Measurement of BCITL parameters

This paper presents a method to measure the characteristic impedances and propagation constant of bi-characteristic-impedance transmission lines (BCITLs). The derived expressions for determining the BCITL parameters via measurements are provided. An example of BCITLs is given for both passive (Re{Z
₀

^plusmn
} ges 0) and active characteristic impedances (Re{Z
₀

^plusmn
} < 0), where Z
₀

^plusmn
are the characteristic impedances of BCITLs. Since Z
₀

^plusmn
and gamma are independent of load impedance Z
_L
, Z
_L
can be varied appropriately to obtain the corresponding input impedances needed to solve for the unknown BCITL parameters. It is found that this method is successfully employed to determine these parameters.