COAXIAL CABLE CONSTRUCTION
[Link]
COAXIAL CABLE CONSTRUCTION
800.245.4964 | sales@[Link] | [Link]
A coaxial cable carries current in both the inner and the outer conductors. These currents are equal
and opposite and as a result all the electromagnetic fields are confined within the cable. This means
that the cable operates by propagating an electromagnetic wave inside the cable and by design it
neither radiates nor picks up signals. Since there are no fields outside the coax cable it is not affected
by nearby objects or stray signals, which makes it ideal for applications where the RF cable has to be
routed through or around buildings or close to other objects.
Cable Selection
When choosing a type of coax cable to be used, it is important to consider and understand its
intended performance. This requires a basic understanding of the various electrical and
environmental specifications. Currently industry supports an amazing array of cable choices and it is
critical that the specsmanship involved is well understood at the earliest stages of system
development. As we’ll see, the electrical and environmental specifications are not extremely difficult
to understand. The Cable Selection Checklist Appendix A should be used to capture key
performance areas that must be considered and carefully addressed.
Applications
Coax cable is used in many applications where it is necessary to transfer Radio Frequency (RF)
energy from one point to another. A familiar example of the use of coax cable is for domestic cable
television. Coax Cable is also used extensively for commercial and industrial applications connecting
RF receivers and transmitters to antennas as well as many other areas of system integration.
Regardless of the application, the construction of a coaxial cable is designed to ensure that signal
loss and interference are minimized.
Coaxial Cable composition
Coax cable is made from a number of different elements that, when properly designed and carefully
integrated, enable the coax cable to carry a Radio Frequency signal from point A to point B with bare
minimum loss of incident power. The main elements within a coax cable are:
1. Center conductor
2. Insulating dielectric
3. Outer conductor
4. Outer protective jacket
The overall construction of a coaxial cable is shown in Figure 1. The coaxial cable is built up from a
number of concentric layers. Note that the center conductor and outer conductor share the same
geometric axis and hence the name coaxial. Although there are many varieties of coax cable, the
fundamental elements of their construction are the same.
© kSARIA Corporation. All rights reserved.
300 Griffin Brook Drive, Methuen, MA 01844 USA | [Link] | Phone: (866) 457-2742 Page |4
Figure 1-Construction of a typical Coaxial Cable
1. Center Conductor - The center conductor of the coax cable is typically copper wire. Although
normally a single solid conductor, in some applications, e.g., where the cable is likely to see
repeated flexure or where extremely low insertion loss is needed, the coax cables are
designed using a multiple strand center conductor. The center conductor is sometimes plated
with silver for improved conductivity.
2. Insulating Dielectric - In between the center conductor and the outer conductor of the coax
cable there is an insulating dielectric material. This dielectric not only physically holds the two
conductors apart; it also establishes some fundamental electrical characteristics of the cable.
The dielectric may be solid or as in the case of many low loss cables it may be semi-air
spaced. This may be in the form of long tubes in the dielectric, a spiral wrap of dielectric tape,
or a foam construction where air forms a major part of the material. Polyethylene, Foam
polyethylene, and Teflon are the most common dielectric materials used.
3. Outer Conductor/metallic shield - The outer conductor of the RF cable is normally made
from a copper braid. This enables the coax cable to be flexible which would not be the case if
the outer conductor was solid, although in some varieties made for particular applications it is,
such as Semi-Rigid Cable. To improve the shielding effectiveness of the cable, double or even
triple layered braid is sometimes used. Normally this is accomplished by placing one braid
directly over another, or a copper foil or tape may be used. By using additional layers of
shielding, the levels of stray pick-up and radiation are considerably reduced.
4. Outer jacket - Lastly, there is often a final cover or outer sheath to the coax cable. This jacket
serves no electrical function, but provides protection against dirt and moisture. The outer
jacket is also designed to prevent the coax cable from being damaged by other mechanical
means such as abrasion. There are a wide variety of materials in use for the outer jacket, with
selection based primarily on environmental considerations such as resistance to solvents,
abrasion resistance, moisture resistance and thermal environment.
© kSARIA Corporation. All rights reserved.
300 Griffin Brook Drive, Methuen, MA 01844 USA | [Link] | Phone: (866) 457-2742 Page |5
Key Electrical and Environmental Specifications
Characteristic Impedance
The most important coax cable specification is its characteristic impedance (Zo). This is the
impedance seen by a signal source when looking into a theoretical infinitely long length of cable. The
physical dimensions of the cable, along with the dielectric used, determine the overall impedance.
For RF coax cable there are two main characteristic impedance standards that have been adopted
over the years. The 75 Ohm coax cable is used almost exclusively for domestic TV and VHF/FM
applications, and for most commercial RF applications, the 50 Ohm coax cable has been taken as the
standard.
The reason for the choice of these two impedance standards is largely historical but arises from the
properties provided by the two impedance levels:
75 ohm coax cable gives the minimum weight for a given loss
50 ohm coax cable gives the minimum loss for a given weight.
These two standards are used for the vast majority of coax cable produced, but other impedances are
available through specialist cable manufacturers.
As shown in Figure 2, a coaxial cable can be considered as a distributed series inductance with a
distributed shunt capacitance between the inner and outer conductors. The levels of inductance and
capacitance can be calculated as seen below.
Figure 2 Electrical Schematic of a Coaxial Cable
© kSARIA Corporation. All rights reserved.
300 Griffin Brook Drive, Methuen, MA 01844 USA | [Link] | Phone: (866) 457-2742 Page |6
Coax impedance determination
The impedance of the RF coax cable is governed by the diameters of the inner and outer conductors.
On top of this the dielectric constant of the material between the conductors has a bearing. The
relationship needed to calculate the impedance is given by the formula:
Zo = 18 log (D/d)
√ε
Where:
Zo = Characteristic impedance in Ω
εr = Relative permeability of the dielectric
D = Inner diameter of the outer conductor
d = Diameter of the inner conductor
Figure 3 Cross Section of a Coaxial Cable
Coax capacitance
The capacitance of a coaxial line varies with the spacing of the conductors and the dielectric constant
of the insulator. As in the case of an ordinary capacitor, the coax capacitance increases with
increasing dielectric constant. The capacitance can be calculated using the following formula.
C = 24.1 X εr
log (D/d)
Where:
C = Capacitance in Picofarads/meter
εr = Relative permeability of the dielectric
D = Inner diameter of the outer conductor
d = Diameter of the inner conductor
© kSARIA Corporation. All rights reserved.
300 Griffin Brook Drive, Methuen, MA 01844 USA | [Link] | Phone: (866) 457-2742 Page |7
Coax inductance
The inductance of the line can also be calculated. Again this is proportional to the length of the line.
Note that the inductance is independent of the dielectric constant of the material between the
conductors.
L = 0.459 log (D/d)
Where:
L = Inductance in µH / meter
D = Inner diameter of the outer conductor
d = Diameter of the inner conductor
Insertion Loss / Attenuation
In transmitting an RF signal along a transmission line there is an amount of energy lost as the signal
travels along the cable. The power loss caused by the insertion of a coax cable is referred to as the
cable’s Insertion Loss and sometimes called the assembly’s attenuation. Insertion Loss is specified in
terms of decibels per unit length, and at a given frequency. Obviously the longer the coax cable, the
greater the Insertion Loss, but the loss is also frequency dependent, broadly increasing with
frequency. For virtually all applications the minimum level of loss is required.
If the power transmitted to the load before insertion is PT and the power received by the load after
insertion is PR, then the insertion loss in dB is given by:
Insertion Loss = 10 log Pt
Pr
There are three main causes of Insertion Loss within a coaxial transmission line:
Resistive loss
Dielectric loss
Radiated loss
Radiated Loss is the least important as only a very small amount of power is radiated from the cable.
For this reason most of the focus on reducing Insertion Loss is placed on the resistive and dielectric
losses. Radiated loss is primarily controlled by the outer shield techniques used in the design of the
cable.
Resistive Losses within the coax cable arise from the resistance of the conductors, and the current
flowing in the conductors’ results in heat being dissipated. Resistive Losses increase as the square
root of frequency, a phenomenon referred to as skin effect. To reduce the level of loss, the
conductive area must be increased and this results in low loss coax cables often having a larger
overall diameter.
Dielectric Loss represents another of the major losses in coax cables. The power lost as Dielectric
Loss is also a result of heat being dissipated. Dielectric Loss is independent of the size of the RF
cable, but it does increase linearly with frequency. Since resistive losses increase as the square root
of frequency, and dielectric losses increase linearly with frequency, the dielectric losses dominate at
higher frequencies.
© kSARIA Corporation. All rights reserved.
300 Griffin Brook Drive, Methuen, MA 01844 USA | [Link] | Phone: (866) 457-2742 Page |8
1.1 CONSTRUCTION OF OPTICAL FIBER CABLE
An optical fiber is a glass or plastic fiber that carries light along its length. Fiber
optics is the overlap of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and
application of optical fibers. Optical fibers are widely used in fiber optic
communications, which permits transmission over longer distances and at higher
bandwidths (data rates) because light has high frequency than any other form of radio
signal than other forms of communications. Light is kept in the core of the optical fiber
by total internal reflection. This causes the fiber to act as a waveguide. Fibers are used
instead of metal wires because signals travel along them with less loss, and they are
also immune to electromagnetic interference, which is caused by thunderstorm. Fibers
are also used for illumination and are wrapped in bundles so they can be used to carry
images, thus allowing viewing in tight spaces. Specially designed fibers are used for a
variety of other applications, including sensors and fiber lasers.
Figure 1.1.1 Construction of Fibre
[Source: “Optical Fibre Communications” by [Link], Page: 12]
An optical fiber is a very thin strand of silica glass in geometry quite like a
human hair. In reality it is a very narrow, very long glass cylinder with special
characteristics. When light enters one end of the fiber it travels until it leaves the fiber at
the other end. An optical fiber consists of two parts: the core and the cladding. The core
is a narrow cylindrical strand of glass and the cladding is a tubular jacket surrounding it.
The core has a (slightly) higher refractive index than the cladding. Light travelling
along the core is confined by the mirror to stay within it even when the fiber bends
around a corner.
A fiber optic cable has an additional coating around the cladding called the
jacket. The jacket usually consists of one or more layers of polymer. Its role is to
protect the core and cladding from shocks that might affect their optical or physical
properties. It acts as a shock 14 absorber. The jacket also provides protection from
abrasions, solvents and other contaminants. The jacket does not have any optical
properties that might affect the propagation of light within the fiber optic cable.
Guiding mechanism in optical fiber
Light ray is injected into the fiber optic cable on the right. If the light ray is
injected and strikes the core-to-cladding interface at an angle greater than an entity
called the critical angle then it is reflected back into the core. Since the angle of
incidence is always equal to the angle of reflection the reflected light will again be
reflected. The light ray will then continue this bouncing path down the length of the
fiber optic cable. If the light ray strikes the core-to-cladding interface at an angle less
than the critical angle then it passes into the cladding where it is attenuated very rapidly
with propagation distance. Light can be guided down the fiber optic cable if it enters at
less than the critical angle.
This angle is fixed by the indices of refraction of the core and cladding and is given by
the formula
The critical angle is measured from the cylindrical axis of the core. By way of example,
if n1
= 1.446 and n2 = 1.430 then a quick computation will show that the
critical angle is 8.53 degrees, a fairly small angle.
Figure 1.1.2 Mechanism of Light Wave guide Fibre
[Source: “Optical Fibre Communications” by [Link], Page: 13]
Of course, it be noted that a light ray enters the core from the air outside, to the left of
Figure. The refractive index of the air must be taken into account in order to assure that
a light ray in the core will be at an angle less than the critical angle. This can be done
fairly simply.
Suppose a light ray enters the core from the air at an angle less than an entity called the
external acceptance angle It will be guided down the core.
Basic component of optical fiber communication
1 Transmitters - Fiber optic transmitters are devices that include an LED or laser
source, and signal conditioning electronics, to inject a signal into fiber. The modulated
light may be turned on or off, or may be linearly varied in intensity between two
predetermined levels.
2 Fiber – It is the medium to guide the light from the transmitter to receiver.
Figure 1.1.3 The basic components of an optical fiber communication
[Source: “Optical Fibre Communications” by [Link], Page: 14]
3 Receivers – Fiber optic receivers are instruments that convert light into electrical
signals. They contain a photodiode semiconductor, signal conditioning circuitry, and
an amplifier at the receiver end.