System VSWR / Return Loss

Fundamentals
Wireless Infrastructure System Power Transfer Transmission Lines Reflections Coaxial Cables Examples

Wireless Infrastructure System

Antenna Jumper Cable Feeder Cable Surge Arrestor Jumper Cable Radio

Maximum Power Transfer

From a.c. circuit theory, maximum power delivered to a load (termination) occurs when ZL is set equal to the complex conjugate of the source (generator) impedance, i.e.
ZL = Z*S = RS - jXS
ZS VS ZL

ZS = RS + jXS ZL = RL + jXL

For transmission line systems ZL = RS = Zo

Load Mismatch
When ZL Z*S then power is reflected back to the source (generator). At high frequencies the incident and reflected powers travel as waves. The reflected wave interferes (adds and subtracts) with the incident wave. This interference causes voltage maxima and minima to occur.

Transmission Line Theory

The voltage at any point along a transmission line is:
V(z) = Vo+ e-z + Vo- e+z = V+ + Vwhere V+ is the forward traveling wave V- is the reverse traveling wave Zo transmission lines Characteristic Impedance transmission lines Propagation Constant = + j Iin + Vin
-

l + Zo, V
L -

ZS VS

IL ZL

z=0 z

z=l

Measuring Reflections
At any point on a transmission line the voltage is the vector addition of an incident (forward) wave and a reflected (reverse) wave.
Reflected Voltage vector Total Voltage vector Incident Voltage vector

The magnitude and phase relationships between the incident and reflected waves is determined by the load terminating the transmission line, ZL.

Reflection Coefficient
Define the Reflection Coefficient, , as:
Reflected Voltage (or current) at z V= = = + Forward Voltage (or current) at z V II+

this is a complex number Its relationship with ZL is:

= ZL - Zo ZL + Zo

A Perfect Load
For a lossless, perfectly matched transmission line:
2.0 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2

Voltage (V)

Total Voltage

To source z = l - 1m
NOTE:

Zo, z=l
Total Voltage = Incident Voltage Reflected Voltage = 0

ZL

f = 300 MHz = 100 mm V o+ = 1.0 V Zo = 50 = j ZL = Zo

An Imperfect Load
For a lossless, imperfectly matched transmission line:
2.0 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2

Vmax = 1.5
Incident Voltage Reflected Voltage Total Voltage

Voltage (V)

Vmin = 0.5
f = 300 MHz

To source z = l - 1m

Zo, z=l

ZL

= 100 mm V o+ = 1.0 V Zo = 50 = j ZL Zo

VSWR and Return Loss

Voltage Standing Wave Ratio, VSWR
Vmax 1+|| VSWR = = Vmin 1 -||
For the previous slide VSWR = 1.5 0.5 = 3.0

Return Loss, R.L.

R.L. = -20 log | | = -20 log

VSWR 1 VSWR + 1

R.L. = -20 log

3.0 1 3.0 + 1

= -6.0 dB

=> || = 0.5

A Real Transmission Line

2.0 1.8

Voltage (V)

1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2

Max. Total Voltage, Vmax

Min. Total Voltage, Vmin

2.0 1.9 1.8 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.7

Vmax = |V+| + |V-| Vmin = |V+| - |V-|

VSWR

Incident Voltage Reflected Voltage VSWR f = 1700 MHz V o+ = 1.0 V Zo = 50

Zo, = + j

ZL

= 6.0 dB/100m = 40.45 nepers/m ZL = 75

z=0 z

z = 50m

= 0.2 VSWR = 1.5

Power Relationships
Reflected Power, Transmitted Power,
PR = PI | | 2 = PI

VSWR 1 VSWR + 1

PT = PI (1 - | | 2) = PI

4 VSWR ( VSWR + 1)2

where PI = Incident Power

VSWR 1.20 1.30 1.40 1.50 2.00 Reflection Coefficient 0.09 0.13 0.17 0.20 0.33 Return Loss (dB) 20.8 17.7 15.6 14.0 9.5 Transmission Loss (dB) 0.04 0.07 0.12 0.18 0.51 Reflected Power 1% 2% 3% 4% 11% Transmitted Power 99% 98% 97% 96% 89%

System Reflection Coefficient

Each component in the Wireless Infrastructure has a reflection coefficient, . Each component then causes a reflected wave. Loss in the cables attenuate the reflected waves. Cable length changes the phases of the reflected waves. The reflected voltage wave at the system input, V-sys, is a vector addition of all the reflected waves.

ant

tj

V-sys

bj

System Reflection Coefficient

The reflected voltage waves at the system input are:
antenna: V-ant = V+o abj af atj ant atj af abj top jumper cable: V-tj = V+o abj af tj af abj main feeder cable: V-f =V
+ o

atj ant tj

abj f abj

bottom jumper cable: V-bj = V+o bj where V+o is the forward voltage wave at the input and the as are voltage attenuation coefficients V-sys bj abj

af

System Reflection Coefficient

The reflected voltage wave at the system input, V-sys, is:
V-sys = V-bj + V-f + V-tj + V-ant

These terms are vectors and can be viewed as: Vant

V-sys Vbj Vtj

Vf

Note: the blue vectors rotate due to reflection coefficient phase and cable lengths

System Reflection Coefficient

V-sys is a maximum when all the reflections are in phase:
max. V-sys = |V-bj| + |V-f| + |V-tj| + |V-ant|

A more typical value is determined by the square root of the sum of the reflections squared:
typical V-sys =

|V-bj|2 + |V-f|2 + |V-tj|2 + |V-ant|2

=> typical | sys |

Summary
The system input VSWR / Return Loss at a single frequency is dependent upon the following: VSWR / Return Loss of individual components Cable losses Cable lengths VSWR / Return Loss is also dependent on frequency.

Summary---continue
The closer the component to the test port the bigger the impact to the test result. This is due to the loss in the cable The difference between VSWR 1.2 and VSWR 1.5 is only very small. About 0.15dB in terms of lost power It is common the system VSWR alarm value to be set at up to 1.5