• DocumentCode
    800175
  • Title

    Teaching transmission lines: a project of measurement and simulation

  • Author

    Colpitts, Bruce G.

  • Author_Institution
    Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., New Brunswick Univ., Fredericton, NB, Canada
  • Volume
    45
  • Issue
    3
  • fYear
    2002
  • fDate
    8/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
  • Firstpage
    245
  • Lastpage
    252
  • Abstract
    A junior-year project for a course in electromagnetic waves is described, including the theory, hardware, and basic measurements. The essence of the project is to simulate transmission-line properties based upon theory developed in the classroom and to measure those properties in the laboratory for comparison. The equipment chosen is readily available and inexpensive, but is used here to illustrate concepts usually requiring an expensive vector network analyzer. The transmission-line properties of insertion loss, input impedance, and crosstalk are measured as a function of frequency on Category 5 cable. The transmission-line phase shift, propagation velocity, attenuation, characteristic impedance, impedance under various transmission-line configurations, and crosstalk are modeled and measured. Measured and theoretical results are in good agreement, reinforcing the strength of the underlying theory for the student. Evaluation of the project over a three-year period with more than 120 students is very positive in terms of developing confidence in and understanding of this abstract material.
  • Keywords
    crosstalk; educational courses; electric impedance measurement; electrical engineering education; electromagnetic wave propagation; loss measurement; student experiments; transmission line theory; Category 5 cable; attenuation; characteristic impedance; crosstalk; electromagnetic waves course; input impedance; insertion loss; junior-year project; laboratory; propagation velocity; transmission lines teaching; transmission-line configurations; transmission-line phase shift; transmission-line properties simulation; Crosstalk; Education; Electromagnetic measurements; Electromagnetic scattering; Hardware; Impedance measurement; Laboratories; Transmission line measurements; Transmission line theory; Transmission lines;
  • fLanguage
    English
  • Journal_Title
    Education, IEEE Transactions on
  • Publisher
    ieee
  • ISSN
    0018-9359
  • Type

    jour

  • DOI
    10.1109/TE.2002.1024617
  • Filename
    1024617