EEE 272 High Speed Digital Design

Lab 3: Introduction to Transmission Lines

Submitted by:
Prem Bhaskara

Under the Guidance of:

Dr. Milica Markovic

Contents
Submitted by: ........................................................................................................................................ 1
Prem Bhaskara ........................................................................................................................................ 1
Under the Guidance of: ......................................................................................................................... 1
Dr. Milica Markovic ................................................................................................................................ 1
Objective ................................................................................................................................................. 4
Introduction of Transmission Lines .......................................................................................................... 4
What is a Transmission Line? ............................................................................................................... 4
Why is it so important we design proper transmission Lines? .............................................................. 4
Coaxial cable ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Micro-Strip .......................................................................................................................................... 5
Strip Lines ............................................................................................................................................ 5
Twisted Pair......................................................................................................................................... 6
Simulating a controlled impedance (Micro-strip) Transmission Line......................................................... 6
The substrate you will be using is a RT/Duroid 5870, 1oz, thickest substrate you can find. ................... 6
Table 1:............................................................................................................................................ 6
What is the time-delay that the line introduces? What is the bandwidth of the signal? What about the
bandwidth of the line?......................................................................................................................... 8
Simulation of an Ideal Transmission Line ............................................................................................... 10
What is the time-delay this line introduces? What is the total capacitance, and total inductance of the
line? .................................................................................................................................................. 11
Figure 4: ........................................................................................................................................ 12
First order Tranmission Lines Equivalent circuit ..................................................................................... 13
What is the physical length of this line? ............................................................................................. 13
Figure 5: ........................................................................................................................................ 13
Figure 6: ........................................................................................................................................ 14
What is the bandwidth of this one-section first-order transmission-line equivalent circuit? ............... 15
Figure 7 ......................................................................................................................................... 15
Figure 8: Input impedance of the First order Transmission Line...................................................... 16
Re-simulate the circuit. Plot input impedance again. What is the bandwidth of your circuit? ............. 16
Figure 9: Two section of LC are added to model the Ideal transmission Line................................... 17

Figure 10: Input impedance of the two section Transmission Line Model vs Ideal Transmission Line
...................................................................................................................................................... 17
Now add 16-section LC lumped-circuit model and repeat the simulation. What is the bandwidth of
your circuit now?............................................................................................................................... 18
Figure 11:....................................................................................................................................... 18
Figure 11:....................................................................................................................................... 19
Conclusion:............................................................................................................................................ 19

Objective

To learn about transmission Lines

Design simulate and analyze a controlled Impedance Transmission Line effects using microstrip
Lines
Design, Simulate and analyze an ideal transmission Line and how its performance compared
with the first order lumped-element transmission Line model.

Introduction of Transmission Lines

What is a Transmission Line?
A transmission Line is a combination of metal conductors and insulating material which enables
it to guide/transfer the energy between the generator and the load, irrespective of the physical layout
which can induce bends, twits etc. The primary purpose of a transmission lines is provide a medium for
the electromagnetic waves to propagate. In simple terms it can also be viewed as a piece of wire that
connects two systems.
There are various kinds of transmission lines depending on the give task for example:

Strip line and micro strip lines are used on Printed Circuit Boards which can be found
in amplifiers, filters. The length of these lines are often couple centimeter
Twisted pair and coaxial cables are used for connecting devices in a building but
coaxial cables can be used for intercontinental communications
Hollow metal pipes known as waveguides are used to deliver large microwave
energy over a short distance

Why is it so important we design proper transmission Lines?

Maximum power transfer

Deterioration of the signal
Which cables are appropriate for a given task
For guided-waves or antennas

Coaxial cable
These are the most common type of cables found. They are virtually able to confine al of the
electromagnetic wave inside the cable as shown in the picture below. Coaxial cables can be bent and
twisted without any negative effects and they can also be placed alongside conductive wire without
inducing any current in them. The characteristic impedance is determined by the thickness of the two
hollow metal that make up the ring.

Micro-Strip
Micro-strip is a Transmission line where there are two plates separated by a dielectric between
them. The bottom metal plate is the ground and the wave propagates between these two plates. These
can be made by placing a strip of copper on one side of a Printed circuit Board (PCB) or ceramic
substrate while the other side is a continuous ground plane. Microstrip is an open structure while
coaxial cable is a closed structure. Characteristic Impedance is determined by the thickness, relative
permittivity of the dielectric, along with width and length of the copper trace.

Strip Lines
A stripline circuit uses a flat strip of metal which is sandwiched between two parallel ground
planes. The insulating material of the substrate forms a dielectric. The width of the strip, the thickness of
the substrate and the relative permittivity of the substrate determine the characteristic impedance of
the strip which is a transmission line.

Twisted Pair
Twisted pairs are commonly used for terrestrial telephone communications. In such cables, many
pairs are grouped together in a single cable, from two to several thousand. The format is also used for data
network distribution inside buildings, but the cable is more expensive because the transmission line
parameters are tightly controlled.

Simulating a controlled impedance (Micro-strip) Transmission Line

The substrate you will be using is a RT/Duroid 5870, 1oz, thickest substrate you can find.
Before we can place the microstrip in ADS we need to find the actual length of the transmission
line. To that first we use LineCalc to find the initial length and width.

Table 1: Substrate parameters for RT Duroid 5870

Name of
Substrate

Roughness

Thickness of Dielectric
H (mils)

tan

1 oz Electrodeposited
copper T

RT Duroid
5870

0.4

125

2.33 0.0012

35

Set the transmission line impedance of the line to be 50-, and the length of the transmission line to be at
least 5 times the rise time of the VT Pulse. Show calculations. What are the actual width and length of
this transmission line?
From LineCalc we know:
Z = 50 and Width = 438.14 mils.
The velocity of the signal in a transmission line surrounded by air is

With air as the medium

12

From LineCalc:

= = 2.159

Therefore:

12
12

=
= 8.1668
= 8167

2.159

=

= 1 8167
= 8167

Given that the Length of the transmission line should be at least 5 times the spatial extent

= 5 8167 = 40835
Simulate the above circuit and show the input and output voltage as a function of time on the same
graph. What can you conclude?

What is the time-delay that the line introduces? What is the bandwidth of the signal?
What about the bandwidth of the line?
Now that we have all required elements we will be building the circuit as shown below in ADS
and then simulate the results

Figure 1: Circuit in ADS

As instructed we have connected the source and the Microstrip Lines in series to a resistor and finally
grounded. The purpose of this set up is to observe the output voltage as the input wave propagates
through the transmission Line.

Figure 2: Simulation of the circuit with Microstrip Line of Length 40835 mils and width 438.14
mils.
From the above graph we observe that there is a delay of 5 ns between the input and output of the
signal.
= 5
Rise time of the input signal = 1ns

= 90% 10%
= 90%1.1 10%1.1 = 0.88
Bandwidth of the signal
0.35
0.35
=
= 0.39

0.88
Relationship between the Rise time at output, input and interconnected
=

2 = 2 + 2
2 = 12 0.882 = 0.22
= 0.46
Bandwidth of the interconnect
0.35
0.35
=
=
= 0.76
0.46

Simulation of an Ideal Transmission Line

Ideal transmission line implies that it is a perfect uniform line. This section helps us understand
better the first order transmission Line model

Place a TLINE on the schematic and connect it to the source. Leave the other end unconnected. This is
an ideal transmission line, no losses. Set the length of the transmission line to be 60 at 1 GHz. set the
transmission line impedance to be 50. What is the actual length of the line? TLINE element assumes that
the dielectric of this ideal line is air, i.e. the signal propagates with the speed of light.

What is the time-delay this line introduces? What is the total capacitance, and total
inductance of the line?

Figure 3: Schematic diagram for ideal transmission Line at 50 ohms, 60 degrees, 1 GHz

Figure 4: graph of Impedance magnitude of 50 Ohm TLIN

We can see that at frequencies 1.5 GHz, 4.5GHz, 7.5 GHz, input impedance acts as a short circuit.
At frequencies 3GHz, 6GHz, 9GHz, input impedance acts as an open circuit. There are six resonances.
Using the information from the graph we estimate Time delay
1
= =
= 0.16
360
Actual length of the transmission line

= =

12

0.16 = 1.92

The total capacitance is

=

0.16
50

= 3.2

The total inductance is

= 0 = 50 0.16 = 8
Comparing these results with the Bogatins textbook on page 271 the result do match and the figure is
consistent.

First order Tranmission Lines Equivalent circuit

Place the ideal transmission line on the schematic, and select 50-Ohms transmission line impedance and
360 length at 1 GHz. This element (TLIN) assumes that the relative dielectric constant is 1, as we stated
in the previous section.

What is the physical length of this line?

Building the schematic as instructed:

Figure 5: schematic with a TL of Electrical Length 360 and Frequnecy of 1 GHz

Figure 6: Input impedance for the Ideal transmission Line with Electrical Length of 360
Using the information from the graph we estimate Time delay
1
= =
= 1
360
Actual length of the transmission line

= =

12

1 = 12

The total capacitance is

=

1
50

= 20

The total inductance is

= 0 = 50 1 = 50

Now, go back to the schematic diagram, and on the same schematic add another voltage source and
ONE section of a first-order transmission-line equivalent circuit. Label input node on the voltage source
as vin1, and add another current probe. Don't forget to set the capacitance to total capacitance of the
line, and inductance to total inductance of the line. Simulate the circuit, then plot input impedance.

What is the bandwidth of this one-section first-order transmission-line equivalent circuit?

Figure 7: Schematic showing first order approximation of an Ideal Transmission Line with 1 section of LC

Figure 8: Input impedance of the First order Transmission Line

We observer that by replacing Ideal Transmission Line with First order transmission Line Equivalent
circuit the first peak is achieve but its start to deviate for higher frequencies. To improve this we need to
add more sections.
From the above circuit we can calculate the Bandwidth

= =

0
1
= 1
= 100
10
10

Next, add one more section of the equivalent circuit. Pay attention to the values of capacitances
and inductances now. They have to be half of the total capacitance or inductance.

Re-simulate the circuit. Plot input impedance again. What is the bandwidth of your
circuit?
2 , = 2

=
=
= 10

2

=
=
= 25

Figure 9: Two section of LC are added to model the Ideal transmission Line

Figure 10: Input impedance of the two section Transmission Line Model vs Ideal Transmission
Line

From the above circuit we can calculate the Bandwidth

= =

0
1
= 2
= 200
10
10

Now add 16-section LC lumped-circuit model and repeat the simulation. What is the
bandwidth of your circuit now?
Use approximate formula =

0
10

to calculate the bandwidth of the model and compare it to your

simulations.

16 , = 16

=
= 1.25

16

=
=
= 3.125

16
=

Figure 11: Schematic showing all the 16 section of Transmission Line Model

Figure 11: Input impedance of the 16 section Transmission Line Model vs Ideal Transmission Line
From the above circuit we can calculate the Bandwidth

= =

0
1
= 16
= 1.6
10
10

Conclusion:
We have successfully verified that an Ideal transmission Line can be modeled as linear
combination of section made of Inductors and capacitors. A Transmission Line will always
induce a time delay between the input and the output of the signal. We can add more sections
to match ideal transmission Line at higher frequencies.