Technical Notes > The HFSS Solution Process > Port Solutions           

Calculating Characteristic Impedance

Each port in a structure being analyzed can be viewed as a cross-section of a transmission line. HFSS computes the characteristic impedance of each port in three ways — as Zpi, Zpv, and Zvi impedances. You have the option of specifying which impedance will be used in the renormalization calculations.

• For TEM waves, the Zvi impedance converges on the port’s actual impedance and should be used.

• When modeling microstrips, it is sometimes more appropriate to use the Zpi impedance.

• For slot-type structures (such as inline or coplanar waveguides), Zpv impedance is the most appropriate.

HFSS will always calculate Zpi impedance, the impedance calculation using power and current, which are well-defined for a port because they are computed over the area of the port. Zpv and Zvi are not calculated by default. This is because V is computed by integrating along a user-defined integration line. To renormalize the solution to a Zpv or Zvi characteristic impedance, you must have defined an impedance line.

Under the Matrix Data tab of the Solution Data dialog box, the characteristic impedance can be displayed as magnitude/ phase, real/ imaginary, magnitude, phase, real, or imaginary.

For more information on the computation of impedances, refer to the following:

Bruno Bianco, Luigi Panini, Mauro Parodi, and Sandro Ridella, "Some Considerations about the Frequency Dependence of the Characteristic Impedance of Uniform Microstrips," IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. MTT-26 No. 3, March 1978.

Edward F. Kuester, David C. Chang, and Leonard Lewin, "Frequency-Dependent Definitions of Microstrip Characteristic Impedance," International URSI Symposium on Electromagnetic Waves, Munich, 26-29 August 1980, pp. 335 B/1-3.

Related Topics

Renormalizing S-Matrices