Lab Manual

Experiment No. 5
Aim of Experiment:
Introduction to Smith chart and its application for unknown impedance measurement

Requirement:
You have to install a LabVIEW Run time Engine on your computer to run the exe file in order to perform the
experiment. The Run Time Engine can be downloaded free of cost from the following link:
http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/1101/lang/en

Knowledge Required for the Experiment:

Objective of Experiment:
Transmission-line calculation – such as determination of input impedance, reflection and load impedance,
involve tedious manipulation of complex numbers. This tedium can be alleviated by using a graphical method
of solution. The best known and most widely used graphical chart is the Smith chart devised by P.H. Smith.
Here Smith chart has been designed using LabVIEW programming for better understanding the concept behind
smith chart using graphical user interface.

This experiment gives an introduction to Smith chart and its application for the unknown impedance
measurement. From this experiment we will learn to use the Smith chart for transmission-line calculations. This
experiment will be helpful in learning following topics:

 Realization of Smith chart and the basics of drawing a Smith chart.

Theory:
Smith Chart: Smith chart devised by P.H. Smith is the most widely used graphical chart for transmission line
calculations. It is a chart of resistance and reactance circles in the plane for where, r -
and x- circles are everywhere orthogonal to one another. The intersection of an r-circle and an x-circle defines a
point that represents normalized load impedance . This can be obtained on the LabVIEW
programme by selecting option 3 from menu and providing the values of r and x in the space specified. The
actual load impedance is . Since a Smith chart plots the normalized impedance for , it
can be used for calculations concerning a lossless transmission line only with arbitrary characteristic
impedance. The Smith chart is marked with and rectangular coordinates. The same chart can be marked
with polar coordinates, such that every point in the Γ- plane is specified by a magnitude and a phase angle
θΓ. All -circles are centered at the origin, and their radii vary uniformly from 0 to 1. The -circles can be
drawn in the LabVIEW programme provided with the experiment by selecting option 6 from the menu and
giving desired value of in the column specified. The radius of the VSWR circle is equal to the magnitude
of the load reflection coefficient.

900

1800 Pm PM 00
PSC O POC

2700

Each -circle intersects the real axis ( ) at two points. The points are marked in the above figure as on
the positive-real axis ( ) and on the negative-real axis ( ). Since along the real axis, and
both represent situations with a purely resistive load, .Obviously, at , where ; and
at , where . Value of the r-circle passing through the point is numerically equal to the
standing-wave ratio(S). Similarly, the value of the r-circle passing through the point on the negative-real axis
is numerically equal to 1/S.
Calculation of Input Impedance: As we know that the input impedance looking toward the load at a distance
from the load is the ratio of and

(1)

(2)

From equation (1) and (2) we have

(3)

(4)

Where

We note that the magnitude of the reflection coefficient and therefore the standing-wave ratio S, are not changed
by the additional line length . Thus just as we can use the Smith chart to find and for a given at the
load, we can keep constant and subtract (rotate in the clockwise direction) from an angle equal to
. This will locate the point for , which determines , the normalized input impedance
looking into a lossless line of characteristic impedance length z’, and a normalized load impedance .

Procedure:
Please download the files shown on the left to perform the actual experiment.
Step 1: Select the option from menu according to your requirement.
Step 2: Enter the values corresponding to the option provided in previous step.
Step 3: Run the VI to see the desired plot in Smith chart. In case, you wish to see the other plot then click stop
and repeat steps 1-2 before running the program again.

Task:
1. Observe the various plots on Smith Chart. Differentiate between resistance and reactance circle.
2. Analyze the intersection point of resistance and reactance circle as load point. View the short circuit and
open circuited points on Smith chart.
3. Observe the |Γ|-circle plotted on the Smith Chart with centered at the origin on the Smith chart. The
value of the r-circle passing through the intersection of the |Γ|-circle and the positive-real axis equals the
standing-wave ratio S.

Summary: This experiment guides on how to use Smith chart for tedious calculations of transmission line.
References:
1. "Microwave Engineering", Third Edition, David M. Pozar
2. "Microwave Devices and Circuits", Third Edition, Edition, Samuel Y. Liao
3. "Field and Wave Electromagnetics", Second Edition, David K. Cheng
4. "Electromagnetic Waves and Radiating System", Edward C. Jordan, Keith G. Balmain
5. Computer Simulation Technology (CST), Darmstadt, Germany, 1998-2003. [online]. Available:
http://www.cst.com
6. Agilent Application Note - 11949698, "Basics of Measuring The Dielectric Properties of Materials"