Numerical Representation of Multiconductor Transmission-Line Equations by Integration along Characteristics

It is often necessary to obtain the solution of the transmission-line equations in the time domain, for example, for lines excited by transient, nonuniform electromagnetic fields (fields due to nuclear detonations). This paper presents the solution of the multiconductor transmission-line equations by representing them by integration along their characteristic directions. The multiconductor transmission-line equations are first decoupled to a set of n single-line equations and then the method of characteristics is applied to solve these equations. It is shown in this paper that the multiconductor transmission-line equations can always be decoupled into a set of n single-line equations. The transmission-line equations are stable along their characteristics in the presence of high air conductivity, whereas the finite-difference solutions become unstable.