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Smith chart
The Smith chart (sometimes also called Smith diagram, Mizuhashi chart (水橋チャート), Mizuhashi–Smith chart (水橋スミスチャート), Volpert–Smith chart (Диаграмма Вольперта—Смита) or Mizuhashi–Volpert–Smith chart) is a graphical calculator or nomogram designed for electrical and electronics engineers specializing in radio frequency (RF) engineering to assist in solving problems with transmission lines and matching circuits.
It was independently proposed by Tōsaku Mizuhashi (水橋東作) in 1937, and by Amiel R. Volpert (Амиэ́ль Р. Во́льперт) and Phillip H. Smith in 1939. Starting with a rectangular diagram, Smith had developed a special polar coordinate chart by 1936, which, with the input of his colleagues Enoch B. Ferrell and James W. McRae, who were familiar with conformal mappings, was reworked into the final form in early 1937, which was eventually published in January 1939. While Smith had originally called it a "transmission line chart" and other authors first used names like "reflection chart", "circle diagram of impedance", "immittance chart" or "Z-plane chart", early adopters at MIT's Radiation Laboratory started to refer to it simply as "Smith chart" in the 1940s, a name generally accepted in the Western world by 1950.
The Smith chart can be used to simultaneously display multiple parameters including impedances, admittances, reflection coefficients, scattering parameters, noise figure circles, constant gain contours and regions for unconditional stability. The Smith chart is most frequently used at or within the unity radius region. However, the remainder is still mathematically relevant, being used, for example, in oscillator design and stability analysis. While the use of paper Smith charts for solving the complex mathematics involved in matching problems has been largely replaced by software based methods, the Smith chart is still a very useful method of showing how RF parameters behave at one or more frequencies, an alternative to using tabular information. Thus most RF circuit analysis software includes a Smith chart option for the display of results and all but the simplest impedance measuring instruments can plot measured results on a Smith chart display.
The Smith chart is a mathematical transformation of the two-dimensional Cartesian complex plane. Complex numbers with positive real parts map inside the circle. Those with negative real parts map outside the circle. If we are dealing only with impedances with non-negative resistive components, our interest is focused on the area inside the circle. The transformation, for an impedance Smith chart, is:
where z = Z/Z0, i.e., the complex impedance, Z, normalized by the reference impedance, Z0. The impedance Smith chart is then an Argand plot of impedances thus transformed. Impedances with non-negative resistive components will appear inside a circle with unit radius; the origin will correspond to the reference impedance, Z0.
The Smith chart is plotted on the complex reflection coefficient plane in two dimensions and may be scaled in normalised impedance (the most common), normalised admittance or both, using different colours to distinguish between them. These are often known as the Z, Y and YZ Smith charts respectively. Normalised scaling allows the Smith chart to be used for problems involving any characteristic or system impedance which is represented by the center point of the chart. The most commonly used normalization impedance is 50 ohms. Once an answer is obtained through the graphical constructions described below, it is straightforward to convert between normalised impedance (or normalised admittance) and the corresponding unnormalized value by multiplying by the characteristic impedance (admittance). Reflection coefficients can be read directly from the chart as they are unitless parameters.
The Smith chart has a scale around its circumference or periphery which is graduated in wavelengths and degrees. The wavelengths scale is used in distributed component problems and represents the distance measured along the transmission line connected between the generator or source and the load to the point under consideration. The degrees scale represents the angle of the voltage reflection coefficient at that point. The Smith chart may also be used for lumped-element matching and analysis problems.
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Smith chart
The Smith chart (sometimes also called Smith diagram, Mizuhashi chart (水橋チャート), Mizuhashi–Smith chart (水橋スミスチャート), Volpert–Smith chart (Диаграмма Вольперта—Смита) or Mizuhashi–Volpert–Smith chart) is a graphical calculator or nomogram designed for electrical and electronics engineers specializing in radio frequency (RF) engineering to assist in solving problems with transmission lines and matching circuits.
It was independently proposed by Tōsaku Mizuhashi (水橋東作) in 1937, and by Amiel R. Volpert (Амиэ́ль Р. Во́льперт) and Phillip H. Smith in 1939. Starting with a rectangular diagram, Smith had developed a special polar coordinate chart by 1936, which, with the input of his colleagues Enoch B. Ferrell and James W. McRae, who were familiar with conformal mappings, was reworked into the final form in early 1937, which was eventually published in January 1939. While Smith had originally called it a "transmission line chart" and other authors first used names like "reflection chart", "circle diagram of impedance", "immittance chart" or "Z-plane chart", early adopters at MIT's Radiation Laboratory started to refer to it simply as "Smith chart" in the 1940s, a name generally accepted in the Western world by 1950.
The Smith chart can be used to simultaneously display multiple parameters including impedances, admittances, reflection coefficients, scattering parameters, noise figure circles, constant gain contours and regions for unconditional stability. The Smith chart is most frequently used at or within the unity radius region. However, the remainder is still mathematically relevant, being used, for example, in oscillator design and stability analysis. While the use of paper Smith charts for solving the complex mathematics involved in matching problems has been largely replaced by software based methods, the Smith chart is still a very useful method of showing how RF parameters behave at one or more frequencies, an alternative to using tabular information. Thus most RF circuit analysis software includes a Smith chart option for the display of results and all but the simplest impedance measuring instruments can plot measured results on a Smith chart display.
The Smith chart is a mathematical transformation of the two-dimensional Cartesian complex plane. Complex numbers with positive real parts map inside the circle. Those with negative real parts map outside the circle. If we are dealing only with impedances with non-negative resistive components, our interest is focused on the area inside the circle. The transformation, for an impedance Smith chart, is:
where z = Z/Z0, i.e., the complex impedance, Z, normalized by the reference impedance, Z0. The impedance Smith chart is then an Argand plot of impedances thus transformed. Impedances with non-negative resistive components will appear inside a circle with unit radius; the origin will correspond to the reference impedance, Z0.
The Smith chart is plotted on the complex reflection coefficient plane in two dimensions and may be scaled in normalised impedance (the most common), normalised admittance or both, using different colours to distinguish between them. These are often known as the Z, Y and YZ Smith charts respectively. Normalised scaling allows the Smith chart to be used for problems involving any characteristic or system impedance which is represented by the center point of the chart. The most commonly used normalization impedance is 50 ohms. Once an answer is obtained through the graphical constructions described below, it is straightforward to convert between normalised impedance (or normalised admittance) and the corresponding unnormalized value by multiplying by the characteristic impedance (admittance). Reflection coefficients can be read directly from the chart as they are unitless parameters.
The Smith chart has a scale around its circumference or periphery which is graduated in wavelengths and degrees. The wavelengths scale is used in distributed component problems and represents the distance measured along the transmission line connected between the generator or source and the load to the point under consideration. The degrees scale represents the angle of the voltage reflection coefficient at that point. The Smith chart may also be used for lumped-element matching and analysis problems.