Electrical length should not be confused with Antenna effective length.
In electrical engineering, electrical length is a dimensionless parameter equal to the physical length of an electrical conductor such as a cable or wire, divided by the wavelength of alternating current at a given frequency traveling through the conductor.[1] [2] [3] In other words, it is the length of the conductor measured in wavelengths. It can alternately be expressed as an angle, in radians or degrees, equal to the phase shift the alternating current experiences traveling through the conductor.
Electrical length is defined for a conductor operating at a specific frequency or narrow band of frequencies. It is determined by the construction of the cable, so different cables of the same length operating at the same frequency can have different electrical lengths. A conductor is called electrically long if it has an electrical length much greater than one; that is it is much longer than the wavelength of the alternating current passing through it, and electrically short if it is much shorter than a wavelength. Electrical lengthening and electrical shortening means adding reactance (capacitance or inductance) to an antenna or conductor to increase or decrease the electrical length, usually for the purpose of making it resonant at a different resonant frequency.
This concept is used throughout electronics, and particularly in radio frequency circuit design, transmission line and antenna theory and design. Electrical length determines when wave effects (phase shift along conductors) become important in a circuit. Ordinary lumped element electric circuits only work well for alternating currents at frequencies for which the circuit is electrically small (electrical length much less than one). For frequencies high enough that the wavelength approaches the size of the circuit (the electrical length approaches one) the lumped element model on which circuit theory is based becomes inaccurate, and transmission line techniques must be used.[4]
Electrical length is defined for conductors carrying alternating current (AC) at a single frequency or narrow band of frequencies. An alternating electric current of a single frequency
f
T=1/f
vp
T
λ=vpT=vp/f
λ
The electrical length
G
l
f
vp
λ
\phi
\phi=360\circ{l\overλ}degrees
=2\pi{l\overλ}radians
The electrical length of a conductor determines when wave effects (phase shift along the conductor) are important. If the electrical length
G
l<λ/10
vp=c=
λ0=c/f
l
G0={l\overλ0
\epsilon0=
\mu0=
c={1\over\sqrt{\epsilon0\mu0
In an electrical cable, for a cycle of the alternating current to move a given distance along the line, it takes time to charge the capacitance between the conductors, and the rate of change of the current is slowed by the series inductance of the wires. This determines the phase velocity
vp
C
L
vp=\kappac
\kappa
\epsilon
C
\mu
L
\kappa
\epsilon
\mu
\epsilon
\mu
\epsilonr
\mur
\epsilon0
\mu0
\epsilonr={\epsilon\over\epsilon0
vp={1\over\sqrt{\epsilon\mu}}={1\over\sqrt{\epsilon0\epsilonr\mu0\mur
\kappa={vp\overc}={1\over\sqrt{\epsilonr\mur
In many lines, for example twin lead, only a fraction of the space surrounding the line containing the fields is occupied by a solid dielectric. With only part of the electromagnetic field effected by the dielectric, there is less reduction of the wave velocity. In this case an effective permittivity
\epsiloneff
In most transmission lines there are no materials with high magnetic permeability, so
\mu=\mu0
\mur=1
λ
λ=vp/f=\kappac/f=\kappaλ0
l
Parallel line, air dielectric | .95 | 29 | ||
Parallel line, polyethylene dielectric (Twin lead) | .85 | 28 | ||
Coaxial cable, polyethylene dielectric | .66 | 20 | ||
Twisted pair, CAT-5 | .64 | 19 | ||
.50 | 15 | |||
.50 | 15 |
Ordinary electrical cable suffices to carry alternating current when the cable is electrically short; the electrical length of the cable is small compared to one, that is when the physical length of the cable is small compared to a wavelength, say
l<λ/10
As frequency gets high enough that the length of the cable becomes a significant fraction of a wavelength,
l>λ/10
To mitigate these problems, at these frequencies transmission line is used instead. A transmission line is a specialized cable designed for carrying electric current of radio frequency. The distinguishing feature of a transmission line is that it is constructed to have a constant characteristic impedance along its length and through connectors and switches, to prevent reflections. This also means AC current travels at a constant phase velocity along its length, while in ordinary cable phase velocity may vary. The velocity factor
\kappa
Electrical length is widely used with a graphical aid called the Smith chart to solve transmission line calculations. A Smith chart has a scale around the circumference of the circular chart graduated in wavelengths and degrees, which represents the electrical length of the transmission line from the point of measurement to the source or load.
The equation for the voltage as a function of time along a transmission line with a matched load, so there is no reflected power, is
v(x,t)=Vp\cos(\omegat-\betax)
Vp
\omega=2\pif=2\pi/T
\beta=2\pi/λ
x
t
Z0
i(x,t)={v(x,t)\overZ0
An important class of radio antenna is the thin element antenna in which the radiating elements are conductive wires or rods. These include monopole antennas and dipole antennas, as well as antennas based on them such as the whip antenna, T antenna, mast radiator, Yagi, log periodic, and turnstile antennas. These are resonant antennas, in which the radio frequency electric currents travel back and forth in the antenna conductors, reflecting from the ends.
If the antenna rods are not too thick (have a large enough length to diameter ratio), the current along them is close to a sine wave, so the concept of electrical length also applies to these. The current is in the form of two oppositely directed sinusoidal traveling waves which reflect from the ends, which interfere to form standing waves. The electrical length of an antenna, like a transmission line, is its length in wavelengths of the current on the antenna at the operating frequency.[12] [13] An antenna's resonant frequency, radiation pattern, and driving point impedance depend not on its physical length but on its electrical length.[14] A thin antenna element is resonant at frequencies at which the standing current wave has a node (zero) at the ends (and in monopoles an antinode (maximum) at the ground plane). A dipole antenna is resonant at frequencies at which its electrical length is a half wavelength (
λ/2,\phi=180\circ or \pi radians
λ/4,\phi=90\circ or \pi/2 radians
Resonant frequency is important because at frequencies at which the antenna is resonant the input impedance it presents to its feedline is purely resistive. If the resistance of the antenna is matched to the characteristic resistance of the feedline, it absorbs all the power supplied to it, while at other frequencies it has reactance and reflects some power back down the line toward the transmitter, causing standing waves (high SWR) on the feedline. Since only a portion of the power is radiated this causes inefficiency, and can possibly overheat the line or transmitter. Therefore, transmitting antennas are usually designed to be resonant at the transmitting frequency; and if they cannot be made the right length they are electrically lengthened or shortened to be resonant (see below).
A thin-element antenna can be thought of as a transmission line with the conductors separated, so the near-field electric and magnetic fields extend further into space than in a transmission line, in which the fields are mainly confined to the vicinity of the conductors. Near the ends of the antenna elements the electric field is not perpendicular to the conductor axis as in a transmission line but spreads out in a fan shape (fringing field).[15] As a result, the end sections of the antenna have increased capacitance, storing more charge, so the current waveform departs from a sine wave there, decreasing faster toward the ends.[16] When approximated as a sine wave, the current does not quite go to zero at the ends; the nodes of the current standing wave, instead of being at the ends of the element, occur somewhat beyond the ends.[17] Thus the electrical length of the antenna is longer than its physical length.
The electrical length of an antenna element also depends on the length-to-diameter ratio of the conductor.[18] [19] [20] [21] As the ratio of the diameter to wavelength increases, the capacitance increases, so the node occurs farther beyond the end, and the electrical length of the element increases. When the elements get too thick, the current waveform becomes significantly different from a sine wave, so the entire concept of electrical length is no longer applicable, and the behavior of the antenna must be calculated by electromagnetic simulation computer programs like NEC.
As with a transmission line, an antenna's electrical length is increased by anything that adds shunt capacitance or series inductance to it, such as the presence of high permittivity dielectric material around it. In microstrip antennas which are fabricated as metal strips on printed circuit boards, the dielectric constant of the substrate board increases the electrical length of the antenna. Proximity to the Earth or a ground plane, a dielectric coating on the conductor, nearby grounded towers, metal structural members, guy lines and the capacitance of insulators supporting the antenna also increase the electrical length.
These factors, called "end effects", cause the electrical length of an antenna element to be somewhat longer than the length of the same wave in free space. In other words, the physical length of the antenna at resonance will be somewhat shorter than the resonant length in free space (one-half wavelength for a dipole, one-quarter wavelength for a monopole). As a rough generalization, for a typical dipole antenna, the physical resonant length is about 5% shorter than the free space resonant length.
In many circumstances for practical reasons it is inconvenient or impossible to use an antenna of resonant length. An antenna of nonresonant length at the operating frequency can be made resonant by adding a reactance, a capacitance or inductance, either in the antenna itself or in a matching network between the antenna and its feedline. A nonresonant antenna appears at its feedpoint electrically equivalent to a resistance in series with a reactance. Adding an equal but opposite type of reactance in series with the feedline will cancel the antenna's reactance; the combination of the antenna and reactance will act as a series resonant circuit, so at its operating frequency its input impedance will be purely resistive, allowing it to be fed power efficiently at a low SWR without reflections.
In a common application, an antenna which is electrically short, shorter than its fundamental resonant length, a monopole antenna with an electrical length shorter than a quarter-wavelength (
λ/4
λ/2
Conversely, an antenna longer than resonant length at its operating frequency, such as a monopole longer than a quarter wavelength but shorter than a half wavelength, will have inductive reactance. This can be cancelled by adding a capacitor of equal but opposite reactance at the feed point to make the antenna resonant. This is called electrically shortening the antenna.
Two antennas that are similar (scaled copies of each other), fed with different frequencies, will have the same radiation resistance and radiation pattern and fed with equal power will radiate the same power density in any direction if they have the same electrical length at the operating frequency; that is, if their lengths are in the same proportion as the wavelengths.[22]
{l1\overl2
An electrically short conductor, much shorter than one wavelength, makes an inefficient radiator of electromagnetic waves. As the length of an antenna is made shorter than its fundamental resonant length (a half-wavelength for a dipole antenna and a quarter-wavelength for a monopole), the radiation resistance the antenna presents to the feedline decreases with the square of the electrical length, that is the ratio of physical length to wavelength,
(l/λ)2
λ
A second disadvantage is that since the capacitive reactance of the antenna and inductive reactance of the required loading coil do not decrease, the Q factor of the antenna increases; it acts electrically like a high Q tuned circuit. As a result, the bandwidth of the antenna decreases with the square of electrical length, reducing the data rate that can be transmitted. At VLF frequencies even the huge toploaded wire antennas that must be used have bandwidths of only ~10 hertz, limiting the data rate that can be transmitted.
The field of electromagnetics is the study of electric fields, magnetic fields, electric charge, electric currents and electromagnetic waves. Classic electromagnetism is based on the solution of Maxwell's equations. These equations are mathematically difficult to solve in all generality, so approximate methods have been developed that apply to situations in which the electrical length of the apparatus is very short (
G\ll1
G\gg1
l
λ=c/f
λ\ggl
G\ll1
λ>50l
(l/λ)2=G2
λ ≈ l
G ≈ 1
λ\lll
G\gg1
λ<l/50
\nu=c/vp=\sqrt{\epsilonr\mur
\epsilon
\mu
Symbol | Unit | Definition |
---|---|---|
\beta | meter−1 | Wavenumber of wave in conductor =2\pi/λ |
\epsilon | farads / meter | Permittivity per meter of the dielectric in cable |
\epsilon0 | farads / meter | Permittivity of free space, a fundamental constant |
\epsiloneff | farads / meter | Effective relative permittivity per meter of cable |
\epsilonr | none | Relative permittivity of the dielectric in cable |
\kappa | none | Velocity factor of current in conductor =vp/c |
λ | Wavelength of radio waves in conductor | |
λ0 | Wavelength of radio waves in free space | |
\mu | henries / meter | Effective magnetic permeability per meter of cable |
\mu0 | henries / meter | Permeability of free space, a fundamental constant |
\mur | none | Relative permeability of dielectric in cable |
\nu | none | Index of refraction of dielectric material |
\pi | none | Constant = 3.14159 |
\phi | radians or degrees | Phase shift of current between the ends of the conductor |
\omega | radians / second | Angular frequency of alternating current =2\pi/f |
c | meters / second | Speed of light in vacuum |
C | farads / meter | Shunt capacitance per unit length of the conductor |
f | hertz | Frequency of radio waves |
F | none | Fill factor of a transmission line, the fraction of space filled with dielectric |
G | none | Electrical length of conductor |
G0 | none | Electrical length of electromagnetic wave of length l in free space |
l | Length of the conductor | |
L | henries / meter | Inductance per unit length of the conductor |
T | second | Period of radio waves |
t | second | time |
vp | meters / second | phase velocity of current in conductor |
x | meter | distance along conductor |
vp
c