CHAPTER 2 THE A-C STEADY STATE LINES WITH NO REFLECTION 2.1.The rotating vector.

The most convenient method of handling sinusoidally varying quantities mathematically is to express them in terms of rotating vectors, and then to represent the vectors by means of complex numbers. In transmission line theory it is desirable to use a somewhat more abstract notation than is necessary for the simpler a circuits, and so we shall devote a small amount of time to examining the mathematical basis for this method of representation.

In Fig.2.1 is shown a vector of length whose origin is at O and which rotates counterclockwise with a uniform angular velocity of rad/see. If the vector is horizontal at t = 0, then, after a time t has gone by, the vector will make an angle Wt radians with the horizontal axis. It is not hard to see from the geometry of the figure that the projection of the tip of the rotating vector on any stationary straight line is a point that executes a simple harmonic motion with the amplitude. From a geometrical point of view, it is easies to project on the vertical axis, and this is commonly done in many treatments of a-c circuit theory. However, it will turn out to be more convenient for our present purposes if we project instead on the horizontal axis. From the trigonometry of the figure, it is evident that the projection on this axis is given by. e = cos wt The cosine function will go through one complete cycle for each revolution of the generating vector. The period T is the amount of time during which t changes by 2 radians; i.e., T= 2/ sec. The frequency, or number of cycles per second, is the reciprocal of this, or f=

the properties of the complex number , where it is a real number and j =1. Eulers formula states that.

The quantity is often called the angular frequency to distinguish it from f. Next, we examine

 = cos + j sin (2.2) Therefore, is a complex number with the real part cos and the imaginary part sin . Now refer to Fig. 2.2, which shows a vector of unit length drawn on the complex plane so that it makes an angle with the real axis. Obviously the real and imaginary components of this vector are cos and sin , respectively, which are precisely the components of . Therefore, we now have a geometrie representation for ; it is a unit vector on the complex plane and makes an angle with the real axis. In the symbolic notation sometimes used, = 1/ If we now let the angle a increase uniformly with time, we shall haven unit rotating vector. If the vector starts in the horizontal position at t = 0 and rotates with an angular velocity (radians per second), its angle at any moment will be = t radians. The unit rotating vector will be expressed algebraically as. = cos + j sin (2.3) The projection of the tip of this rotating vector on the horizontal axis (the axis of reals) is the function cos wt, as can be seen from the diagram. An equivalent statement is that the real component of is cos wt, and, looking back at Eq. (2.3), we see that this is indeed true. The shorthand notation that is frequently used is the following: Cos t = Re[ ] (2.4) Where the symbols Re is read the real part of. The imaginary part of is sin wt, and this would do quite as well in our analysis, but, algebraically, it seems more natural to take the real part. This is why we preferred at the beginning of this treatment to project our rotating vectors on the horizontal axis. Now, we can represent the rotating vector of Fig.2.1a algebraically in terms of complex numbers as , and its projection on the real axis [compare Eq. (2.1)] as e = Re[ ]

(2.5)

There are several reasons for following this curious procedure. First, it is much more convenient to represent a sinusoidally varying quantity by a vector (or by its associated complex number) than by the trigonometric expression. The advantage becomes more apparent as the number of sinusoidal quantities (perhaps currents and voltage) in a given problem becomes greater. A second reason is the mathematical simplification introduced in taking derivatives of the exponential does not change its mathematical form when differentiated. For example, the derivative with respect to time of Eq. (2.1) is

= - sin t (2.6)

On the other hand, the derivative of the exponential form (2.5) is

= Re[ ] (2.7)

Which represents a vector of starts in the vertical position at t = 0. It is not hard to see that the projection of this rotating vector on the horizontal axis is an negative sine function with an amplitude , which checks with Eq. (2,6). To show algebraically that the two expressions are identical, we apply Eulers formula to Eq (2.7) and write.

= -

= Re[ cos ]

= Re[ cos ]

It is common practice to omit the symbol re and to write simply. e = (2.8) And

= j (2.9)

However, when this is done, one must not lose sight of the fact that the instantaneous variation of e is given by the projection of the rotating vector on the axis of reals, a fact that is not indicated explicitly in Eqs. (2,8) and (2,9).

A sinusoidally varying quantity e, which leads the foregoing one by an angle a can be expressed as. = cos ( (2.10) or as = Re[ ] = Re[ ] (2.11) or simply as = (2.12) The complex quantity = / represents the vector in its position at t =0. To illustrate an elementary application of the foregoing method, consider a circuit containing an inductance L and a resistance R in series. An emf e = cos t is appied to the circuit and we wish to find the steady state alternating current that results. The voltage drop across the inductance is L di/dt and that across the resistance is Ri. The sum of the two is equal to the impressed voltage: L + Ri = (2.13) Let us write cos t as Re ( ) and then omit the symbol Re. Similarly, weshall write the current as I = Re ( ) where I m is a complex, or vector current whose length is equal to the maximum value of the current i. Making these substitutions into Eq. (2.13) and taking the indicated derivative, we obtain the relation. (j = (2.14) Canceling on both sides and solving for the complex current , we obtain
=

(2.15) or

/- / (2.16)

The quantity R + jwl is, of course, the complex impedance of the circuit.Equation (2.16) gives the current vector in its position at t = 0. Usually, the algera stops at this point, for we have foundthe essential information, namely, the magnitude of the current and its phase angle with respect to the voltage. But wi should not lose sight of the fact that the instantaneous current in the circuit is not given directly by Eq. (2.16). Instead, we must imagine the vector to torate at the angular speed w and take its projection. Algebraically this is done by writing i = Re[ ] (2.17) Which, after substituting from Eq. (2.16), expanding, and taking the real part, becomes I=

cos

(2.18) In all the development w far, we have referred to the maximum value of the sinusoidal wave, Em. For a sinusoid, the effective value E is related to the maximum value by Em = V2E. If both sides of Eq. (2.10) are divided by v2, the result will be expressed in terms of the effective value of current and voltage: I=

/- / (2.19)

This contains the same essential information as the previous expression, namely, the magnitude of the current (now in rms amperes) and its phase angle with respect to the voltage. The equations of circuit theory are usually written in this way because of the convenience of using rms values. Again, however, a word of caution is in order. If we wish to obtain a true picture og the instantaneous current in the circuit, it is now necessary to multiply the expression (2.19) by v2 before we rotate the vector and take its projection, or, algebraically speaking, before we multiply by e wt and take the real part. For a further discussion of this subject, the reader should refer to the literature1. 2.2. A.C Steady-state Solution for the Uniform Line.

See, for example, R. H. Frazier, Elementary Electric Circuit Theory chap. IV, McGraw Hill company, inc., New York, 1945; E.A. Guillemin, Communication Network, Vol. I, chap. III, John Wiley & Sons, inc., New York, 1931; W.C. Johnson, Mathematical And Physical Principles of Engineering Analisys, chap. VII, Mc Graw Hill Book Company inc., New York 1944;, MIT Staff, Electric Circuit, chap. IV, John Willey & Sons. Inc., New York, 1940.

In the preceding chapter we derived the partial differential equations which apply to the uniform line under both transient and steady state conditions, and we used these equations that apply under steady state sinusoidal conditions can be found in either of two ways: they can be derived from the more general partial differential equations (1.2) and (1.3), or they can be found by writing the steady state relations that must hod across an infinitesimal cection of line. We shall first show how the steady state can be derived from the partial differential equations, and shall then show that the second method yields the same result as the first. from Eqa. (1.2) and (1.3) we have.

= -Ri - L

and

(2.20) = -Ge - C

As outlined in the preceding section, we shall express the steady state sinusoidal voltages and currents on the line as the projection of rotating vectors, thus, e = Re[ ] and i = Re[ ] Where and are the complex amplitudes of the voltage and current, respectively, and is 2 times the frequency of the driving source. Observe that and will vary along the line and, therefore, will have derivatives with respect to . Substituting Eqs. (2.21) into the differential equations (2.20), taking the indicated derivatives, and cancelling , we obtain

(2.21)

= - R - j

and

(2.22) = - G - j

values E and I are related to the amplitudes and by = 2 and = 2. Making this substitution, we obtain

Total derivatives are now used because there is only one independent variable, x. the effective

= - (R + j)I (2.23) = - (G + j)E

and

These relations could also have been deduced from a consideration of the a-c steady state circuit properties of the small section of line as visualized in fig. 1.3. The change in voltage across a section of length , which is expressed as x, is caused by the current I flowing through the series impedance of the section, R x + jL x. The minus sign is used because a positive value of I causes E to decrease with increasing x. Similarly, the change in current between the two ends of the section is caused by the voltage E acting on the shunt admittance G x + jC x. It is usual in transmission line theory to denote the a-c series impedance per unit length of line the symbol Z and the shunt admittance by the letter Y: Z = R + j ohms per unit length and Y = G + j mhos per unit length The differential equations (2.23) can then be written more compactly as

(2.24)

= -ZI (2.25)

and

= -YE (2.26)

We now have two equations with two unknowns, E and I. To eliminate I, we take the derivative of the first equation with respect to x and obtain

Into this we substitute the expression for from Eq. (2.26) and obtain

= (YZ)E

(2.27) The solution must be a function which, when differential twice, yields the original function multiplied by the quantity YZ. One form of this solution is E =

+ (2.28)

Where the As are constants with the dimensions of voltage. To find the corresponding expression for I, substitute the above result into Eq. (2.25). Then we obtain I=

(2.29)

symbol , as in Chap. 1.

= ohms. This is the characteristic impedance of the line. We shall denote it by the = =

The quantity is a characteristic of the line and has the dimensions of an impedance :

For lines with negligible loss, the characteristic impedance reduces to , which is a pure resistance independence of frequency (compare Sec. 1.5). Observe that the characteristic impedance does not involve the length of the line is the character of the terminating load, but is determined only by the characteristic of the line per unit length. Observe also that it is not an impedance that the line itself possesses. It will be shown later be equal to regardless of the length of the line. This is the principal significance of the characteristic impedance.

that a load impedance equal to is the only one which will cause no reflection of a received wave, and that, for this termination only, the steady state a-c sending end impedance of the line will

Reffering again to Eqs. (2.28) and (2.29), the quantity is seen to govern the manner in which E and I vary with x; i.e., it governs the way in which the waves are propagated. Therefore, it is given the name propagation constant. It will be denoted by the symbol . Actually, is a function of frequency and might better be called the propagation function. Explicitly, = = (2.31)

The propagation constant will, in general, be a complex number. The real part is given the symbol and is found to determine the way in which the waves die out, or attenuate, as they travel. Hence the real part is called the attenuation constant. The imaginary part of is given symbol and is found to determine the variation in phase of E and I along the line. For this reason is called the phase constant. The unit of is called the neper per unit length, and the unit of is the radian per unit length. The word neper is a variation of the spelling of the name Napier. Example. Consider a typical open wire telephone line which has R = 10 ohms/mile, L = 0.0037 henry/mile, C = 0.0083 x 10 farad/mile, and G = 0.4 x 10 mho/mile. At a frequency of 1,000 cps, we have from Eq. (2.30) : = =

= ..

= 69711.40 = 683 j 138 ohms

.. . .

= 48.5 10 22.8

From Eq. (2.31) the propagation constant at this frequency is = = 25.366.8 52.1 10 89.6 = 0.036378.2 = 0.0074 + j0.0356 per mile Therefore, the attenuation constant is C = 0.0074 neper/mile And the phase constant is = 0.0356 rad/mile 2.3. The Line with NO Reflection. The simplest line from a mathematical viewpoint is one on which there is no reflected wave. This condition would be obtained on a hypothetical smooth line of infinitive length, for no reflection could ever return from the far end. We shall also show that a similar condition is obtained for a line terminated in its characteristic impedance. Consider the general solution (2.28) in connection with an infinitive line (see Fig. 2.3a). the second term of the solution involves a positive exponent and would tend toward infinity as x increased. This is physically impossible from an energy standpoint; hence, must be zero. We can = 13.2 10 156.4

evaluate the constant in terms of the sending end voltage by substituting x = 0 and E = into the solution, thus obtaining (since = 0) =

Using this, the solution (2.28) can be written as E = (2.32) In the preceding section we defined the propagation constant = and its real and imaginary parts and . In terms of these, we can write E = = /- (2.33) We obtain the corresponding solution for current from eq. (2.29) by using 0, which yields I =

(2.34) Upon comparison with eq. (2.33), we see that the current and voltage at every point on the infinite line are simply by. I=

(2.35) This expression applies, of course, to the sending end of the line as well as to all other points. Hence, the sending end, or input, impedance of the infinite line is equal to its characteristic impedance

10

Now suppose that we cut the infinite line any point x = l, as indicated in fig. 2.3. the line to the right of the cut is still infinite in length an has an input impedance equal to . So far the section to the left of the cut is concerned, the infinite portion to the right can be replace by a lump receiving end impedance equal to the finite section will still behave as though it were infinite in length, and the solution (2.33), (2.34) and (2.35) will still apply. The sending end impedance of the line will be equal to regardless of the length l. for low loss lines this impedance is nearly a pure resistance independent of frequency (/ ; hence, moderate changes in frequency will not affect the load voltage or power appreciably.

A line terminated in its characteristic impedance is sometimes called a correctly terminated or nonresonant line. On a line so terminated, energy flows from the generator, travel down the line in the form of a wave, and from a circuit standpoint, should all be absorbed by the load without reflection. From the point of view of traveling electric and magnetic fields, it can be seen that a lumped load impedance will not supply on continuation of the fields as did the infinite line. However, the circuit theory is a quite accurate except when the conductor spacing is an appreciable part of a quarter wave length beyond the load. The theory of this is discussed in chap. 6. The solution (2.33) and (2.34) have been given in terms of the sending end voltage of the line, although, as suggested in fig. 2.3, the open circuit voltage of the generator and its internal impedance may be known instead. The sending end voltage can be found by the solving the equivalent sending end circuit of fig. 2.4, in which the line is replaced by an equivalent lumped impedance equal to . When has been computed, eqs. (2.33) and (2.34) can be used to find the voltage and current at any point on the line. The power transmitted down the line at any point can be computed from the relation P = |E| . |I| cos , where V is the phase angel the characteristic impedance, or by || , when is the resistive component . For the low loss lines, is very nearly a pure resistance, an which case cos 1 and . Example. Consider an open wire telephone line which is 200 miles in length and terminate in its characteristic impedance at the receiving end. At the sending end, it is driven by generator which has a frequency of 1,000 cps, an open circuit emf of 10 volts rms, and an internal impedance of 500 ohms resistance. At this frequency the line has = 683 j138 ohms and 0.0074 + j0.0356 per mile. Find the sending end voltage, currnet,and power, and the receiving end voltage, current, and power. Using the equivalent sending circuit of fig. 2.4 wit = 10 volts, = 500 + j0 ohms, and = = 683 + j138 ohms, we can solve for

11

the magnitude of the sending end current2: | |

8.40 10 amp rms

||

The magnitude of the sending end voltage is | | | | 8.40 10 683 138 5.58 The average power entering the sending end of the line is | | 8.40 10 683 48.2 10 watt = 48.2 mw

For the receiving end voltage we use eq. (2.33) with x equal to the length of the line. Then, arbitrarily taking to be real, we have 5.85 . .

1.33 . 1.33 /-7.12 radians = 1.33 /-408 volts The magnitude of the receiving end voltage is 1.33 volts rms. The line is 7.12/2 = 1.134 wavelengths long, and the receiving end voltage lags that of the sending end by 1.134 cycles. In so far as the phase position of the receiving end voltage is concerned, we can substract 2 radians or 360 without changing the result, thus giving 1.33 /-0.84 radian 1.33 /-48 1.33 1.91 10 697

The magnitude of the receiving end current is | |

The average value of the power absorbed by the terminating impedance is | | 1.91 10 683
In this text, we have been using the italic symbols E, I, and Z to represent the complex, or vector, voltage, current, and impedance. Theirs magnitudes, or absolute values, will be indicate by placing the symbols between vertical bars. Thus: |E|, |I|, and |Z|.
2

12

 2.49 10 2.49 2.4. The Travelling Wave and Its Characteristics. Equations (2.33) and (2.34) show that, on a line terminated in is characteristic impedance, that voltage and current decrease exponentially in amplitude by the factor as the distance from the generator increases. This is caused by the line losses, which absorb energy from the wave as it travels. A second important effect is the progressively increasing lag in phase as x increases, as shown by the factor = rumus. This lag is caused by the finite time required for the wave to travel the distance x. The traveling wave on the line can be expressed most neatly by using the method of Sec. 2.1 for obtaining instantaneous values: First express Eq. (2.33) in terms of the maximum value, then multiply by the unit rotating vector , and finally take the real part of the resulting expression. If we take E, to be real, this process gives us 2 2

or 2 cos (2.36) Now, we can follow the same reasoning regarding traveling waves that we used in Chap. 1. Imagine that an observer is following the wave cos so that he stays with a point of constant phase, for which the angle . To find the velocity of the point, we take the time derivative of this expression and obtain. 0

But / is the velocity we desire (the phase velocity) and this is seen to be

(2.37) It should be observed that this is the velocity at which the steady state a-c wave and its accompanying electric and magnetic fields are propagated, but it is not the velocity of the electrons in the wire. The electrons may be visualized as executing an oscillatory motion as shown in Fig. 2.5 (this motion is superimposed on their usual random velocity). The phase of the oscillation lags in the direction of motion of the wave, and this gives rise to a sinusoidal distribution of charge which apparently travels along the wire, as suggested in the illustration. The portions marked A are regions

13

of deficiency of charge, and one marked B is a region of excess charge. The charged regions travel to the right with the phase velocity. An analogous situation is the propagation of sound, which travels at about 1,100 ft/sec in air at sea level. The actual motion of the air molecules, however, is only a sinusoidal one, and the velocity of an individual molecule is not comparable with the velocity of propagation of the wave. . The velocity / in this case is simply For a line with negligible losses, Eq. (2.31) becomes merely ; i.e., 0 and (2.38) As mentioned in Sec. 1.5, the product LC perfect conductors immersed in a loseless dielectric is a constant which depends only on the dielectric constant and the permeability of the dielectric. For air the velocity turns 1

14

out to be approximately 3 10 /. A solid dielectric will increase C and thus reduce that velocity. This effect is frequently expressed in terms of a velocity constant:

(2.39)

A low-loss coaxial line with a solid dielectric may have a velocity constant of about 0.6 or 0.7. As shown by Eq. (1.1), the wavelength for a given frequency is reduced by the same factor as the phase velocity. Figure 2.6 shows a traveling wave of voltage on a lossy line at three successive instants of time, as plotted from Eq. (2.36). The amplitude of the wave diminishes exponentially by the factor as it travels. The accompanying current wave will be similar in form but will be out of phase with the voltage by an amount equal to the angle of Zo, / . The transmitted power will decrease down the line by the factor

slides past, and will have an amplitude 2 and an rms value . The phase lags progressively down the line; for instance, a quarter wavelength from the generator the voltage lags by a quarter of a cycle, or 90 . The phase lag at any point with respect to the input is radians. The wavelength is equal to the distance between successive crests of the wave at any moment; i.e., it is equal to the change in x which makes the angle inerease by 2 radians. Therefore, 2 and 2

The instantaneous voltage at any point on the line will vary sinusoidally as the traveling wave

(2.40) Comparison with Eq.(2.37) shows that the phase velocity and wavelength are related by 2

2.41)

15

This relation was first stated in Chap. 1, Eq. (1.1). As an exercise, the student should return to the example given in the preceding section and show that the phase velocity was 176,200 miles/sec and the wavelength 176.2 miles. The variation of rms voltage and current along a line is sketched in Fig. 2.7. When the over all losses are small, the factor Is nearly unity, and if the line is terminated in , the current and voltage will be practically uniform in magnitude over the whole length. Such a line is said to be flat

Figure 2.8 is a polar representation of the vector along the length of a lossy line. The locus of F is a logarithmic spiral, of the magnitude decreases exponentially with increasing angle. At this point the student should review in his mind the process by which any one of these vectors can be translated into the corresponding instantaneous line-to-line voltage. 2.5. Note on Characteristic Impedance. Figure 2.9 show a symmetrical four-terminal T network composed of lumped elements. Network theory shows that there is one particular value of receiving-end impedance which will cause , to be precisely equal to . This particular impedeance is called the characteristic impedance of the network. It is not harl to show that for a symmetrical T network the characteristic impedance is given by 4 (4.42) where , is the total series impedance of the section and , is the impedance of the shunt branch. A simple numerical example which involves only resistances is shown in Fig. 2.10. Here we have 10 , 20 , and so the characteristic impedance is

16

 10 20

10 15 0 4

Any number of identical sections can be connected in cascade to form a uniform ladder network, as shown in Fig. 2.10b. If the last section is terminated in , its input impedance will be , as the student can show by combining resistances in series and parallel in Fig. 2.10. This will terminate the next-to-last section in , and so on through the network. Consequently, the sending end impedance of the whole combination is equal to the characteristic impedance. For this reason the more descriptive name iterative impedance is often used in the theory of four-terminal networks. Suppose that the T network of Fig. 2.9 is to represent a small length of transmission line, in which case

As mis made smaller to approximate a smooth line more closely, the product will remain constant while the quantity will vanish. In the limit, Eq. (2.42) will yield / , which is the expression previously derived for the smooth line. 2.6. The Decibel and the Neper. We have shown previously that, on a line terminated in its characteristic impedance, the magnitudes of both voltage and current decrease as , where is the real part of the propagation constant . The unit of is the neper per unit length. Consider two points 1 and 2 separated by a distance on a properly terminated line. The ratios of the magnitudes of E and I at the two points are

(2.43) The quantity represents the total attenuation, measured in nepers, of the traveling wave between the two points. Taking the logarithm to the base of both sides of Eq.(2.43), we obtain an expression for the number of nepers of attenuation:

(2.44) This definition, expressed in terms of the natural logarithm, explains the association of Napiers name with the unit

17

A logarithmic scale for the measurement of current or voltage is highly convenient in a transmission system. Figure 2.11 shows two four-terminal networks (perhaps transmission lines) which are connected in cascade. The attenuation in nepers through the separate networks will be denoted by and , where

and

The total attenuation through the combination is by adding the attenuations of the separate networks: which, by the rule of adding logarithms, becomes

Thus, the addition of the logarithmic attenuations is equivalent to multiplying the voltage ratios. The convenience of this method becomes greater as more and more networks are added in cascade. Another reason for using a logarithmic scale is that, within wide limits, the human senses follow a similar law. Thus, the minimum perceptible change in sound intensity that the ear can perceive is roughly proportional to the amount of sound already present. A second logarithmic unit which is frequently used is the decibel, abbreviated db. The decibel is one-tenth the size of the bel, which was named in honor of Alexander Graham Bell. The decibel is defined fundamentally in terms of a power ratio: 10

(2.45)

18

If the powers and are associated with equal impedance, as would be the case on a transmission line terminated in its characteristic impedance, the power ratio can be expressed as the square of either the voltage or the current ratio. Under these conditions, 20 20

(2.46) The decibel is a unit of convenient size. A change in level of 3 db corresponds very nearly to a power ratio of two; and 10 db correspond to a power ratio of 10. A change in sound power of 1 db is roughly the minimum change that is perceptible by the human ear. The advantage of a logarithmic scale and the convenient size of the decibel have given rise to a tendency to express voltage ratios in terms of decibels even when the impedances are different at the two points. This usage is most common in connection with cascaded voltage amplifiers in which the voltage ratio is of primary interest, and amounts to replacing the definitions of eq. (1.45) by a new one, namely, 20 | /|. The two definitions are not equivalent except when the impedance level is the same at both points, and confusion may arise if the usage is not made clear. The student should show that, in a system having the same impedance level at two points in question, an attenuation of 1 neper is equivalent to 8.686 db. 2.7. Variation of , , and with Frequency. The characteristic impedance of a uniform line is given by eq. (2.30) as (2.47) / . This may be a somewhat variable quantity on an open wire line, for G will depend to a large extent on the amount of moisture present on the insulators. compare wit , giving a high frequency characteristic impedance very nearly equal to / . At zero frequency, i.e., with steady state direct current, the characteristic impedance reduces to

As the frequency increases, G becomes negligible compared with , and R becomes negligible

19

On lines with good insulation the ratio G/C is much smaller than R/L, and so G becomes negligible at a much lower frequency than R. if , eq. (2.47) can be written more simply as 1

(2.48) resistive component approaches the high frequency value / rather rapidly, while the reactive component tends toward zero more slowly. The dashed portions of the curve indicate roughly the effect of the neglegted conductance at the lowest frequencies. A typical open wire telephone line, composed of two No. 10 AWG copper wire spaced 12 in. apart, has the following constants: 10.2 /, 0.00367 /, and 0.00821 10 /. The leakage conductance of an open wire line is greatly affected by the amount of moisture present. We shall use 0.3 10 /, which is an approximate dry weather value for aline in good condition. On this line the reactance is equal to the resistance R at an angular frequency / 2,780 /, or 442 . This frequency, therefore, will correspond to / 1 in fig. 2.12. The approximate formula (2.48) fails at the lower frequencies where G becomes appreciable compared with . For this line, G is equal to C at a frequency of about 6 cps. The propagation constant for the uniform line is, from Eq. (2.31), The resistive and reactive componenets of this are plotted in fig. 2.12 as functions of /. The

20

 (2.49) The zero-frequency limit of is simply . This, being real, is an attenuation constant; the phase constant is zero. As the frequency increases, we finally obtain and . Under these condition we can expand Eq. (2.49) by the binomial theorem and retain only the fire two terms, i.e., we use / / //2 for . Then we ebtain / / / / / / 2 2

Upon expansion and neglect of the small term involving the product RG, the high-frequency propagation constant is found to be

(2.50)

Since for high frequencies, we now have

2 2 (2.51)

and, as for the lossless line, (2.52) In Eq. (2.51), the term /2 is the attenuation caused by energy losses in the conductors, while /2 is the attenuation caused by energy losses in the insulation.

General expressions for and can be found by the following process: Square both sides of Eq. (2.49), separate the result into two equations by equating reals to reals and imaginaries to imaginaries, and then solve for and . This process yields the rather cumbersome expressions

21

and

These equations can be used to study in detail the variation of and with frequency. Figures 2.13 and 2.14 show graphs of and vs angular frequency as calculated for the typical open-wire telephone line mentioned

1 2

(2.53)

previously. Although only the comparatively low-frequency region is shown (0 to 478 cps), both and are already seen to be approaching their high-frequency asymptotes. 2.8. The Distortionless Line. The complex signals that are encountered in communications practice can be resolved by the Fourier analysis into sinusoidal components3. In linear systems, such as those we are considering, each of these components can be treated separately by the steady-state sinusoidal theory. When a complex signal is impressed on a transmission system, the received wave will be of the same form as the transmitted one only if all components are attenuated equally and if they all travel at the same velocity. The first requirement for zero distortion is, therefore, an attenuation constant that is independent of frequency. Second, to make the phase velocities / equal at all frequencies, the phase constant must be linearly proportional to frequency. In general, these conditions are not

22

of frequency: .

Satisfied, for and are, respectively, the real and imaginary parts of a rather complicated function A distortionless line is obtained, however, if the constants of the line have the following relation:

(2.54)

Under these conditions, the propagation constant reduces simply to (2.55)

The phase velocity is simply 1/ For all frequencies. The lossless line is a special case of this, for the condition R = G = 0 satisfies Eq.(2.54). ( 2) equal electric and magnetic energies associated with a traveling wave, and (3) equal energy lesses in the resistance and leakage conductance of the line. The last two conditions hold, of course, only for a single traveling wave and not for the superposition of two oppositely traveling waves. The student should show that a distortionless line has (1) a characteristic impedance equal to

The line is distortionless, for is independent of frequency and B varies linearly with frequency.

A condition of low distortion is particularly important for lines in which the ration of the highest to the lowest frequency is rather large, as it is in telephone lines. On most transmission lines the energy loss in the resistance of the conductors is greater than the loss in the insulator; that is,

23

/ is larger than /. (Exceptions to this occur when solid dielectrics are used in the ultra-highfrequency region, where the dielectric loss may be quite high) The representative open-wire telephone line mentioned in the preceding section had / 2,780 and 36.5. Even more extreme is the telephone cable, in which the clo-e proximity of the conductors causes the capacitance to be quite high and the inductance low. Typical constants for a cable are 60 , 0.001 /, 0.060 10 /, and 2 10 /, givinf / 60.000 and / 33. It is not ordinarily desirable to increase G artificially, as this will greatly increase the attenuation. On the other hand, a reduction of R to satisfy Eq. (2.54) will require wires of unusually large diameter. To a certain extent, L can be increased and C reduced by a larger spacing between conductors, but there are practical limits to this. The inductance can also be increased by the process known as inductive loading, which is described in the next section. In practice, a certain amount of distortion can be tolerated, and a true distortionless line is rarely attempted. 2.9. Inductive Loading. On some types of transmission lines, the inductance is increased over its normal value either by wrapping the conductors with a high-permeability metal tape or by inserting inductance coils at uniform intervals. This is called inductive loading. Since G/C is usually smaller than R/L, an increased inductance will make the line approach more nearly a distortionless condition, with the result that the characteristic impedance of frequency. Usually, however, the most desired effect of inductive loading is the reduction in attenuation that it produces. This will now be investigated, assuming for the moment that the added inductance is uniformly distributed so that the smooth-line formulas will apply. In Sec. 2.7 it was shown that the high-frequency limit of x is

When / /, the first term of Eq. (2.56) will be larger than the second, indicating that eonductor losses contribute the major portion of the attenuation. An incrense in L will reduce the first term and increase the second by the same factor, but up to the point where the two terms are equal, the net effect will be a reduction in the high-frequency limit of x. Physically, this means that

(2.56)

an increased L will raise the high-frequency characteristic impedance , and thus a smaller current will be required for a given transmitted power, resulting in lower I R losses. A higher voltage will be required and this will increase the insulation losses, but, so long as these remain the minor portion, the net effect will be a gain. As an example, consider the line for which Fig. 2.13 was plotted. With out loading, the two terms of Eq. (2.56) are, respectively, 7.63 10 and 0,10 10 neper /mile, indicating that the copper loss is 76 times as great as the loss in the insulators. If L were increased by a factor of 4 with no change in the other constants of 0.20 10, giving a total attenuation constant of 4.02 10

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the zero-frequency intercept . The line would then be distortionless. If L is inereased beyond this point, the second term of Eq.(2.56) dominates and the high-frequency asymptote of x increases. Inductive loading is much more necessary for telephone cables than for open-wire lines because of the inherently low inductance and high capacitance of the cable. The limitations of space within the cable sheath make desirable a smaller wire than is commonly used on open-wire lines, thus causing a higher resistance. The normal inductance is low because of the proximity of the conductors, and the presence of solid insulation contributes to the high capacitance. As a result, the conductor loss dominates by a large factor. The attenuation and phase velocity vary widely within the audio range, and the high-frequency asymptote of attenuation is quite high. Inductive loading is, therefore, in general use on cable lines.

neper/mile, which is smaller than before. Referring again to Fiq. 2.13, the greatest possible improvement would be obtained by reducing the high-frequency asymptote to the same value as

An audio-frequency transmission line can be smoothly loaded by wrapping the conductors with a high-permeability metal tape. However, this method of construction is quite expensive and is used principally on submarine cables where other methods are impractical. Cable lines on land are lumploaded with inductance coils spaced at uniform intervals. A disadvantage of this method is that the lumped inductances in the line give rise to a low-pass filter effect which distorts the higher frequencies. This effect is re4duced as the coils are placed conser together in a better approximation to a smooth line. From physical reasoning, it can be seen that there must be at least several coils per half wavelength at the highest desired frequency if the line is to behave with a reasonable approximation to smoothness. In the past it was common practice to load open-wire telephone lines to reduce their attenuation. However, the loading had a variable effect which depended on the leakage conductance as determined by moisture on the insulators. Also, the increasing requirements on high-frequency response would have made necessary a rather small spacing and vacuum-tube amplifiers are inserted at intervals frequent enough to keep the signals from being attenuated into the noise level from which they could not be recovered.

2.10. Phase and Group Velocities. In Sec. 24 we discussed the phase velocity, which is the velocity of a point of constant phase on a sinusoidal traveling wave. As was shown in Eq. (2.37), this is given by the relation

(2.57) where we now use the subscript p to distinguish this velocity from another that we shall discuss in a moment.

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When a complex signal is impressed on a transmission system which has a phase function B that is not linearly proportional to frequency, the various sinusoidal components of the signal will have different phase velocities and the wave will change shape as it travels along. Under these conditions, the signal cannot be said to travel at any one velocity. A particularly simple situation with regard to velocities is obtained in the important case of a signal which has all its sinusoidal components grouped closely together in frequency. An example of this kind of wave is an amplitude-modulated signal, in which the amplitude of a sinusoidal carrier is varied in proportion to the instantaneous value of a low-frequency signal. One of the components of such a wave has a frequency equal to that of the carrier itself. Each of the frequencies in the original signal produces two side-band components, one below and the other above the carrier by the amount of the modulating frequency4. If this set of voltages is impressed on a transmission system, it is found that the envelope of the wave, which has the same shape as the original signal, travels at one velocity, while the actual wave which is enclosed within the envelope travels at another velocity. Consider, for simplicity, an amplitude-modulated wave which has only two side bands. The amplitude of the carrier will be denoted by Ev, its angular frequency by w, and the phase constant of the transmission line at this frequency by B. The amplitude of each side band will be denoted by E2, their frequencies by and , respectively, and the eorresponding phase constants by and . The traveling wave consisting of these there components can be written as (2.58)

cos cos cos

If we expand the expressions for the side-band voltages by the trigonometric identity cos ( a + b) = cos a cos b sin a sin b and then collect terms, we obtain 2 cos cos (2.59)

See F.E Terman, Radio Enginnering, 3d ed., secs. 1.5 and 9.1, McGraw Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1947; M.I.T. Staff, Applied Electronics, pp. 632-638, John Wiley $ Sons, Inc., New York, 1943, or any standard textbook on communication theory

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We can regard the bracketed expression as the amplitude of a traveling wave cos )which moves with the phase velocity /. The amplitude itself varies sinusoidally between the extreme limits 2 and 2 , and, furthermore, it moves along the line with a velocity / . For components grouped closely together, this velocity approaches the derivative /, which is the re4ciprocal of the slope of the phase function. This is the so-called group velocity :

(2.60) which, in general, is different from the phase velocity w/B. Note, however, that for the distortionless case, where , the phase and gropup velocities are both equal to 1/ The picture that we now get of the traveling amplitude-modulated wave is illustrated in Fig. 2.15. The envelope, which is the imaginary curve joining the peaks of the actual wave, moves along the line at the group velocity, while the actual wave, moves along the line at the group velocity, while the actual wave slips through the envelope at the phase velocity5.

In fig. 2.14 was shown a calculated curve of for a representative open wire telephone line. The corresponding phase and group velocities are plotted in fig. 2.16.
5

See H.H. Skilling, Fundamentals of Electric Waves, 2d ed., pp. 228-231, John Wiley $ Sons, Inc., New York, 1948.

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The concept of group velocity losses its usefulness when the components of a wave are spread so widely in frequency that / is not approximately equal to the derivative /. It will be observed that, as in the example plotted in fig, 2.16, the group velocity may exceed the speed of light. However, we are dealing here with a steady state wave which, in theory, has no beginning and no end. Therefore, we cannot tag any of the energy as it enters the transmission system and then identify it as it leaves, and so we cannot draw any final conclusion regarding the velocity with which the actual energy is propagated. For this reason a group velocity greater than that of light does not violate the relativity postulate. We can identify the position of the energy in a signal of short duration, but the Fourier analysis of such a wave shows that the components are widely spaced in frequency. The concept of group velocity then loses its usefulness. Further analysis shows that the wave front of a suddenly applied signal cannot travel faster than light, and the relativity postulate is not violated6.

For a more complete treatment of group velocity, see E.A. Gullemin, Communication Networks, Vol. II, Chap. III, sec. 6, John Wiley & Sons, inc., New York, 1935. For a discussion of group and signal velocities, see J.A. Stratton, Electromagnetic Theory, secs. 5.17 and 5.18, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1941, and R.I Sarbacher and W.A. Edson, Hyper and Ultra High Frequency Enginnering, sec. 5.8, John Wiley $ Sons, Inc., New York, 1943.

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