielectric material, conductor spacing and length 4. Coupling Losses discontinuities tend to heat up, radiate energy, dissipate power 5. Corona - luminous discharge that occurs between two conductors of the transmission line when the potential exceeds the breakdown voltage - destroy transmission line (most destructive)