EERF6396

RF Fundamentals
Part II

Prof. R. Lehmann
University of Texas at Dallas
 Transmission Lines

Units for R, L, G, & C

are per unit length
(Ω/m, nH/m, etc.
 Microstrip Transmission Line

h εr
Terminated Lossless Transmission Line

Zin = Input impedance to the loaded line

Zo = Characteristic Impedance of line

ZL = Load Impedance = R +/- jX Ω

Γo = Voltage Reflection Coefficient @ z=0

Voltage Reflection Coefficient
𝑉𝑉 −
Γo = @z=0
𝑉𝑉 +

𝑉𝑉 𝑧𝑧 = 𝑉𝑉 + (𝑒𝑒 −𝛾𝛾𝛾𝛾 + Γ𝑜𝑜 𝑒𝑒 +𝛾𝛾𝛾𝛾 )

𝑉𝑉 +
I 𝑧𝑧 = (𝑒𝑒 −𝛾𝛾𝛾𝛾 − Γ𝑜𝑜 𝑒𝑒 +𝛾𝛾𝛾𝛾 )
𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜

1+Γ𝑜𝑜
Z(0) = ZL = 𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜
1−Γ𝑜𝑜

𝑍𝑍𝐿𝐿 − 𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜
Γ𝑜𝑜 =
𝑍𝑍𝐿𝐿 + 𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜
 Reflection Coefficient Examples

ZL (Ω) Γo
50 0
∞ 1
0 -1
100 0.33
25 -0.33
𝑍𝑍𝐿𝐿 − 𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜
Γ𝑜𝑜 = = Γ𝐿𝐿
𝑍𝑍𝐿𝐿 + 𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜
Propagation Constant and Phase Velocity
Recall: 𝛾𝛾 = 𝛼𝛼 + 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗
2𝜋𝜋
𝛽𝛽 =
𝜆𝜆
For this class we will assume lossless conditions: 𝛼𝛼 = 0

𝑉𝑉 𝑧𝑧 = 𝑉𝑉 + (𝑒𝑒 −𝑗𝑗β𝑧𝑧 + Γ𝑜𝑜 𝑒𝑒 +𝑗𝑗β𝑧𝑧 )

𝑉𝑉 +
I 𝑧𝑧 = (𝑒𝑒 −𝑗𝑗β𝑧𝑧 − Γ𝑜𝑜 𝑒𝑒 +𝑗𝑗β𝑧𝑧 )
𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜

𝜔𝜔
𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣: 𝑣𝑣𝑝𝑝 =
β
 Standing Waves
Loaded Line with Short-circuit Load @ d=0
(note: change of coordinate system)

𝑉𝑉 𝑑𝑑 = 𝑉𝑉 + (𝑒𝑒 +𝑗𝑗β𝑑𝑑 - Γ𝑜𝑜 𝑒𝑒 −𝑗𝑗β𝑑𝑑 )

 Standing Wave Ratio (SWR)
The exponential terms in the previous equation can be replaced with the equivalent sinusoidal term:

(𝑒𝑒 +𝑗𝑗β𝑑𝑑 - Γ𝑜𝑜 𝑒𝑒 −𝑗𝑗β𝑑𝑑 ) = 2jsin βd

Converting to phasor form back into the time domain:

𝑣𝑣 𝑑𝑑, 𝑡𝑡 = 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 𝑉𝑉𝑒𝑒 𝑗𝑗𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 = 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 2𝑗𝑗𝑉𝑉 + sin 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽 𝑒𝑒 𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗

+
𝜋𝜋
= 2𝑉𝑉 sin 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽 cos 𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 +
2

For the short-circuit load at d=0, the sin term is 0, yielding the expected result of the voltage = 0 at the load.

With the new coordinate system,

𝑉𝑉 𝑑𝑑 = 𝑉𝑉 + 𝑒𝑒 +𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽 1 + Γ𝑜𝑜 𝑒𝑒 −𝑗𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽

Γ 𝑑𝑑 = Γ𝑜𝑜 𝑒𝑒 −2𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗
 SWR (cont’d)

𝑉𝑉𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐼𝐼𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 = =
𝑉𝑉𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐼𝐼𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

1 + Γ𝑜𝑜
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 =
1 − Γ𝑜𝑜
 SWR Examples

ZL (Ω) Γo SWR
50 0 1.0
∞ 1 ∞
0 -1 ∞
100 0.33 2.0
25 -0.33 2.0
 Input Impedance of a Loaded Line
Input impedance of a lossless loaded line can be expressed as

𝑉𝑉(𝑑𝑑) 𝑉𝑉 + 𝑒𝑒 𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽 (1 + Γ𝑜𝑜 𝑒𝑒 −2𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽 )

𝑍𝑍𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑑𝑑 = = 𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜 + 𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽
𝐼𝐼(𝑑𝑑) 𝑉𝑉 𝑒𝑒 (1 − Γ𝑜𝑜 𝑒𝑒 −2𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽 )

𝑍𝑍𝐿𝐿 − 𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜 −𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽

𝑒𝑒 𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽 + 𝑒𝑒
𝑍𝑍𝐿𝐿 + 𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜
𝑍𝑍𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑑𝑑 = 𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜
𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽 𝑍𝑍𝐿𝐿 − 𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜 −𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽
𝑒𝑒 − 𝑒𝑒
𝑍𝑍𝐿𝐿 + 𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜

𝑍𝑍𝐿𝐿 𝑒𝑒 𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽 + 𝑒𝑒 −𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽 + 𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜 𝑒𝑒 𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽 − 𝑒𝑒 −𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽

=
𝑍𝑍𝐿𝐿 𝑒𝑒 𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽 − 𝑒𝑒 −𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽 + 𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜 𝑒𝑒 𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽 + 𝑒𝑒 −𝑗𝑗𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽
 Transmission Line Equation

𝑍𝑍𝐿𝐿 cos 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽 + 𝑗𝑗𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜 sin(𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽)

𝑍𝑍𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑑𝑑 = 𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜
𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜 cos 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽 + 𝑗𝑗𝑍𝑍𝐿𝐿 sin(𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽)

Divide through by the cosine term to yield the general transmission line
equation:

𝑍𝑍𝐿𝐿 + 𝑗𝑗𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡(𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽)

𝑍𝑍𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑑𝑑 = 𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜
𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜 + 𝑗𝑗𝑍𝑍𝐿𝐿 tan(𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽)
Short-circuit Load on a Lossless TX Line
Open-circuit Load on a Lossless TX Line
Quarter-wave Transmission Line
Impedance Matching using a λ/4 Transformer
Example:
Assume the transistor presents a purely real
20Ω load to this λ/4 microstrip transformer.
What characteristic impedance, Zline, is
required to “perfectly” match the transistor
to the 50Ω transmission line?

𝑍𝑍𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 = 𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜 𝑍𝑍𝐿𝐿 = 50 ∗ 20 = 31.6Ω

Power on a Transmission Line
 Mismatch Loss
• Power delivered to a transmission line (or any RF component) is
subject to mismatch loss
• Mismatch loss is the amount of relative power reflected due to the
voltage reflection coefficient, Γ, at that RF connection.

+ 2
+ − 1 𝑉𝑉𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
𝑃𝑃𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 𝑃𝑃𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝑃𝑃𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = (1 − Γ𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 2 )
2 𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜

Mismatch Loss Term

at the input plane
 Definition of dB
(relative power)
𝑃𝑃2
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 10 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙
𝑃𝑃1

where P1 and P2 are powers in mW or W

• dB represents the relative difference between two power levels

 Gain (for amplifiers)
 Loss (for passive components)
 Return Loss (dB)

• Return Loss is the ratio of reflected power , Pr, to

incident power, Pi:

𝑃𝑃𝑟𝑟 2
𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = −10 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 = −10 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 Γ
𝑃𝑃𝑖𝑖
Reflection Coefficient, SWR & Return Loss

ZL (Ω) Γo SWR RL (dB)

50 0 1.0 ∞

∞ 1 ∞ 0

0 -1 ∞ 0

100 0.33 2.0 9.6

25 -0.33 2.0 9.6

 Power in dBm
(absolute power)
𝑃𝑃 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 10 log 𝑃𝑃(𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚)

𝑃𝑃(𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑)
𝑃𝑃 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = 10 10

Power (mW) Power (dBm)

1 0
2 3
4 6
10 10
20 13
100 20
1000 30
 Example: Linear Amplifier

Pin = 1 mW Pout = 20 mW
= 0 dBm = 13 dBm

20𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
Gain = 20 𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺 = = 20 𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿
= 13 dB 1𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

20𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺 = 10 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 = 13𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
1𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺 = 13𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 0𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 13𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
Impedance matching for
maximum power transfer
Optimal power transfer requires complex
conjugate matching of the transmission
line to the generator impedance:

𝑍𝑍𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 𝑍𝑍𝐺𝐺∗

Similar condition at the load:

𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 = 𝑍𝑍𝐿𝐿∗
 RF Power Measurement
• Continuous Wave (CW) RF signal
• Device-under-test = DUT Power
Meter
• Power sensor connected to the RF Power
Meter will measure average power
• Power sensor is heat-sensitive Coaxial RF cable

• In the Lab:
• Zero the power meter
Signal
• Calibrate the power sensor Generator Device
Power
Sensor
• Measure length of cable and compute Under
Test
α, attenuation constant, in dB/m, from
your power measurements
 Pulsed Power
𝑇𝑇𝑟𝑟
𝜏𝜏 = 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊 𝑠𝑠
𝜏𝜏
P (W) 𝑇𝑇𝑟𝑟 = 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 (𝑠𝑠)
𝑓𝑓𝑟𝑟 = 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅
𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹
1
𝑓𝑓𝑟𝑟 = 𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻
𝑇𝑇𝑟𝑟

Time (sec)

𝑃𝑃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝜏𝜏
𝑃𝑃𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 = 𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 = = 𝜏𝜏𝑓𝑓𝑟𝑟
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 𝑇𝑇𝑟𝑟
 Example

Pulsed RF Waveform:
τ = 1 µS
Tr = 4 µS
Duty Cycle = 25%
Pavg = 1 W (measured)

1𝑊𝑊
𝑃𝑃𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 = = 4𝑊𝑊
0.25

1 1 5 = 250𝐾𝐾𝐾𝐾𝐾𝐾
𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 = = = 2.5𝑥𝑥10
𝑇𝑇𝑟𝑟 4𝑥𝑥10−6