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LAB 2 : IMPEDANCE MATCHING

1.0 OBECTIVES

To measure the reflected power in an unmatched circuit (ED-3300E) whose one end is
terminated by a certain load, and to learn how to match it by means of the λ/4
converter and the parallel stub (ED-3300F).

2.0 EQUIPMENTS

i. Power supply

ii. VCO

iii. Circulator

iv. Directional coupler

v. Unmatched load

vi. Spectrum analyzer

vii. 50Ω connector

viii. Unmatched load

ix. Stub and λ/4 trainer

x. Wire

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3.0 THEORY

There are always some problem when dealing with the practical implementation of RF
application. One of the common problems is the need to match the difference impedances
of the interconnected blocks. RF impedance matching is important so that the maximum
power can be transferred from the source of RF signal to its load. Two reasons that usually
lead the RF system to this problem is unmatching and reflection.

The line transmission as shown in Figure 1 is transferred without reflection if the load
impedance RL matches the line impedance Zo. If not, part of the wave is reflected.

Figure 1

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The ratio of reflected signal, Vr to incident signal,Vi is which is known as reflection

coefficient is :

Vr / Vi = ( RL - Z0 ) / ( RL + Z0 )

The ratio of reflected power, Pr to incident power,Pi is :

|Γ|2 = Pr / Pi

There are three cases that show the range of values of reflected wave :

Matched Load: RL = Z0 Vr / Vi = 0 No reflection.

Open Load: RL = ∞ Vr / Vi = +1 Full reflection, same polarity.

Shorted Load: RL = 0 Vr / Vi = -1 Full reflection, inverted polarity.

The matching network can be achieved by insertion of another transmission line known as
stub on the line like the figure below:

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The technique is known as stub matching network. The end of the stub line is short-
circuited or open-circuited. Any value of reactance can be made, as the stub length is
varied from zero to half a wavelength. The transmission line realizing the stub is normally
terminated by a short or by an open circuit. The figure below show the short-stub
matching and open-stub matching :

A short circuited stub is less prone to leakage of electromagnetic radiation and easier to
realize. On the other hand, an open circuited stub may be more practical for certain types
of transmission lines, for example microstrips where one would have to drill the insulating
substrate to short circuit the two conductors of the line. Any load impedance can be
matched to the line by using stub matching network. But, if the load is changed, the
location of insertion may have to be moved.

Another impedance matching network is quarter( λ/4 ) wave transformer. It is the

simple and useful circuit for matching a real load impeance to a transmission line. λ/4
wave transformer is consists of a transmission line section of length λ/4 like the figure
below :

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It consists of a quarter-wavelength long section of transmission line of characteristic

impedance Zm, where Zm = (ZoZL)1/2 where ZL is the load impedance and Zo is the
impedance to which you are trying to match. The wavelength in the macthing section
given by :

λ = c/( εreff1/2f ) where εreff is effevtive dielectric, c is speed of light.

When the load impedance and the impedance of the connecting transmission line is
properly matched, Zin = Zo and ρ = 0, where ρ is the reflection coefficient.

ρ = (Zin− Zo) / (Zin + Zo)

Although λ/4 wave transformer can used to match complex impedance in theory, it is
more common to use it to match real impedance. However bear in mind that a complex
load impedance can always be transformed to a real impedance by adding the correct
series or shunt reactive component. At the operating frequency fo, the electrical length of
the matching section is λ/4. But at other frequencies the length is different, so a perfect
match is no longer obtained. The quarter wave transformer has a limited bandwidth, like
other transformation methods.

4.0 PROCEDURE

1) A reference circuit as shown in Figure 1 is constructed.

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Power Spectrum
supply analyzer

VCO Circulator Directional Unmatche

coupler d load

Figure 1

2) Then, the power supply is turned on and set to 12V. The 12V DC supply is
connected to VCO.

3) The stop and start frequency of spectrum analyzer is set to 1.5GHz and 1.7GHz
for 1.6GHz frequency.

4) The waveform resulting at spectrum analyzer which is incident power,P i is

observed and recorded.

5) Step 3 is repeated by varying the frequency to 1.7GHz, 1.8GHz, 1.9GHz and

2.0GHz.

6) After that, to measure the reflected power,Pr for stub matching network and
λ/4 transmission line network, the unmatched load in circuit is replace with
λ/4 and stub trainer.

7) Once again, the stop and start frequency of spectrum analyzer is set to 1.5GHz
and 1.7GHz for 1.6GHz frequency.

8) The reflected power at spectrum analyzer is observed and recorded.

9) Next, step 6 to 8 is repeated by varying the frequency to 1.7GHz, 1.8GHz,

1.9GHz and 2.0GHz for both stub matching network and λ/4 transmission line
network.

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10) The incident power,Pi and reflected power,Pr that we measured is used
to calculate the reflection coefficient, L by using the formula above :

|Γ|2 = Pr / Pi

5.0 RESULTS

Reference circuit :

Frequency (GHz) Incident power, Pi (dBm) Pi (dBm) = 10log (P / 1m)

Pi = antilog (Pi / 10)(1m)
1.6 -2.14 0.61m
1.7 -0.31 0.93m
1.8 -5.61 0.27m
1.9 -1.93 0.64m
2.0 -0.57 0.87m

Stub Matching Network :

Frequency Reflected power, Pr (dBm) = 10log (P / 1m)

|Γ|2 = Pr / Pi =
(GHz) Pr (dBm) Pr = antilog (Pr / 10)(1m)
1.6 -13.16 0.048m 0.079 0.28
1.7 -14.51 0.035m 0.038 0.19
1.8 -15.12 0.031m 0.115 0.34
1.9 -15.32 0.029m 0.045 0.21
2.0 -14.63 0.034m 0.039 0.20

λ/4 Transmission Line Network :

Frequency Reflected power, Pr (dBm) = 10log (P / 1m)

|Γ|2 = Pr / Pi =
(GHz) Pr (dBm) Pr = antilog (Pr / 10)(1m)
1.6 -13.62 0.043m 0.070 0.27
1.7 -15.70 0.027m 0.029 0.17
1.8 -15.38 0.029m 0.107 0.33
1.9 -19.74 0.011m 0.017 0.13

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2.0 -14.40 0.036m 0.041 0.20

6.0 DISCUSSION

This lab session is all about the impedance matching. The load and transmission line need
to perfectly match so that maximum power can be delivered when the load is matched to the
line and power loss in the feed line is minimized. In this lab session, we have exposed to two
method in impedance matching which are stub matching and λ/4 transmission line network.

So, in order to observed whether which method is the best in impedance matching we
need to calculate their reflection coefficient. The reflection coefficient can be calculated by
using this formula :

|Γ|2 = Pr / Pi

To find the incident power, we just connect the power supply to VCO, circulator and
unmatched load. Then, for reflected power we replace unmatched load with stub trainer for
stub matching and λ/4 trainer for λ/4 transmission line network. After that, we can observe if
the reflection coefficient is equal to 0, the system is match and if the reflection coefficient is
equal to 1, the system is fully mismatched.

According to the result that we measured for incident and reflected power, we can
observed that the value of reflection coefficient for λ/4 transmission line is lower compared to
stub matching network. The value of reflection coefficient for λ/4 transmission line is near to
0, so we can say that it is nearly good match. The result that we get show that λ/4 transmission
line method is better than stub matching since its reflection coefficient is smaller. We can say
that the value of reflected power during the transmission is lower for λ/4 transmission line
compared to stub matching.

Unfortunately, the λ/4 transmission line can only match a real load impedance. A
complex load impedance can always be transformed to real impedance, however it can effect

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the bandwidth of the match by lowering it. So, we can say that λ/4 transmission line is best
perform when there is only real load impedance.

7.0 CONCLUSION

After completing this lab session, we have been able to measure the reflected power in an
unmatched circuit whose one is terminated by a certain load. Other than that, we also have
been able to learn how to match it by means of the λ/4 converter and the parallel stub. After
completing this lab session we learn that λ/4 transmission line network is work better than
stub network in impedance matching. Stub matching only used for for low fractional
bandwidths. While for wider bandwidth matching, a λ/4 transmission line can be used.

8.0 REFERENCES

I. Microwave Engineering, Third Edition, David M.Pozar, 2005.

II. http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~greenwd/xmsnLine_notes.pdf

III. http://www.ecircuitcenter.com/Circuits/tline1/tline1.htm

IV. http://www.ultracad.com/mentor/transmission%20line%20basics.pdf

V. http://www.aps.anl.gov/Accelerator_Systems_Division/Radio_Frequency/Presenta
tions_and_Lectures/RF_and_Microwave_Physics/documents/Lecture5_102902.pd
f