Positioning Leadership
APN-032 December 2, 2004
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Application note on Why RF Impedance Matching is Important
Overview
The purpose of this application note is to discuss the importance of impedance
matching. This Application Note will not go into the specific engineering formulas
involved with designing a complex RF transmission line network.
What is RF Transmission Line Impedance?
A transmission line guides electrical energy from one point to another. In this
case it is used to transfer the RF energy from a GPS antenna to a GPS receiver.
A transmission line can be described in terms of its impedance. The Impedance,
Z, is the ratio of voltage to current (E/I). The ratio of voltage to current at the
output (E
out
/I
out
) end is known as the output impedance (Z
out
) and conversely, the
ratio of voltage to current at the input (E
in
/I
in
) end is known as the input
impedance (Z
in
). If an infinitely long transmission line is considered, the ratio of
voltage to current at any point on that transmission line would be some particular
value of impedance. This impedance is known as the “characteristic impedance”
and is the value typically used to describe an RF transmission line.
At RF frequencies, a conductor no longer behaves like a basic DC copper wire
connection. The point where things like cable impedance and transmission line
theory enter the picture is when the length of the conductor approaches about
1/10 the wavelength of the signal it is carrying. In the case of GPS frequencies,
the wavelengths are 19cm for L1 (1575.42 MHz) and 24cm for L2 (1227.60
MHz).
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What happens when impedances are matched?
In an ideal situation, all power in the signal is transferred from the transmitter to
the receiver via the RF transmission line. Consider the analogy of yelling to
another person while the both of you are inside of a small room. That person
would be able to hear you perfectly.
This is the same case in the higher frequency domain of RF. As the signal
travels across the boundary between the antenna and cable as well as the cable
to the receiver, the impedance is the same and no reflections occur. The only
significant loss to consider is attenuation due to the length of the cable. The
figure below illustrates maximum power transfer between two impedances.
What happens when impedances are not matched?
Consider the analogy of yelling to someone submerged in water. What they hear
(if you yell loud enough) is a muffled more quieted down version of what you are
yelling. In addition, you might hear your voice getting echoed back to you, which
might leave a “ringing sound” in your own ear.
As the wave travels down a cable, from an impedance to another, reflections
occur at the boundary (point at which the two different impedances meet), which
in turn causes loss. This loss includes part of the wave getting reflected and loss
from a standing wave (two wave interacting traveling in opposite directions). The
transmitting source (the antenna) begins to take some of the reflected power,
which may cause some damage to the transmitting source. “Ghosting” also
occurs when power is reflected from the Antenna/cable boundary back down
towards the receiver. The receiver’s overall effective gain is degraded.
Boundary
Antenna Conductor
Cable Conductor
Signal
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The figure below illustrates what happens with mismatched impedances. The
potential for standing waves can be seen.
Many times, users will buy “Very Low Loss RG-59” cable because it looks very
similar to the RG-58 cable that is supposed to be used. The main difference is
that the impedance of RG-59 is 75 ohms and the impedance of RG-58 is 50
ohms. GPS receivers and antennas typically have an impedance of 50 ohms.
Lets go through the calculations to see how much is lost by simply using this 75-
ohm cable.
Lets assume that we are using a typical NovAtel receiver and a typical NovAtel
Antenna. The antenna input on the NovAtel receiver has an impedance of 50Ω.
All NovAtel antennas have an impedance of 50Ω.
Let’s first start with the formula for the Reflection Coefficient (Γ) between two
different impedances
12
12
ZZ
ZZ
+
−
=Γ
In the ideal case of matched impedances, where Z
2
= Z
1
, Γ = 0 and all power is
transferred.
In the case where we use a 75Ω cable not all power is transferred.
At the connection between the Antenna and cable and at the connection between
cable and receiver the absolute value of the reflection coefficient is 0.2.
When dealing with power, the reflection coefficient is squared. This now means
that 4% (0.2 x 0.2) of the power is reflected and lost. 96% of the power is
transmitted.
Boundary
Antenna Conductor
Cable Conductor
Boundary
Receiver Conductor
Transmitted Signal
First Reflection
Second Reflection
Part of Second Reflection
“Ghost”
Degraded Power
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However, in our example there are two boundaries to consider– antenna / cable
and the cable / receiver. So at the second boundary, another 4% is lost. This
would yield a net 92.16% transfer of power but does not account for other losses.
Some use the Return Loss as a measurement of how good an impedance match
is. Return Loss is defined as
dBRL ||log20
Γ
−
=
For both connections (50 ohm to 75 ohm and vice versa) there is a return loss of
13.98dB. The higher this number, the better. For example if a load has a return
loss of 10 db, then 1/10 of the incident power is reflected. In this case,
approximately 1/13.98 of the incident power is reflected. The higher the return
loss, the less power is actually lost. In most situations a return loss of greater
than 30dB is desired.
Let’s look at this from another perspective. Using our different impedances we
can calculate the SWR (Standing Wave Ratio). A standing wave occurs when
two waves traveling in opposite directions interact with each other.
The SWR is defined as
||1
||1
Γ−
Γ
+
=SWR
It is considered a good match when SWR is less than 1.2. With a reflection
coefficient of 0.2, SWR equals 1.5, past the point where it is considered not a
good match.
In essence the main concern is the total loss if the GPS signal from the antenna
to the receiver. The previous example assumed no other losses however in real
world application, other losses such as cable attenuation due to lengths, and
voltage drop across connections must be taken into account. Taking these
additional losses into account, the signal is further degraded and the GPS
receiver may not track the satellite.
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Is there any way to convert a cable to a different impedance?
The simplest answer is no. The best and easiest solution is to use the right cable
the first time. For NovAtel receivers, use 50-ohm RF cables when connecting the
GPS Antenna to the RF input of the receiver. One source of low-loss coaxial
cables is the Andrew Corporation. Andrew supplies low-loss HELIAX® cables of
various sizes, loss values, and flexibility. To find out more about Andrew’s
products, visit www.andrew.com.
There is a multitude of ways to match impedances. A few techniques used to
match impedances include using a quarter wave transformer, single / double stub
matching, and lumped elements. However, these are only feasible and available
if you have a microwave lab, which includes the equipment to custom-make and
test the previously mentioned techniques. With these techniques, people may
use micro-strip lines and tune them with, literally, a very sharp blade and a
steady hand.
These techniques would not be very practical in the field. If you are interested in
such techniques, consult a Microwave Engineering textbook.
Final Points
If you require any further information regarding the topics covered within this
application, please contact:
NovAtel Customer Service
1120 – 68 Ave. N.E.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2E 8S5
Phone: 1-800-NOVATEL (in Canada or the U.S.) or +
1-403-295-4500
Fax: 403-295-4901
E-mail support@novatel.ca
Website: www.novatel.com
