EE5004

a MS in IC Design Course

Non-ideal on Chip and On

PCB Interconnect
Transmission Lines, Micro Strips, Striplines,
Reflections and Impedance Matching

Dr. Rashad M. Ramzan.

National University of Computer & Emerging
Sciences Islamabad, Pakistan
Islamabad-44000, Pakistan
Prof. Rashad Ramzan 1
 Outline
• What is interconnect? When it becomes transmission line.
• Digital Signal and Analog Signal.
• Transmission line and RC interconnect
• Transmission line model and parameters
• When transmission line model be used?
• Standing waves and Impedance Matching
• S-parameters and Basics of Smith charts
• Input impedance calculations!
• Matching for signal power
• Other matching objectives
• Narrowband matching circuits
• Transmission lines stubs
• Transformers and baluns
• Conclusion and Summary

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 2

 Teacher Perspective

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3 Rashad Ramzan
 Teacher Perspective

So now you know! That where learning responsibility lies!

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 Student Perspective

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Prof.
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 And if you already know 

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 Signal Integrity: Big Picture

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 What is a Transmission Line?

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 9

 When Transmission Line?
Power Frequency (f) is @ 50 Hz
Wavelength (l) is 6 106 m Power
Plant
(6,000 Km)

Consumer
Home

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 10

 When a Transmission Line?
Signal Sinusoidal signal wavelength
source Interconnection Load l = vp /f
on chip or
ZS E.g. f = 2GHz, vp = 1.5·108 m/sec
+
off-chip ZL
ES l = 7.5 cm
-
Commercial standard 802.11a
l WLAN: f = 5.8GHz,
If l > l/16 or l/16 then interconnection should l = 2.6 cm
be considered transmission line.
For length > l/10 transmission line
Also relevant on-chip if frequency at GHz. problem arises

For Square Wave in Digital PCBs.

tof  0.5trise For squrewave ( Digital PCBs)
length
where tof  , called time of flight
Phase Velocity

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 11

 Importance of Onchip
Interconnect and PCB Interconnect

• Future electronics is interconnect limited not device limited.

• Solution: New design techniques, new material and new technologies.
• IC Interconnect techniques, Models & software are applicable to
High-end PCBs now.

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All IC and PCB Tracks are LPF!

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Modeling
for
Numerical
Solutions!

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 14

 Distributed Model
i ( x, t )
i( x, t ) Rldx Lldx i ( x, t )  dx
x
u ( x, t )
u ( x, t ) Gldx Cldx u ( x, t )  dx
x

x dx

u i For steady-state sinusoidal case:

  Rl i  Ll
x t u ( x, t )  ReV ( x)e jωt 
i ( x, t )  ReI ( x)e jωt 
i u
 Gl u  Cl
x t
V ( x)  V e  γx  V e γx Incident and
reflected waves
I ( x)  I  e γx  I  e γx

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 15

 Characteristic Parameters

γ R l
 jωLl Gl  jωCl  Wave propagation constant

V Rl  jωLl
 Z0  Characteristic impedance
I Gl  jωCl

Frequently, lossless line is considered (low losses, and also due to

small l )
Imaginary propagation
Rl  0 and Gl  0 constant, only phase
shifting, no suppression
1
γ  jω Ll Cl  jβ , where  vp Constant velocity
Ll Cl
Ll 2
Real characteristic β
Z0  ; impedance for lossless line l
Cl

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 16

 Square Wave
1

- 0  2 3
1+2+3+4 1+2+3+4+5

Square wave: Y = 0 for - < x < 0 and Y=1 for 0 < x < 

Y = 1/2 + 2/pi( sinx + sin3x/3 + sin5x/5 + sin7x/7 … + sin(2m+1)x/(2m+1) +

1 2 3 4 5
May do with sum of cosines too.

Prof.
17 Rashad Ramzan
 Square Wave
cos(wt) - cos(3wt)/3 + cos(5wt)/5 - cos(7wt)/7 + …………..

• Symmetric and non-symmetric (odd and even harmonics)

• 5th harmonic is 1/5th the magnitude of the fundamental and so on.
• A 5 volt peak-to-peak 10 MHz clock line, for example, has many
harmonics, one of which is a 450mv 110MHz signal!
• Another is a 225mv 220MHz signal

11th Harmonic

Prof.
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 Trapezoidal Wave
You are all well familiar with V
• Rise Time
90%
• Fall Time
• Delay Time 10% t
• GaAs, used in optical
communication circuits
has tr of 100psec.
• This is 30 to 50 times
faster than some CMOS
components.
• For sine wave rise time is
30% of the period of sine

Prof.
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 Rise Time of Trapezoidal Wave

Rise time turns out to be almost

exactly 30% of the period of the
sinusoidal waveform. A pulse
with a 1nsec rise time
generate a brief 300 MHz
transient of the same peak-to-
peak amplitude.

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Signal BW- Trapezoidal Pulse Train

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 Signal BW- Exponential Pulse

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What is BW of these Signal?

0.35 0.35
f 3dB  
t1090% tr
4  0.35 1.4
f BW  
tr tr

1-GHz clock frequency. Each of them has a different tr

Prof.
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 What is BW of 500MHz CLK?

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 Transmission Line
Input signal into lossy T-line Spectral content of waveform
0.35
F
Trise
FT
Volts

FFT
Time Frequency
Time domain waveform with
frequency dependent losses
Loss characteristics if T-line
Attenuation (V2/V1)

Inverse

Volts
FFT

Time
Frequency

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 Basics of High Speed

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Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR)

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 Speed of Signal in a Trace.
• Speed of Light 186,280 miles/sec in free Space
– Its 11.8 in/ nsec or 1ft (30cm)/nsec
• In Other Materials
11.8
in / n sec
r
FR 42 material  r  4
FR4/SiO
For
 Speed  6 in / n sec

6 in (15cm)/nsec in FR4 PCB or SiO2 on Chip

Trace (Its even more slow in embedded traces)

Prof.
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 Critical Length, When High Speed?

• Black signal being driven by A.

• The green and red at B1 and B2.
• Rise time is 1nS
• Propagation speed is 6 inches/ns.
• Distance from A to B1 is 2 inches
(0.3 nsec) and from A to B2 12
inches (2nsec)
• What's critical Length?

Prof.
29 Rashad Ramzan
 Critical Length, When Its High Speed?

• When the propagation time for the signal to reach the

end of the trace and return (the round trip length) is
equal to the rise time.
• For a 1 ns rise time signal and a propagation time of
6in/ns, one-way length to the end of the trace would be
half that, or 3 inches.
• So the critical length in FR4 is often defined as 3
inches times the rise time in nanoseconds.

tof  0.5 t r
tof  Time of Flight t r  Rise Time

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 Formation of Eye Diagram

Eye Diagram: A view of noise , signal and Timing

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 Eye Diagram

Eye Diagram: A view of noise , signal and Timing

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 Case Study: Memory Bus

Shared memory subsystem

• 20 small CPUs any of which may access an 8-bit wide RAM
• Bus traces are have 50Ω impedance traces and are 10 inches long.
• Bus propagation length is much shorter than the rise time of a
74HCT640 gate.
• No terminators are used at either end of the bus.
• Bus driver should be able to drive 20 other circuits.
• With 9 ns maximum propagation delay of each transceiver, we plan to
operate the bus on a 30ns cycle (33 MHz)

Prof.
33 Rashad Ramzan
 Case Study: Memory Bus
I/O load capacitance / driver = 10pF.
20 loads and Cload 200pF of load
2pf/in load of the backplane traces
Cload = 20 x 10 + 2 x 10 = 220 pF

Output resistance of 74HCT640

VCC = 4.5 V; VOH = 3.84; Iout = 6.0 mA
The high-side drive resistance = (VCC - VOH)/Iout = 110 
Charging time constant τRC = 110 x 220p= 24 ns
The rise time Tr = 2.2 τ RC = 53 ns

The data bus can not be run at 33 MHz

(30.3nsec) with this rise time

Prof.
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 Types of
Transmission Lines
On PCB and on Chip

35
Prof. Rashad Ramzan
 Transmission Lines in PCB

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 36

 Old TV System, Yaggi Antenna

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 37

 PCB Transmission Lines
Signal Frequency (f) is
approaching 10 GHz Integrated Circuit
Stripline
Wavelength (l) is 1.5 cm ( 0.6 inches)
Microstrip T

PCB substrate
Cross section view taken here

W
Via
Cross Section of Above PCB
Copper Trace

Signal (microstrip)

Ground/Power
T Copper Plane Signal (stripline)
Signal (stripline)
Ground/Power
Signal (microstrip)

W
Prof. Rashad Ramzan 38
 Some Basic Transmission Lines

Always a return path!

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 39

 Some Basic Transmission Lines

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 OnChip Transmission Lines

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 OnChip Transmission Lines

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 OnChip Transmission Lines

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 Examples of Transmission Lines


Z 0  60 / ε r ln  d0
di

di d0
Ll  200 ln
d0
nH/m
di
3  10 8
Coaxial cable p  m/s
εr

w t

Z 0  87 / ε r  1.41 ln  6h
0.8w  t

h 3 108
p  m/s
ε eff
Microstrip line Usually, software tools are needed
for those calculations

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 44

 Voltage and Current Waves

Sinusoidal
signal l
source Matching at the output: ZL= Z0
Lossless line I(0)
ZS I(x)
V(x)
V (0)  Z 0 I (0)
+ V(0)
ES V ( x)  V (0)  e  j x
- ZL
I ( x)  I (0)  e  j x
x=-l x=0

V ( x)  V (0)  cos  x  Z 0 I (0)  j sin x

Constant amplitudes along the
V (0) line, no reflections
I ( x)  I (0)  cos  x   j sin x
Z0
No risk of reduced signal at
load!

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 45

 Basics: Standing Waves

Vmax Low signal

Vmin on load

Reflection coefficient:

V Z L  Z 0
ΓL  
Standing voltage wave V Z L  Z 0
for ZL= Z0/3, Γ L  0.5

V ( x)  V (0)  cos x  j3sin x 

V ( x)  V e  j x  V e j x Vmax I max 1 ΓL
SWR   
 V e  j x
1  Γ e
L
j 2 x
 Vmin I min 1 Γ L

Standing wave ratio

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 46

 Basics: Standing Waves (cont’d)

V(0)
Lossless line

Standing voltage wave  j 

for ZL= 3Z0, Γ L  0.5 V ( x)  V (0)   cos x  sin x 
 3 

But also we have: V ( x)  V e  j x  V e j x (incident and reflected)

• So what is V+ and V- in this case ?

• What is V(0) if the line is matched at source
and l = 3l/2 ?

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 47

 Basics: Power Transmitted

Pi  V
2
Incident power: / Z0

Pr  V / Z0  Γ L / Z0  Γ L
2 2 2 2
Reflected power: V Pi

Pt  Pi  Pr  (1  Γ L
2
Transmitted power: ) Pi

In lossless opened or shorted line Pt = 0.

For matched line : Pt =Pi X
 j 2arctan
jX  R0
For ZL = jX  Pt = 0 since: ΓL   1 e R0
jX  R0

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 48

 Basics: Reflection Constant

V Z L  Z0
ΓL    
V Z L  Z0

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 49

S-Parameters
Transmission Line Terminated with Zo

Zo = characteristic
Zs = Zo impedance of
transmission line

Zo

V inc

Vrefl = 0! (all the incident power

is absorbed in the load)

For reflection, a transmission line terminated

in Zo behaves like an infinitely long
transmission line
Prof. Rashad Ramzan 51
 Transmission Line with Short & Open

Zs = Zo

V inc

Vrefl In-phase (0o) for open,

out-of-phase (180o) for short

For reflection, a transmission line

terminated in a short or open reflects
all power back to source
Prof. Rashad Ramzan 52
 Reflection & Transmission

Incident
Transmitted
R
B
Reflected
A

REFLECTION TRANSMISSION

Reflected A Transmitted B
= =
Incident R Incident R

Return Group
SWR Gain / Loss Delay
Loss
S-Parameters Impedance, Insertion
S11, S22 Reflection Admittance S-Parameters Phase
Coefficient S21, S12 Transmission
R+jX,
G+jB Coefficient

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 53

 Reflection Parameters
ZL  ZO
Reflection
Coefficient G=V reflected =  F =
Z L + ZO
Vincident
Return loss = -20 log(),  = G
VoltageStandingWave Ratio
Emax
Emin Emax 1+
VSWR = =
Emin 1-

Noreflection Full reflection

(ZL = Zo) (ZL = open, short)

0  1
 dB RL 0 dB
1 VSWR 

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 54

 Why S-Parameters?
 Relatively easy to obtain at high frequencies
 Measure voltage traveling waves with a vector network analyzer

 Don't need shorts/opens which can cause active devices to oscillate

or self-destruct
 Relate to familiar measurements (gain, loss, reflection coefficient ...)

 Can cascade S-parameters of multiple devices to predict system

performance
 Can compute H, Y, or Z parameters from S-parameters if desired

Incident S 21 Transmitted
a1
S 11 b2
Reflected DUT
S 22
Port 1 Port 2 Reflected
b1
a2
Transmitted S 12 Incident

b1 = S 11 a 1 + S 12 a 2

b 2 = S 21 a 1 + S 22 a 2

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 55

 Measuring S-Parameters?

S b2
Incident 21 Transmitted
a1
Z0
S 11
Forward Reflected DUT Load
b1 a2 = 0

Reflected b1 Reflected b2
S 11 = = a S =
Incident 1 a2 = 0 22 = a a1 = 0
Incident 2

Transmitted b b
S 2 Transmitted
21 = = a2 = 0 S 12 = =
1
Incident a1 Incident a2 a1 = 0

a1 = 0 b2
Z0 S 22
Load
DUT
Reflected Reverse
a2
b1 Transmitted S 12 Incident

56
Prof. Rashad Ramzan
 S – Parameters (Summary)

Incident V in

Vou t Incident
RF block
Reflected V in

Vou t Reflected

Reflection coefficient at Reverse transmission

input ( G ) coefficient (reverse gain)

Vin  S11Vin  S12Vout


RL  20 log S11
1


Vout  S 21Vin  S 22Vout

Return loss
Reflection coefficient at
Transmission
output
coefficient (gain)

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 57

 Input Impedance
l
Lossless line I(0) V (l ) V (0)  cos  l  Z 0 I (0)  jsin l
Z in  
Zin I(x) I (l ) V (0)
 jsin l  I (0)  cos  l
V(x) V(0) Z0
ZL Z L  cos  l  Z 0  jsin l
 Z0 
Z L  jsin l  Z 0  cos  l
x = -l x=0

Z L  Z0  j tan l
Input impedance Zin  Z0
Z0  Z L  j tan l

Z L  Z0  j tan  2 l l  Z L  Z 0  j tan  Line 

Zin  Z0  Z0
Z0  Z L  j tan  2 l l  Z 0  Z L  j tan  Line 

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 58

 Example: Impedance Conversion
2
Popular are applications for l =l/4, since β  then l =/2
l

Z  Z0  j tan l Z 02
Zin  Z0 L Z in   Z 02  YL
Z0  Z L  j tan l ZL

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 59

 Example: Impedance Conversion

Z 02
Z in   Z 02  YL
ZL

Then at any frequency the input and loading impedances are inversely
proportional (have opposite phases as well)

Lumped inductance can be

l =l/4 avoided in this way:
RL CL

Zin Zin= …
Application example

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 60

 Why Impedance Matching?

• Very Interesting Example? Z L  jZ 0 tan 

Z  Z0 (1)
Signal Z 0  jZ L tan 
source Interconnection Load

ZS
ZL
VS

• When matched Z0=ZL

then Zin is not dependent
upon length of line.

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 61

 Smith Charts (Bell Labs,1939)

Z L  Z0 Z L Z0 1 Z 1
Γ  
Z L  Z0 Z L Z0  1 Z  1

Z  R  jX , G  p  jq
Normalized loading
impedance

2 2
 R   1 
 p    q 2
  
R  jX  1  R 1  R 1
p  jq 
R  jX  1 2 2
 1 1
 p  1   q     
2

 X X

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 62

 Smith Charts (Bell Labs,1939)

2 2
 R   1 
p  q  
2
Constant R circles
 R 1  R 1
2 2

 p  1   q  1    1 
2
Constant X circles
 X X

q
q

p p

p2  q2  G
2

p=1
G( x)  G(0)e j 2  x

http://www.amanogawa.com/archive/LossLessSmithChart/LossLessSmithChartWide-2.html
Prof. Rashad Ramzan 63
 Smith Charts (Bell Labs,1939)

q=1

50 

ZL -j100 

Z0= 50 
q=0

G Z =1 – j2

q=-1
p=-1 p=0 p=1

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 64

 Input Impedance by Smith chart

Example:
Z =2.5 – j1
and
l /l = 0.639

G  = 0.5  SWR = 3

One turn  l= l/2

G  = 0.5
S
Zin =0.45 – j0.5

The same result for

l /l = 0.639 + n0.5

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 65

Impedance
Matching
 Why Impedance Matching?

• Repetition of Lecture on Transmission Lines

Signal Z L  jZ 0 tan 
Z  Z0 (1)
source Interconnection Load Z 0  jZ L tan 
On PCB
ZS
ZL
ES

• When matched Z0=ZL

then Zin is not dependent
upon length of line.

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 67

 Why Impedance Matching?
For maximum Power Transfer
RS
VL2 VS2 RL
PL  
+ R L ( R L  RS ) 2 Power matching
VS -
RL VL theorem (max.
 PL
 0  RL ,opt  RS power on load)
 RL

When compromising power

matching, this part is
ZS preferred for its less roll-off
Z L , opt  Z S PL
+ Pmax
VS ZL VL RL > RS
- Matching in general
case, applicable both
for input and output
stages RS RL

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 68

 Matching for power

Source ZS Load Available power when matched:

Matching Rs=RL The at load Volatge is Vs/2
+
circuit  VS 
2
VS ZL VL RS  VS  4 RS
2
-  2 
 
Zin

Lossless, LC circuit,
Z in  Z S transformer or
transmission line

If transmission line used then matching at both sides

needed. Otherwise only part of the available power is
transferred to load.

Pt  Pi  Pr  (1  Γ ) Pi
2

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 69

 Matching for impedance
For correct operation of Filters:
The filters are designed to be terminated/driven with specified
resistance and otherwise their transfer functions
are degraded /e.g. ceramic filters require 1.5 to 2 k/

G G
-3 dB -3 dB
-40 dB in band -40 dB
out of band

f0 f f0 f

Correctly terminated RF filter Badly terminated RF filter,

/e.g. ceramic or SAW/ lower off-band attenuation
and uneven pass-band

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 70

 Matching for Noise

Noisy resistor Noisy Circuit Simple Resistive-only model:

VRS2 Ref: Razavi Notes
RS Vn2
+ +
V  RS I n 
- -
+ Noiseless Vout SNRin
2

Vin -
I n2
Circuit F  1 n
SNRout VRS2
Vn2  RS2 I n2
 1 if uncorrelated
Input referred noise 2
V RS

Vn2  RS2 I n2
Search for NF minimum  1
(simplest case):
4kTRS

Different from condition for power

F Vn2
 0  RS , opt  matching at input, so trade-off might
RS I n2 be needed

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 71

 How Matching Works?
We want to match Zs of 50Ω with 2 Ω Load???

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 72

 How Matching Works?

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 73

 Matching LC circuits
Narrowband Matching

In most cases Zin is expected to

Matching ZL be real
LC circuit
Impedance must be matched:
Zin Xin = -Xs and Rin = Rs

L-match circuits: -match and T-match circuits:

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 74

 Quarter Wave Transformer

Popular are applications for l =l/4, so l =θ=/2

ZL
 Z0
Z  Z 0  j tan l Z  Z 0  j tan90 jtan90 Zin Z 0 Z 02
Zin  Z 0 L  Z0 L  Z0  Z in   Z 02  YL
Z 0  Z L  j tan l Z 0  Z L  j tan90 Z0 ZL ZL ZL
 ZL
j tan90
Then at any frequency the input and loading impedances are inversely proportional (have
opposite phases as well)

Example-1: Zin  ?, Z 0  50, Z L  100

Z 02 50  50
 Zin    25
ZL 100
Example 2: In case the load and source impedances are fixed, to match them
We can design the transmission line with desired Zo
Prof. Rashad Ramzan 75
 Basic Resonant Circuits

1  1 
Yin   j  ωC  
R C L R  ω L 
Yin

=0 then resonance
|Zin |
R
1
ω0  Resonant frequency
LC
CVm2 / 2
Q  2π
0  T0  Vm2 /(2 R)
R
Quality factor:  ω0 RC 
Max. energy stored ω0 L
Wmx
Q  2π Q
R
Wtot Total energy lost per
period at resonance L/C

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 76

 Narrow Band Transformations

1
ω0 
LS C LS

RS
Zin C C RP LP
Zin

RP jωLP
RS  jωLS 
RP  jωLP
RP RP RP Z in  RP  Q 2 RS
RS  2   ωω0
RP / (ωLP ) 2  1 ωω Q 2  1 Q 2
0

Upwards resistance
LP  RP2 / (ωLP ) 2 LP  Q 2
LS  2  2  LP transformer
RP / (ωLP ) 2  1 ωω0
Q 1

Also we have 0LS/RS = 0CRin

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 77

Narrow Band Transformations (cont’d)

1 L
ω0  L
LS C
RS
Zin CP RP
Zin CS

1 jωCS / RS
 jωC P 
RP 1 / RS  jωCS
RP
RP RP RP Z in ωω0
 RS 
RS    Q2
RP2 (ωC P ) 2  1 ωω Q 2  1 Q 2
Downwards resistance
0

R (ωC P )  1
2 2
Q 1 2
transformer
CS  C P  2
P
2
 C P  2
 CP
RP (ωC P ) ωω Q
0
Note that once RP and RS are
related, Q is defined and it cannot
As CS ≈ C the equivalent circuit be improved by those simple L-
has also a resonance at 0 match circuits

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 78

 Example of narrowband L-match

75  Match PA of output
resistance 6  to 75 
PA LC transmission line, also
matched to antenna.
f=100MHz
Rin
L RP RP
6 Rin   Q2   1  11.5
Q2 1 Rin
VS RP=75  ( RP ) 2 752
C Q 
2
 LC  489
LC 11.5
1 1
(2πf ) 2   LC   254 10  20
Source LC (2π 10 )
8 2
Input of TL
model L  35.2 nH, C  72 pF

Observe that the matching circuit also works as LPF that

attenuates higher harmonic components of PA

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 79

  and T matching
3-Element Matching

RL RL

Virtual resistor Virtual resistor

RV RL RV RL

L-match L-match L-match L-match

There is one degree of freedom more, we can also choose Q

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 80
 Example of T-match
Match 6  source to 75  load at f=100MHz, provide Q=15 for
good lowpass filtering to suppress harmonics

Virtual resistor When we assign Q to the L1-

XS1 XS2
Source match then smaller reactances
are obtained since RS <RL
RS RV XP2 RL
XP1
RV  (Q12  1) RS  226  6  1356 
X S 1  Q1 RS  15  6  90 
X P1  RV Q1  90.4 

L1-match L2-match
RV  (Q22  1) RL  Q2  4.13
XS1 XS2 X P 2  RV Q2  328.1 
X S 2  Q2 RL  310 
RS RL
XP
X P1 X P 2
XP 
X P1  X P 2

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 81

 Example of T-match (cont’d)

X P1 X P 2
XP   124.8 
RL X P 2  X P1

Possible low-pass (/BP)

LPF HPF implementations,

L1 L2 X P1 X P 2
RL Better lowpass XP   70.9 
C X P1  X P 2

LPF LPF X S1  2πf L1  L1  143.2nH

X S 2  2πf L2  L2  493.4nH
X P  1 (2πf C )  C  22.45pF

For this Q much larger inductances are needed

compared to simple L-match

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 82

 Smith Charts Revisited

Z L  Z0 Z L Z0 1 Z 1
Γ  
Z L  Z0 Z L Z0  1 Z  1

Z  R  jX , Y  G  jB
Normalized loading
impedance

1 Y 1 Y 1 Smith chart rotated by 1800, but

Γ  now defined in admittance
1 Y 1 Y 1 coordinates (G,B)

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 83

 Impedance – Admittance conversion
Constant R and X circles Constant G and B circles
-1
-0.5

-0.25

-2

1-j1 0.5+j0.5
1
2 2
0.25
1

0.5
0.5
0.25

Z = R+jX Same load

Y = 1/Z = G+jB

See interactive chart at

http://www.amanogawa.com/archive/LossLessSmithChart/LossLessSmithChartWide-2.html

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 84

 Modifying Impedance

j150 
q=1

Zin Zin 50-j100 

Zref= 50 
q=0

XL Z =1 – j2
Z XL = 3

q=-1
p=-1 p=0 p=1

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 85

 Modifying Admittance

-1 -j 0.02 S
-0.5

Yin 0.01
-0.25
+j0.01 S
Yin
-2
BL
Yref= 0.02 S
1
2 2 Y = 0.5+j0.5
1 Y 0.25

BL = -1
0.5
0.5
0.25

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 86

Modifying Admittance or Impedance

X>0 X<0

B<0 B>0

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 87

 L-Match Design

Upwards transform -1

XL BC
XL -0.25
ZS ZL
BC

ZL ZS*
Source Load

Zin must be = ZS*

We map ZL into ZS* ZS

From the chart we read:

XL=0.75, BC=0.75

Is there any other L-match feasible?

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 88

 T-Match Design

Downwards transform

XL1 XL2 RL
Rin BC
A
Q
Q value required

Constant Q line Rin RL

/here Q=4/

Then we start from Rin Q

and “add” XL1 until Q
line is reached. B

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 89

 Transmission Line Stubs

Lossless line Z0
Z stub  Z 0  jtan   d   Z 0  jtan  
V(x) d
ZL Z 0  Z stub Z L

Z0

For narrowband signals Zstub can be any reactance to

compensate for Im(ZL)

Different opportunities exist for stubs

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 90

 Transformers and Baluns

n :1

ZL ZL

Zin = n2ZL

At moderate RF frequencies RF transformers with a core

transformers provide wideband /e.g. powder iron toroid/ prevent
matching, unlike the LC match radiation and parasitic coupling
circuits to other circuit elements,
But cannot be integrated.

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 91

 Baluns: Balanced and Unbalanced

RF transformers can be connected in a unique way

to provide fixed impedance matching over wide freq. range.

1:1
Balanced ZL Unbalanced
ZS
source load

ZS = ZL

1:1
Unbalanced Impedance
ZS
source step-up

ZL = 4ZS Balanced
load
Prof. Rashad Ramzan 92
 Baluns Examples
A 75-to-300 Ω balun
built into the antenna plug.

Three audio baluns

Prof. Rashad Ramzan 93

 Summary of Lecture
• PCB and Chips both have Transmission Lines.
• Transmission line (TL) models gain in importance with rising signal
frequency
• In Tx and Rx the TL is usually considered to transmit/receive signal
to/from antenna
• Reflections in TL are harmful – matching needed
• TL can replace passive elements at RF
• S-parameters are used to measure the reflections.
• Calculations can be simplified using Smith chart
• Matching for power important, esp. at Rx input and Tx output
• Matching circuits serve also as filters /BP, LP/
• In some applications matching for power can be traded for matching
for noise
• Matching also important to preserve high-quality filtering
• Integrated matching circuits exposed to chip parasitics.
Prof. Rashad Ramzan 94