Transient analysis of nonuniform transmission line using the finite difference time domain method.

With a view to accurate and fast time domain analysis of nonuniform transmission lines, a method is presented for applying the FDTD method to a finite length nonuniform transmission line. A step response analysis is carried out for a parabolic line as one of the nonuniform transmission lines. Effectiveness of this approach is confirmed by comparison with analytical solutions and other methods. An equation for the voltage at the initial rising duration of the step response of a nonuniform transmission line is derived. It is shown that if the nonuniform transmission line has the characteristic impedance with a continuous distribution the initial arriving voltage can be determined by the characteristic impedance at both ends of the transmission line. As an application, a method is described for approximating the step response waveform of a parabolic line to a step wave. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Electron Comm Jpn Pt 3, 85(2): 22–31, 2002 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]