The energy losses that happen in case of transmission lines are shown below:

1.Conductor Heating
2.Dielectric heating
3.Radiation Losses
It is observed that the radiation loss in parallel wire lines is much more than that of the coaxial
cables.
Conductor heating: The heating rate of a conductor is directly proportional to the square of the
current. It is inversely proportional to the characteristic impedance (Z o). Conductor heating will also
increase

with

the

increase

in

frequency.

Radiation Loss: The transmission lines act as antennas when the separation distance between the
conductors is very small as compared to their wavelength. Then the conductor starts radiating
energy. As we will increase the frequency the radiation loss will also increase.

Dielectric heating: It directly depends upon the voltage flowing across the dielectric. Similar
toconductor heating, it is also inversely proportional to the characteristic impedance of the line. In
this case the loss also increases with the increase in frequency. If we use air as the
dielectricmedium then the loss will be almost zero.

If you look in books on microwaves, RF, or optics, youll see

that there are many kinds of transmission line. Although they all
share the same basic properties as the kinds of wires and cables
we are considering here their detailed behaviour is often more
complex. Here well ignore forms of waveguide that only work
at very high frequency, but have a look at the problems that can
arise when using conventional types of cables and wires to
carry low frequency signals. This topic is of interest to scientists
and engineers who need to be alert for situations where the
signals may be altered (or lost!) by the cables they are using as
this will compromise our ability to make measurements and

carry out tasks. Hi-Fi Audio fans also take a keen interest in the
effects cables and wires might have upon signals as they fear
this will alter the sounds they wish to enjoy!
The main imperfections of conventional wires and cables arise
from two general problems. Firstly, the materials used may not
behave in the ideal way assumed so far. Secondly, the cables
may be used incorrectly as part of an overall system and hence
fail to carry the signals from source to destination as we intend.
Here we can focus on materials/manufacturing problems of
cables. The most obvious of these is that real metals arent
perfect conductors. They have a non-zero resistivity. The signal
currents which must flow in the wires when signal energy is
transmitted must therefore pass though this material resistance.
As a result, some signal power will tend to be dissipated and
lost, warming up the metal.
A less obvious problem is that the dielectric material in between
the conductors will also tend to leak slightly. Dry air has quite
a high resistivity (unless we apply many kV/metre when it will
break down and cause a spark), but high isnt the same as
infinite. In addition, all real dielectrics consist of atoms with
electrons. The electrons are tightly bound to the nuclei, but they
still move a little when we apply an electric field. Hence
dissipation will also occur when we apply a varying field to a
dielectric as work has to be done moving these bound electrons.
This can be regarded as a non-zero effective a.c. conductivity of
the dielectric.
As a consequence of the above effects a better model of a cable

is a series of elements of the form shown in figure 73.

Here the dissipative loss due to conductor resistance is indicated

by a resistance-per-length value of and loss due to the
dielectric is represented by a conductance-per-length value of
. As before, here I have used primes to emphasise that the values
are per unit length and avoid confusion with total values or those
of specific components.
The presence of the losses alters the propagation behaviour of
the cables. The characteristic impedance and signal velocity now
become

where is the (angular) signal frequency and

means the
imaginary part. Note that, unlike the case for a perfect cable,
the impedance and velocity will now usually be frequency
dependent. The frequency dependent cable velocity may be

particularly significant when we are transmitting broadband

signals as the frequency components get out of step and will
arrive a differing times. This behaviour is called Dispersion and
is usually unwanted as it distorts the signal patterns as they
propagate along the cables. Alas, all real cables will have some
resistance/conductance so this effect will usually tend to arise.
However, the good news is that if we can arrange that

then the two forms of loss have balancing effects upon the
velocity and the dispersion vanishes. Such a cable is said to be
distortionless and the above requirement which has to be
satisfied for this to be true is called Heavisides Condition,
named after the first person to point it out.
The rate of energy or power loss as a signal propagates down a
real cable is in the form of an exponential. For a given input
power, , the power that arrives at the end of a cable of
length, , will be

where is defined to be the Attenuation Coefficient whose value

is given by

where
indicates the real part. For frequency independent
cable values the above indicates that the value of tends to rise
with frequency. This behaviour, plus some dispersion, are usual

for most real cables. The question in practice is, How big are
these effects, and do they matter for a particular application?
Not, Do these effects occur?
Understanding the Transmission Line Theory

This section:
Discusses how the discrete lumped model of the U Element
transmission line explains characteristic impedance and
transmission velocity
Uses the concepts of self and mutual inductance to explain
crosstalk
Describes rules of thumb for various types of clock pulses
Discusses the sources of transmission line attenuation
Lossless Transmission Line Model

As a signal propagates down the pair of conductors, each new section acts electrically
as a small lumped circuit element. In its simplest form, called the lossless model, the
equivalent circuit of a transmission line has just inductance and capacitance. These
elements are distributed uniformly down the length of the line, as shown in Equivalent
Circuit Model of a Lossless Transmission Line.
Figure C-44: Equivalent Circuit Model of a Lossless Transmission Line

From this electrical circuit model, the two important terms that characterize a
transmission line can be derived: the velocity of a signal (v) and the characteristic
impedance (Z0).

and

LL = inductance per length

CL = capacitance per length
This is the basis for the T Element used in Star-Hspice. It accounts for a characteristic
impedance (Z0) and a time delay (TD). The time delay depends on the distance (d)
between the two ends of the transmission line:

Lossy Transmission Line Model

When loss is significant, the effects of the series resistance (R) and the dielectric
conductance (G) should be included. Equivalent Circuit Model of a Lossy
Transmission Line shows the equivalent circuit model of a lossy transmission line,
with distributed "lumps" of R, L, and C Elements.
Figure C-45: Equivalent Circuit Model of a Lossy Transmission Line

The U Element used in Star-Hspice is the equivalent circuit model for the lossy
transmission line. In a transient simulation, the U Element automatically accounts for
frequency-dependent characteristic impedance, dispersion (frequency dependence in
the velocity), and attenuation.
The most common types of transmission line cross sections are microstrip, stripline,
coax, wire over ground, and twisted pair. There is no direct relationship between cross
section, velocity of propagation, and characteristic impedance.
In a balanced transmission line, the two conductors have similar properties and are
electrically indistinguishable. For example, each wire of a twisted pair has the same

voltage drop per length down the line The circuit model for each wire has the same
resistance capacitance and inductance per length.
This is not the case with a microstrip line or a coaxial cable. In those structures, the
signal conductor has a larger voltage drop per length than the other conductor. The
wide reference plane in a microstrip or the larger diameter shield in a coax have lower
resistance per length and lower inductance per length than the signal line. The
equivalent circuit model for unbalanced lines typically assumes the resistance and
inductance per length of the ground path is zero and all the voltage drop per length is
on the signal conductor. Even though the inductance of the reference plane is small, it
can play a significant role when there are large transient currents.
Impedance

The impedance of a device (Z) is defined as the instantaneous ratio of the voltage
across the device (V) to the current through it:

Impedance of Simple Lumped Elements

The impedance of a device can be thought of as the quality of the device that causes it
to transform a current through it into a voltage across it:

The admittance (Y) is less often used to characterize a device. It is the inverse of the
impedance:

There are three ideal circuit elements used to describe passive components: a resistor,
a capacitor, and an inductor. They are defined by how they interact with voltage across
them and current though them:
Resistor, with resistance (R):

Capacitor, with capacitance (C):

Inductor with inductance (L):

When the voltage or current signals are time dependent, the impedance of a capacitive
or inductive element is a very complicated function of time. You can simulate it with
Star-Hspice, but it is difficult to build an intuitive model.
The impedance of a capacitor rotates the phase of the current 90 in the negative or
direction to generate the voltage across the capacitor. The impedance of an inductor
rotates the current 90 in the positive direction to generate the voltage across the
inductor. For a resistor, the current and voltage have the same phase.
In the frequency domain, when all signals are sine waves in the time domain, the
impedance of a capacitor and an inductor is frequency dependent, decreasing with
frequency for a capacitor and increasing with frequency for an inductor. The
impedance of a resistor is constant with frequency.
In the real world of finite dimensions and engineered materials, ideal circuit elements
have parasitics associated with them, which cause them to behave in complex ways
that are very apparent at high frequencies.
Characteristic Impedance
A controlled impedance transmission line is a pair of conductors that have a uniform
cross section and uniform distribution of dielectric materials down their length. A
short segment, x, of the transmission line has a small capacitance associated with
it, C, which is the capacitance per length, CL, times the x:

When a voltage signal is introduced at one end, the voltage between the conductors
induces an electric that propagates the length of the line at the speed of light in the

dielectric. As the voltage signal moves down the line, each new section of line charges
up. The new section of line, x, is charged up in a time t:

If the voltage (V) moves down the line at a constant speed and the capacitance per
length is uniform throughout the line, then the constant voltage applied to the front
end draws a constant charging current (I):

This constant voltage with constant current has the behavior of a constant impedance
(Z):

The impedance is determined by the speed of the signal and the capacitance per length
of the pair of conductors, both intrinsic properties of the line. This intrinsic impedance
is termed the characteristic impedance of the line (Z0).
If a measurement is made at one end of the line in a short time compared to the round
trip time delay, the line behaves like a resistor with a resistance equal to the
characteristic impedance of the line. Transmission line effects are only important
when rise times are comparable or shorter than the round trip time delay.
For example, if the rise time of a device is 1 ns, and it drives an interconnect trace in
FR4 which is longer than three inches, the load on the device during the risetime is
purely resistive. For CMOS devices, which are used to drive high resistance loads, the
typical 50 ohm resistance they see initially can significantly distort the waveform
from what is expected.
It is only during the initial surge of the voltage that a transmission line behaves as a
constant impedance, with a value equal to its characteristic impedance. For this reason
the characteristic impedance of a line is also called the surge impedance. The surge
time during which the impedance is constant is the round trip time of flight, or twice

the time delay. Reflections from the far end complicate the electrical behavior of the
line after the surge time.
The instantaneous impedance measured at the front end of a transmission line is a
complicated function of time. It depends on the nature of the terminations at the far
end. When the line is shunted to ground with a resistor of value equal to the
characteristic impedance of the line, there is no reflection back, and the front end of
the line behaves as a resistive load. When the termination at the far end is open, the
impedance at the front end starts out at the characteristic impedance and eventually,
after multiple reflections, approaches an infinite impedance. During some periods the
instantaneous impedance may be zero. These transient effects are fully simulated with
T Elements and U Elements in Star-Hspice.

Finite-length transmission lines

A transmission line of infinite length is an interesting abstraction, but physically impossible.
All transmission lines have some finite length, and as such do not behave precisely the same
as an infinite line. If that piece of 50 RG-58/U cable I measured with an ohmmeter
years ago had been infinitely long, I actually would have been able to measure 50 worth
of resistance between the inner and outer conductors. But it was not infinite in length, and
so it measured as open (infinite resistance).
Nonetheless, the characteristic impedance rating of a transmission line is important even
when dealing with limited lengths. An older term for characteristic impedance, which I like
for its descriptive value, is surge impedance. If a transient voltage (a surge) is applied to
the end of a transmission line, the line will draw a current proportional to the surge voltage
magnitude divided by the line's surge impedance (I=E/Z). This simple, Ohm's Law
relationship between current and voltage will hold true for a limited period of time, but not
indefinitely.
If the end of a transmission line is open-circuited -- that is, left unconnected -- the current
wave propagating down the line's length will have to stop at the end, since electrons
cannot flow where there is no continuing path. This abrupt cessation of current at the line's
end causes a pile-up to occur along the length of the transmission line, as the electrons
successively find no place to go. Imagine a train traveling down the track with slack
between the rail car couplings: if the lead car suddenly crashes into an immovable
barricade, it will come to a stop, causing the one behind it to come to a stop as soon as the
first coupling slack is taken up, which causes the next rail car to stop as soon as the next
coupling's slack is taken up, and so on until the last rail car stops. The train does not come
to a halt together, but rather in sequence from first car to last: (Figure below)

Reflected wave.
A signal propagating from the source-end of a transmission line to the load-end is called
an incident wave. The propagation of a signal from load-end to source-end (such as what
happened in this example with current encountering the end of an open-circuited
transmission line) is called areflected wave.
When this electron pile-up propagates back to the battery, current at the battery ceases,
and the line acts as a simple open circuit. All this happens very quickly for transmission lines
of reasonable length, and so an ohmmeter measurement of the line never reveals the brief
time period where the line actually behaves as a resistor. For a mile-long cable with a
velocity factor of 0.66 (signal propagation velocity is 66% of light speed, or 122,760 miles
per second), it takes only 1/122,760 of a second (8.146 microseconds) for a signal to travel
from one end to the other. For the current signal to reach the line's end and reflect back to
the source, the round-trip time is twice this figure, or 16.292 s.
High-speed measurement instruments are able to detect this transit time from source to
line-end and back to source again, and may be used for the purpose of determining a
cable's length. This technique may also be used for determining the presence and location of
a break in one or both of the cable's conductors, since a current will reflect off the wire
break just as it will off the end of an open-circuited cable. Instruments designed for such
purposes are called time-domain reflectometers (TDRs). The basic principle is identical to
that of sonar range-finding: generating a sound pulse and measuring the time it takes for
the echo to return.

A similar phenomenon takes place if the end of a transmission line is short-circuited: when
the voltage wave-front reaches the end of the line, it is reflected back to the source,
because voltage cannot exist between two electrically common points. When this reflected
wave reaches the source, the source sees the entire transmission line as a short-circuit.
Again, this happens as quickly as the signal can propagate round-trip down and up the
transmission line at whatever velocity allowed by the dielectric material between the line's
conductors.
A simple experiment illustrates the phenomenon of wave reflection in transmission lines.
Take a length of rope by one end and whip it with a rapid up-and-down motion of the
wrist. A wave may be seen traveling down the rope's length until it dissipates entirely due to
friction: (Figurebelow)

Lossy transmission line.

This is analogous to a long transmission line with internal loss: the signal steadily grows
weaker as it propagates down the line's length, never reflecting back to the source.
However, if the far end of the rope is secured to a solid object at a point prior to the incident
wave's total dissipation, a second wave will be reflected back to your hand: (Figure below)

Reflected wave.
Usually, the purpose of a transmission line is to convey electrical energy from one point to
another. Even if the signals are intended for information only, and not to power some
significant load device, the ideal situation would be for all of the original signal energy to
travel from the source to the load, and then be completely absorbed or dissipated by the
load for maximum signal-to-noise ratio. Thus, loss along the length of a transmission line
is undesirable, as are reflected waves, since reflected energy is energy not delivered to the
end device.
Reflections may be eliminated from the transmission line if the load's impedance exactly
equals the characteristic (surge) impedance of the line. For example, a 50 coaxial cable
that is either open-circuited or short-circuited will reflect all of the incident energy back to
the source. However, if a 50 resistor is connected at the end of the cable, there will be no
reflected energy, all signal energy being dissipated by the resistor.

This makes perfect sense if we return to our hypothetical, infinite-length transmission line
example. A transmission line of 50 characteristic impedance and infinite length behaves
exactly like a 50 resistance as measured from one end. (Figure below) If we cut this line
to some finite length, it will behave as a 50 resistor to a constant source of DC voltage for
a brief time, but then behave like an open- or a short-circuit, depending on what condition
we leave the cut end of the line: open (Figure below) or shorted. (Figure below) However, if
we terminate the line with a 50 resistor, the line will once again behave as a 50 resistor,
indefinitely: the same as if it were of infinite length again: (Figure below)

Infinite transmission line looks like resistor.

One mile transmission.

Shorted transmission line.

Line terminated in characteristic impedance.

In essence, a terminating resistor matching the natural impedance of the transmission line
makes the line appear infinitely long from the perspective of the source, because a
resistor has the ability to eternally dissipate energy in the same way a transmission line of
infinite length is able to eternally absorb energy.
Reflected waves will also manifest if the terminating resistance isn't precisely equal to the
characteristic impedance of the transmission line, not just if the line is left unconnected
(open) or jumpered (shorted). Though the energy reflection will not be total with a
terminating impedance of slight mismatch, it will be partial. This happens whether or not
the terminating resistance is greater or less than the line's characteristic impedance.
Re-reflections of a reflected wave may also occur at the source end of a transmission line, if
the source's internal impedance (Thevenin equivalent impedance) is not exactly equal to the
line's characteristic impedance. A reflected wave returning back to the source will be
dissipated entirely if the source impedance matches the line's, but will be reflected back

toward the line end like another incident wave, at least partially, if the source impedance
does not match the line. This type of reflection may be particularly troublesome, as it makes
it appear that the source has transmitted another pulse.

REVIEW:
Characteristic impedance is also known as surge impedance, due to the
temporarily resistive behavior of any length transmission line.
A finite-length transmission line will appear to a DC voltage source as a constant
resistance for some short time, then as whatever impedance the line is terminated
with. Therefore, an open-ended cable simply reads open when measured with an
ohmmeter, and shorted when its end is short-circuited.
A transient (surge) signal applied to one end of an open-ended or short-circuited
transmission line will reflect off the far end of the line as a secondary wave. A
signal traveling on a transmission line from source to load is called an incident wave;
a signal bounced off the end of a transmission line, traveling from load to source,
is called a reflected wave.
Reflected waves will also appear in transmission lines terminated by resistors not
precisely matching the characteristic impedance.
A finite-length transmission line may be made to appear infinite in length if
terminated by a resistor of equal value to the line's characteristic impedance. This
eliminates all signal reflections.
A reflected wave may become re-reflected off the source-end of a transmission
line if the source's internal impedance does not match the line's characteristic
impedance. This re-reflected wave will appear, of course, like another pulse signal
transmitted from the source.