Impedance and Admittance
Matrices
Microwave Engineering EE 308
Zar Khitab
Matrices and Circuit Description
• Matrix descriptions are a very convenient way to integrate
the effects of the subcircuit into a circuit without having to
concern yourself with the specific details of the subcircuit.
– Matrix descriptions is very similar to other two-port models for
circuits you’ve seen before
• We will primarily be interested in ABCD and S matrices in
this course.
– But will study Z an Y matrices for the sack of ground buildings.
Z Matrices
• As an example of Z matrices, consider this two-port network:
• Where
and
• What’s the usefulness of an impedance matrix description?
• Answer: if a complicated circuit exists between the ports, one can conveniently
amalgamate the electrical characteristics into this one matrix.
Example
For T-network
Applying (1) repeatedly to all four Z parameters, we find:
Example cont….
• From which
• As
• The matrix is Symmetric.
– i.e. The network represented is reciprocal
• A reciprocal network is one in which the power losses are the same between any
two ports regardless of direction of propagation
• A network is known to be reciprocal if it is passive and contains only isotropic
materials.
– Examples of reciprocal networks include cables, attenuators, and all passive power splitters and
couplers.
Advantage of Matrix natation
• What’s the usefulness of an impedance matrix description?
Answer:
• First : if a complicated circuit exists between the ports, one can conveniently
amalgamate the electrical characteristics into this one matrix.
• Secondly: if one has networks connected in series, it’s very easy to combine the Z
matrices. For example:
Simplifying
• By Definition
• From circuit
and
• Hence
• Also as
• Therefor,
• Which implies
Y Matrices
• A closely related characterization is the Y-matrix
description of a network:
• Where
and
Comparing (4) and (1) we see that
Y-Matrix Usefulness
• The Y-parameter description is useful when connecting
networks in parallel
• From Which
• and
Z & Y matrices for microwave networks
• Generalizing Z and Y
– Consider the N-port network
– Where the locations tn, n=1,2,3,…. are the Terminal planes for each port.
These are positions on the T/L where the phase is arbitrarily chosen to be zero.
• Also called as phase planes.
• At these planes zn=0 (z- axis, direction of propagation say).
• So the volatage on nth T/L is .
• Becomes
Like wise
Z & Y matrices for microwave networks
• For impedance description
– Or
– Where In is chosen as Independent variable
Z & Y matrices for microwave networks
• Similarly for Admittance description we choosing Vn is chosen
as Independent variable
– or
Global Characteristics of Z and Y matrices
• For a reciprocal network
– i.e. the matrices are Symmetric about main diagonal
• A reciprocal network is one where a source instrument and a
measurement instrument can be exchanged between two ports
and the measured quantity remains unchanged.
• All passive ( and some Active) circuits you have encountered in
circuits and electronics courses are reciprocal networks.
• A network is known to be reciprocal if it is passive and contains only isotropic
materials.
– Examples of reciprocal networks include cables, attenuators, and all passive power splitters and
couplers.
• Anisotropic materials have different electrical properties (such as relative dielectric
constant) depending on which direction a signal propagates through them.
• One example of an anisotropic material is the class of materials known as ferrites,
from which circulators and isolators are made.
• Two classic examples of non-reciprocal networks are RF amplifiers and isolators.
Global Characteristics of Z and Y matrices
• For a Lossless network
– From eq. 5 this implies that
– In other words, for a lossless network the Z and Y matrices are purely imaginary.
– For a network to be lossless, all of the power (or energy) that is incident at any one
port has to be accounted for by summing the power output at the other ports with the
power reflected at the incident port. None of the power is converted to heat or
radiated within a lossless network.
– Note that an active device is not in the same category as a lossless part, since power is
added to the network through its bias connections.
• Guess what? You can never make a lossless network. But you can come extremely close, especially with
waveguide structures. We will discuss this in S-Parameters.
