ECE 107, Quiz 1 (Jan 30, 2012)

Name: _______________________________________________

Please show all your work for more rational grading. Give ALL solutions as formulas, i.e.
symbolically, and only then substitute numbers. Box your final answers.

GRADING:

1) 25 points ________________ 2) 25 points ________________

3) 25 points ________________ 4) 25 points ________________

Total (100 points) _________________

Consider a coaxial transmission line of length l = 10 cm having the inner and outer conductor
radii of r1 = 0.25cm and r2 = 0.5 cm (Fig. 1). The space between the plates is filled with vacuum
and the conductor can be considered as perfect.
1. Give parameters characterizing the transmission line, i.e. R', L ',G ',C ', α , β , Z 0 , λ ,u p .

2. For an excitation frequency of f1 = 3GHz can we use the circuit theory to describe the
voltage/current (and other) relations in the transmission line? Why? Can we use the circuit
theory for the frequency of f2 = 30 MHz ? Why?
3. Give general expressions describing the voltage and current in the transmission line in the
form of phasors and in the time domain representation.
4. The phasor voltage was measures at the entrance z = −l and exist z = 0 of the transmission
line to be V (−l) = 1.33e jπ 4 V and V (0) = 2V , and the frequency of operation is
f = 750 MHz . Give the complete expression for the phase voltage and current in the
transmission line (including all constants). Find the load impedance at the exit (defined as
Z l = V (0) I (0) ) that would lead to this measurement.

a
b

z = −l z=0
Fig. 1
 Solution
1. The transmission line is made of perfect conductor, so that R ' = 0 . The medium is
µ r
vacuum, so that G'= 0. Furthermore, L ' = 0 ln 2 = 1.39 × 10−7 H / m ,
2π r1
⎛ r ⎞
C ' = 2πε 0 / ⎜ ln 2 ⎟ = 8.03 × 10−11 F / m . The phase velocity is the speed of light in
⎝ r1 ⎠
vacuum, i.e. approximately u p = 3 ×108 m / s . The characteristic impedance is
1 µ0 r2
Z0 = ln = 41.6Ω . The wavenumber is β = ω L'C ' = ω ε 0 µ0 , and the
2π ε 0 r1
wavelength is λ = 2π u p / β . The attenuation constant is α = 0 , because the structure is
lossless (i.e. R ' = 0 , G ' = 0 ).
2. f1 = 3GHz ⇒ λ1 = 10cm , the wavelength is of the transmission line length, so the circuit
theory cannot be used. For f 2 = 30MHz ⇒ λ2 = 1000cm . This wavelength is much
greater than the length of the coaxial line, sot that circuit theory would work.
3. The voltage and current in phasor forms: V (z) = V + e− jβ z + V − e jβ z and
I (z) = (V (z) = V + e− jβ z − V − e jβ z ) / Z . In the time domain,
0

V ( z, t ) = V cos(ωt − β z + φ ) + V cos(ωt + β z + φ − ) and

+ + −

(
I ( z, t ) = V + cos(ωt − β z + φ + ) − V − cos(ωt + β z + φ − ) / Z 0 )
where φ + and φ − are the phases of V + and V − , respectively.

4. At the frequency of f = 750MHz , one has β = 2π f u p = 5π rad s and

β l = 2π fl / u p = π / 2 .

From given voltages at z = 0 and z = −l , it follows that

V + + V − = V1 = 2
V + e jβ l + V − e− jβ l = V2 = 1.33e jπ /4
Solving these two linear equations, one has
V − V e jβ l
V − = −2 jβ l 1 jβ l
e −e
V = V1 − V −
 +

and V + = 1.47 − j0.47 , V − = 0.53+ j0.47 .

Then the voltage and current can be expressed as

V (z) = ⎡⎣(1.47 − j0.47)e − jβ z
+ (0.53+ j0.47)e ⎤⎦V and
jβ z

I (z) = ⎡⎣(35.3− j11.3)e− jβ z − (12.7 + j11.3)e jβ z ⎤⎦ mA ,

V (0)
The load impedance is Z L = 
I (0)
(
= 44.23+ j44.23 Ω . )