Lab 2:

Basic Transmission Lines in the Frequency Domain

In this laboratory experiment, you will use SPICE to study sinusoidal waves on lossless
transmission lines. Our goal is for you to become familiar with the basic behavior of
waves reflecting from loads in transmission lines, and compare the simulations with
numeric calculations and the Smith Chart.

2.1Basic Transmission Line Model

There is a standard lossless transmission line model T, which is specified by several
parameters. We will need to specify two of the parameters:
Z0, the characteristic impedance
TD, the time delay, which is the length of the line in time units.
The length of the line L is related to the time delay through
L u p TD

(2.1)

where up is the phase velocity of waves on the transmission line.

As we saw in lecture and in our text, the phase velocity and characteristic impedance may
be derived from the lumped element model of the transmission line. With L the
inductance per unit length, and C the capacitance per unit length, we have
up
Z0

2.1.1

1
L' C '
L'
C'

(2.2)
(2.3)

A standard coaxial cable

For common RG-58 coaxial cable, the characteristic impedance is Z0 = 50 and the
phase velocity up = 2/3 c. (Note: c = speed of light = 3e8 m/s)
Question 1: For such a transmission line, what are the inductance and capacitance per
meter?
For lossless coaxial cables, the following formulas relate the differential inductance L
and capacitance C to the radius of the inner conductor a and the outer conductor b:
L'

b
ln
2 a

(2.4)

C'

2
b
ln
a

(2.5)

Question 2: For a different coaxial cable, = 0 and = 30. What is b/a if Z0 = 50 ?

Question 3:

If b = 3 mm in question 2.2, what is a?

2.2A SPICE model of a transmission line problem.

Using SPICE, create a (matched) Thevenin source VAC with 1 Volt amplitude and 50
source impedance, leading to a transmission line model T, terminated in a 100 load.
Edit the transmission line so that it has a characteristic impedance of 50 . Also, create
labels Input and Load at the ends of the transmission lines, so that you can measure the
voltages conveniently.
ZG

In p u t

T1

ZL

Load

50
1Vac
0Vdc

100

Z0 = 50
T D = { d e la y }

VG

P A R A M E T E R S :

d e la y = 5 n s

Figure 1. Circuit Schematic for Part 2.2

What we would like to do is to adjust the length of the transmission line and examine the
standing wave pattern at Input over one full wavelength at a frequency of 200MHz.
Question 4: At 200 MHz, and with up = 2/3 c, what is the wavelength in the
transmission line?
Question 5:

What is the time delay associated with /16? (Hint: Remember that

TD

L
L

up f )

Use SPICE to simulate the steady state AC response of this transmission line for length 0,
/16, 2/16, , 15/16, . Center your sweep on the frequency of interest and sweep
linearly.

Figure 2. Illustration of Transmission Line Length Change for Part 2.2

One way to make this easier is to use a parameter for TD. Place the special part PARAM.
Double click on it and then on New Column Call it delay and set it to 5ns. Assign
{delay} (with the curly braces) to TD on the transmission line. When you create your
simulation profile, select the parametric sweep as an option. Choose Global Parameter
with a parameter of delay. Set the sweep range and increment based on your TD
calculations from above. Under General Settings set the sweep Range from Start
Frequency: 200Meg to End Frequency: 200Meg and increment Total Points: 1.
Using Excel, make a table of the voltage magnitudes and current magnitudes at nodes
Input and Load for each length.
Question 6: Use PSPICE, Excel, or Matlab to plot the magnitude of the voltage at
Input as a function of length. From the Voltage Values on the plot and the
Vmax
relationship: VSWR
, determine the VSWR, and from the VSWR
Vmin
calculate ||.
Question 7: Use PSPICE, Excel, or Matlab to plot the magnitude of the current at Input
as a function of length. From the Current Values on the plot, determine the
VSWR, and from the VSWR calculate ||. Do the voltage and current yield
the same VSWR and ||?
Question 8: Plot the magnitude of the impedance at Input as a function of length using
the data you collected with PSPICE. Plot the Real and Imaginary Parts of the
Impedance using PSPICE.
Question 9: Compute and VSWR directly using equations (2.6) and (2.7) below. Do
these agree with your measurements from question 6, 7 & 8?

From class recall that:

VSWR

1
1

Z L Z0
Z L Z0

(2.6)

(2.7)

Question 10: Plot the voltage magnitude at Load as a function of length. How does the
voltage change with length? From this, how do you think the power
delivered to the load will change with length?

2.3A shortcut, and more load impedances

SPICE has a nice mechanism for scanning in frequency, but does not directly scan the
length of the transmission line. The electrical length of a transmission line is l,
l

2
2f
l
l

up

(2.8)

Thus, changing the length of a transmission line from l to 10l achieves the same effect as
scanning the frequency from 10f to f. Or to put it differently, if a transmission line is 1
at f0, then it is 0.5 long at 0.5f0 and 2 long at 2f0.
Question 11: If you have 1 meter of the coaxial cable described in question 4, at what
frequency does it have length /2? At what frequency does it have length
2.5? (Note that we are NOT changing the physical length of the line, only
its electrical length as defined above.)
Using a 1-meter length of transmission line, adjust your SPICE simulation,
sweeping linearly in frequency from 0.5 to 2.5 wavelengths. In this
simulation we are not adjusting the Length of the Line. We are adjusting the
frequency of the system so as to produce similar effects to adjusting the
length of the line.
ZG

In p u t

T1

ZL

Load

50
1Vac
0Vdc

100
Z 0 = 50
TD = 5ns

VG

Figure 3. Circuit Schematic for Question 13 (Fixed Length)

Question 12: Plot the magnitude of the voltage at Input for the different lengths
(remember that you are really just adjusting the frequency) properly
relabeling the horizontal axis. (You can do this by hand or by using text
boxes in Pspice.) Does this agree with your plot in question 6? What is the
VSWR?
Replace the 100 load with a 25 load.
Question 13: Plot the magnitude of the voltage at Input, and compare to the previous
case of 100 . From the plot, what is the VSWR?
Replace the load with a short circuit, namely 0.001 .

Question14: Plot the magnitude of the voltage at Input. From the plot, find the VSWR.
From equations (2.6) and (2.7) calculate the VSWR. Do these two results
agree?
Replace the load with an open circuit, namely 1 M. (remember that in PSPICE, MEG
= mega, M = milli)
Question 15: Plot the magnitude of the voltage at Input. Find the VSWR. Also,
calculate the VSWR. Do these two results agree?