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Chapter 26: Smith Charts

Chapter Learning Objectives: After completing this chapter the student will be able to:

Plot an impedance or admittance on a Smith chart.

Use a Smith chart to determine the input impedance of a terminated transmission line.

Use a Smith chart to design a single-stub tuner to match a load impedance to a transmission line’s characteristic impedance.

You can watch the video associated

with this chapter at the following link:

Historical Perspective: Phillip H. Smith (1905-1987) was a

an American electrical engineer who worked for Bell

Telephone Laboratories. He is best known for inventing the

Smith chart, which is a very useful graphical tool for working

with transmission lines and RF circuits.

Smith Chart image © 2015 IEEE. Used with permission.

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Introduction to the Smith Chart

The Smith chart is a graphical method for solving problems involving transmission lines and

radio frequency (RF) loads such as antennas. It was invented in 1936, and for more than 50

years, it was the most important tool in the RF engineer’s toolkit. Since the 1980s, computer

tools have become much more powerful, and pencil-and-paper Smith charts are used less

frequently, but they are still incredibly useful for visualizing the problems associated with

transmission lines and loads. Many computer tools and digital measurement devices still use

Smith charts to convey information to their users.

Smith charts can be used to plot impedances, admittances, reflection coefficients, and many other

quantities that are beyond the scope of this discussion such as scattering parameters, noise

figures, and measures of stability.

We know that the impedance of a transmission line (the ratio of the voltage divided by the

current) varies from point to point along the line, and that the impedance repeats itself every

half-wavelength. We will take advantage of this repetition by plotting the impedance on a circle,

where the circumference represents a half wavelength. In that way, one revolution around the

circle will return you to the same point, and moving a half wavelength along the line will return

you to the same impedance.

In order to allow one chart to handle any possible transmission line, we will “normalize” all the

impedances in the system by dividing them by the characteristic impedance of the transmission

line, Zc. We will use a lower-case z to represent impedances that have been normalized in this

manner.

(Equation 26.1)

Since the load impedance can have both a real part (due to resistance) and an imaginary part (due

to capacitance and/or inductance), we can represent it as follows:

(Equation 26.2)

Normalizing both the real and imaginary components of the impedance gives:

(Equation 26.3)

Where the normalization is performed as indicated by Equation 26.1:

26.1

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(Equation 26.4)

(Equation 26.5)

Recall from chapter 25 that we derived the following equation for the input impedance of a

transmission line:

(Copy of Equation 25.10)

If we normalize this equation by dividing by ZC and then divide both the numerator and

denominator by ZC to normalize the elements inside the fraction, we find:

(Equation 26.6)

Recalling from chapter 24 the expression for reflection coefficient in terms of impedances:

(Copy of Equation 24.25)

Since the load impedance can be complex, the reflection coefficient can also be complex. We

will break it into the real part r and the imaginary part i. We will also divide both the

numerator and denominator of Equation 24.25 by ZC to normalize the impedances:

(Equation 26.7)

Performing a little algebra on Equation 26.7, we can rearrange it to solve for zL:

(Equation 26.8)

Separating both zL and G into real and imaginary parts gives:

(Equation 26.8)

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We need to separate the right side into purely real and purely imaginary components. To do so,

we need to eliminate the imaginary component in the denominator. Multiplying both the

numerator and denominator of the right side by the complex conjugate of the denominator gives:

(Equation 26.9)

Multiplying the right side out gives:

(Equation 26.10)

We can now simplify the right side. Notice that the denominator has become completely real, so

the right side can be separated into a real and an imaginary component:

(Equation 26.11)

Simplifying further gives:

(Equation 26.12)

Separating the real and imaginary components gives:

(Equation 26.13)

For this equation to be true, the real components on both sides must be equal to each other:

(Equation 26.14)

After many steps of algebra, this equation can be rewritten as follows:

(Equation 26.15)

This equation is in the form of a circle, where the center of the circle is at (r/(r+1), 0) and the

radius of the circle is 1/(r+1). The “x” and “y” variables are the real part and imaginary part of

the reflection coefficient, r and i. There are actually a number of circles, each of which has a

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different center along the x-axis and each of which has a different radius. These are known as

“r-circles,” since they are defined by the parameter r (the normalized real load impedance).

Figure 26.1 shows a few of these r-circles.

Figure 26.1. A series of r-circles.

We can also write an equation that equates the imaginary components of Equation 26.13.

(Equation 26.16)

Once again, this equation can be manipulated into the following form:

(Equation 26.17)

This is again the equation of a series of circles, whose centers are at (1, 1/x) and whose radius is

1/x. These circles are known as x-circles, since their characteristics are determined by the

parameter x, which is the imaginary component of the normalized load impedance.

Recall that imaginary impedance can be positive (for an inductive load) or negative (for a

capacitive load). If x>0, the circle will be above the x-axis, while if x<0, the circle will be below

the x-axis. Figure 26.2 shows a series of x-circles with both positive and negative values of x.

r=0

.2

r=0

r=0

.4r=

0.6

r=1

r=1

.5r=

2r=

3r=

4

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Figure 26.2. A series of x-circles. Positive x values are above the x-axis, negative values are below.

If we combine the r-circles and the x-circles into one plot, we obtain Figure 26.3. We will

restrict our attention to the inside of the r=0 circle, since anything outside that circle will

correspond to negative real impedance, which is not physically possible. Notice that this means

we will only capture a portion of each x-circle, making them look more like arcs than circles.

Figure 26.3. A combination of r-circles and x-circles shown inside the circle r=0.

This superposed image of r-circles and x-circles is also known as a Smith chart. Professional

versions of the Smith chart are widely available, as shown in Figure 26.4.

x=1

x=2x=3

x=4

x=-4x=-3

x=-2

x=-1

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Figure 26.4. A Professional Quality Smith chart (© 2015 IEEE, used with permission)

Every intersection on this chart corresponds to a particular normalized load impedance, and you

can interpolate between points if you have a very precise impedance to be plotted.

Example 26.1: Plot the following points on the Smith chart in Figure 26.4.

a) zL=0+j0

b) zL=∞

c) zL=1+j0

d) zL=0.5+j0.5

e) zL=1.5-j1.5

f) zL=2+j1

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Calculating Admittances on the Smith Chart

You will recall from chapter 25 that several of the impedance-matching strategies involved

placing loads in parallel, and the math for parallel loads is made easier when we work with

admittances rather than impedances. We can actually find the admittance that corresponds to a

given impedance directly using the Smith chart.

Rewriting Equation 26.7 in terms of admittances gives:

(Equation 26.18)

Multiplying numerator and denominator by YLYC produces:

(Equation 26.19)

Dividing numerator and denominator by Yc to normalize all admittances gives:

(Equation 26.20)

As seen in Equation 26.20, we can factor a -1 term out of the numerator, which is equal to ej.

Doing so yields a form that is identical to the expression in terms of impedance:

(Equation 26.21)

Since the Smith chart is actually drawn on the complex plane, Equation 26.21 says that we can

find an admittance from an impedance (or vice versa) by moving radians (180°) around a circle

at a constant radius.

Example 26.2: Use Figure 26.4 to calculate the admittance that corresponds to:

a) zL=0.5+j0.5

b) zL=1.5-j1.5

c) zL=2+j1

26.2

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Calculating Input Impedance Using a Smith Chart

We can also use a Smith chart to determine the impedance at any point along the line, including

the input impedance at the generator (the opposite end from the load). Recall from chapter 25

that we have the following expression for the impedance at any point z:

(Copy of Equation 25.2)

Since the input impedance is the impedance at z=-L, we can write:

(Equation 26.22)

If we divide both sides of the equation by Zc and then divide the numerator and denominator of

the right side by ejkL, we find:

(Equation 26.23)

We can combine the angle from the load with the phase shift introduced by moving from the

load to the input to obtain:

(Equation 26.24)

Where:

(Equation 26.25)

More generally, if you want to move a distance z’ away from the load, this angle is:

This means that if you know the impedance at any point along the line (such as at the load), you

can simply rotate around the Smith chart an angle of 2kz’ to find it at a different location along

the line. To move toward the generator, you rotate clockwise (a negative angle), and to move

toward the load, you rotate counter-clockwise (a positive angle). It is easier to think of

moving a certain number z’ in wavelengths around the circle, and the 4 term indicates that a

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full revolution (2) will be completed when L = /2. This fits perfectly with our earlier

observation that the impedance along the line will repeat once every half wavelength.

Notice that the outer perimeter of the Smith chart is marked off in fractions of a wavelength, with

the number increasing as we move clockwise (toward the generator) on the outer ring and

increasing as we go counterclockwise (toward the generator) on the inner ring. This is illustrated

in Figure 26.5.

Figure 26.5. Moving along the line by rotating around the Smith chart (© 2015 IEEE, used with

permission)

Example 26.3: A line with a characteristic impedance of 50 is terminated in a load

impedance of 75+j50. The line is 5m long, and the wavelength is 1.2m. Use Figure 26.5 to

estimate the input impedance of this line.

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Designing a Single-Stub Tuner Using a Smith Chart

We can also use the Smith chart to design a single-stub tuner, which was first introduced in

chapter 25. Recall that performing this design consists of determining the distance d1 from the

load where a stub needs to be placed, as well as d2, the length of the stub. We have equations to

perform this calculation, but the Smith chart method is more intuitive and better helps you

understand why the lengths of d1 and d2 must take on certain values.

Before proceeding, let’s consider a very special point and a very special circle on the Smith

chart. The red point in Figure 26.6 corresponds to zL=1+j0, which only occurs when ZL=Zc.

Recall that this is the condition for impedance matching, which means there are no reflections.

The red point in the very center of the Smith chart is always our ultimate destination when

performing impedance matching.

Figure 26.6. Perfect Impedance Matching (Red Dot) and Real Impedance Matching (Green Circle)

(© 2015 IEEE, used with permission)

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The green circle corresponds to r=1, which means that the real part of the impedance is matched.

If we can get anywhere onto the green circle, then we will be halfway home, because the real

part of the load impedance will be matched. Once that has happened, we will observe the value

of x at the point where we are, and we will design a stub that has an equal and opposite x,

canceling out the incorrect imaginary part of the load and bringing us to the red dot.

When solving a problem like this, you are actually solving two problems. The first is to

determine d1 by rotating around the Smith chart until you intersect the r=1 circle, and then you

solve a completely different problem by beginning with zL=0 (a short-circuited stub) and

working your way toward the generator until you get to the right value of x to cancel the

imaginary part of the point on the r=1 line to determine d2.

Here is a step-by-step solution method for such a problem:

1. Calculate v, k, and if necessary.

2. Normalize the load impedance.

3. Plot the normalized load impedance

4. Convert the normalized load impedance to an admittance.

5. Rotate around the Smith chart from the load admittance until you hit the r=1 circle.

6. Determine how many wavelengths you rotated and convert this to a length d1.

7. Observe the imaginary admittance x at the point where you intersected the r=1 line.

8. Plot the points where ystub=∞, which corresponds to a short-circuited stub.

9. Rotate clockwise until the imaginary admittance is equal and opposite to that of step 7.

10. Determine how many wavelengths you rotated and convert this to a length d2.

Example 26.4: A line with a characteristic impedance of 100 is terminated in a load

impedance of 70j170. Design a single-stub tuner to match the impedance of this load with

the line. Use the Smith chart of Figure 26.6. The relative dielectric constant of the transmission

line is 4, and the frequency of the transmitter is 100MHz.

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Summary

The Smith chart is a graphical tool that shows r-circles and x-circles drawn on the complex

plane.

All impedances are normalized by dividing by the characteristic impedance of the line:

Beginning with the equation for the reflection coefficient, we can derive two equations.

These represent the r-circles and x-circles:

You can plot an impedance by looking for the intersection of the appropriate r-circle and x-

circle.

The corresponding admittance can be found by rotating 180°.

The input impedance of a line terminated in a normalized load impedance can be found by

beginning at the point that corresponds to the load impedance and then rotating a distance L

clockwise measured in wavelengths. Rotating clockwise always corresponds to moving

away from the load, while rotating counter-clockwise corresponds to moving toward the

load.

A single-stub tuner is designed by first plotting the (normalized) load impedance, then

converting it to an admittance, then rotating clockwise (away from the load) until you interest

the r=1 circle. Convert the angle rotated to d1. Then begin with ystub=∞ (a short-circuited

stub) and rotate clockwise until you reach an imaginary impedance that is equal and opposite

to the imaginary component of your point on the r=1 circle. Convert the distance rotated to

d2.

26.5