Microwave Journal
www.microwavejournal.com/articles/29568-waveguide-transmission-lines-cables-and-connectors
Dynawave

Waveguide, Transmission Lines, Cables and Connectors

Design and selection of transmission media. Includes information on material properties.

June 1, 2018

CST Studio CrosstalkCST Studio Suite

SIMULA, Dassault Systèmes

CST Studio Suite offers simulation tools for cables and cable harnesses analysis and design. The CST CABLE STUDIO™ module can calculate the impedance of complex cables, and can be combined with 3D solvers for full hybrid simulation of cable shielding performance (emissions and susceptibility) as installed in vehicles, aircraft and buildings.


DynaFlex® CableAssembly Configurator Dynawave

Dynawave

The cable configurator provides an intuitive interface for the user to select five primary attributes that define a range of possible low loss cable assembly solutions. The configurator generates a part number and summarized output of key attributes for the assembly and identifies if the selected attributes meet the user specification. In this manner, a user has the opportunity to understand compromises that can be made if one or more attributes are critical. Each configured assembly has an outline drawing and a detailed assembly report with full specifications (tabular and graphical) and several options to view the individual connector or cable construction and materials. Users can print the material, request a quote or ask questions easily from the output screens. Registered users can also store all design inquiries for future reference right from the site. The DynaFlex Cable Assembly Configurator is found in their Design Center in the Resource Center tab on the website.

Free Online


Microwave Impedance Calculator Rogers

Rogers Corp.

This software is intended to assist with microwave circuit design in predicting the impedance of a circuit made with Rogers High Frequency circuit materials. The software also has some capabilities for predicting transmission line losses as well. The user will select the circuit materials and the circuit construction, after which the software will determine the predicted impedance and other electrical information.

The calculator uses well known closed form equations to determine impedance and loss of a given circuit model. The loss calculation is divided into conductor loss and dielectric loss. With specific circuit designs, the calculator also predicts other properties such as wavelength in the circuit, skin depth and thermal rise above ambient.

Free (Requires Registration)


OptEM-Cable-Designer OptEM

OptEM Engineering Inc.

OptEM Cable Designer is customized to design, analyze and model electrical and propagation parameters for copper cables. The software reduces prototyping iterations and costs by simulating cable performance prior to prototyping. A built-in EM field solver analyzes high frequency skin and proximity effects in wires, eddy currents in shields and dielectric losses in insulation. Enhanced design features include Pair Advisor (calculates category cable conductor and insulate diameters) and Lay Length Advisor (optimizes data cable lay length values to minimize NEXT).

Purchase Required


RF Transmission Line Design Calculators 

Chemandy Electronics

These calculators, courtesy of Chemandy Electronics, are designed to be easy to use and follow a common theme and layout where possible.

Free Online


Rigid Waveguide Slide Rule MDL

MDL

To simplify specifying a waveguide product, the slide rule shows different flange types in terms of material selection, such as brass or aluminum, and also shows the pertinent MDL model number for the different flange choice. The slide rule changes values instantly when another waveguide size is selected, allowing users to quickly browse through different waveguide sizes and designations to find the transmission line that is suitable for their application.

Free Online


Transmission Line Calculators Pasternack

Pasternack

  • Coaxial Cable Impedance Calculator allows you to enter the Outer Diameter Dielectric width, Inner conductor Diameter width and either the Dielectric Constant or Velocity of Propagation (VoP) values in order to calculate the impedance of the coax.
  • Microstrip Calculator computes a microstrip's height/width ratio, impedance and relative dielectric constant for a microstrip transmission line.
  • Skin Depth Calculator returns skin-depth as a function of a material's resistivity and permeability, as well as the application frequency. You may enter custom values or choose from a list of commonly used materials.
  • Stripline Impedance Calculator uses the dimensions of the stripline, as well as the dielectric constant, to compute the characteristic impedance.
  • TEM (Transverse Electromagnetic Mode) Wavelength Calculator allows you to determine the wavelength (in mm) inside a rectangular waveguide given the frequency and dielectric constant (or VoP) of the input signal.
  • Waveguide (circular) Calculator calculates the cutoff frequency from its radius.
  • Waveguide (rectangular) Calculator provides the cutoff frequency, operating frequency range and closest waveguide size for a rectangular waveguide based on a custom inputted broad wall width.

Free


TX-LINE: Transmission Line Calculator

Cadence/AWR

TX-LINE software is a free and easy-to-use Windows-based interactive transmission line calculator for the analysis and synthesis of transmission line structures. TX-LINE software enables users to enter either physical or electrical characteristics for common transmission mediums: microstrip, stripline, coplanar waveguide, grounded coplanar waveguide and slotline.

Free Download (Requires Registration)


COMSOL Multiphysics®COMSOL

COMSOL

The COMSOL RF Module, an add-on product to the COMSOL Multiphysics® simulation software, enables designers to simulate cable and waveguide devices in an effort to minimize the impedance mismatching and insertion loss. The included part library also features a number of industry examples to help expedite the design process of waveguides, surface mount device foot prints, SMA connectors and edge launch connector geometries. Additionally, there is a dedicated interface to analyze complex transmission line components such as Butler matrix beamforming networks.

For more information visit: www.comsol.com/rf-module