Electrical termination

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SCSI terminator SCSI-terminator-exposed-hdr-0a.jpg
SCSI terminator

In electronics, electrical termination is the practice of ending a transmission line with a device that matches the characteristic impedance of the line. Termination prevents signals from reflecting off the end of the transmission line. Reflections at the ends of unterminated transmission lines cause distortion, which can produce ambiguous digital signal levels and misoperation of digital systems. Reflections in analog signal systems cause such effects as video ghosting, or power loss in radio transmitter transmission lines.

Contents

Transmission lines

Signal termination often requires the installation of a terminator at the beginning and end of a wire or cable to prevent an RF signal from being reflected back from each end, causing interference, or power loss. The terminator is usually placed at the end of a transmission line or daisy chain bus (such as in SCSI), and is designed to match the AC impedance of the cable and hence minimize signal reflections, and power losses. Less commonly, a terminator is also placed at the driving end of the wire or cable, if not already part of the signal-generating equipment. [1]

Radio frequency currents tend to reflect from discontinuities in the cable, such as connectors and joints, and travel back down the cable toward the source, causing interference as primary reflections. Secondary reflections can also occur at the cable starts, allowing interference to persist as repeated echoes of old data. These reflections also act as bottlenecks, preventing the signal power from reaching the destination.

Transmission line cables require impedance matching to carry electromagnetic signals with minimal reflections and power losses. The distinguishing feature of most transmission line cables is that they have uniform cross-sectional dimensions along their length, giving them a uniform electrical characteristic impedance. Signal terminators are designed to specifically match the characteristic impedances at both cable ends. For many systems, the terminator is a resistor, with a value chosen to match the characteristic impedance of the transmission line and chosen to have acceptably low parasitic inductance and capacitance at the frequencies relevant to the system. Examples include 75-ohm resistors often used to terminate 75-ohm video transmission coaxial cables.

Types of transmission line cables include balanced line such as ladder line, and twisted pairs (Cat-6 Ethernet, Parallel SCSI, ADSL, Landline Phone, XLR audio, USB, Firewire, Serial); and unbalanced lines such as coaxial cable (Radio antenna, CATV, 10BASE5 Ethernet).

Types of electrical and signal terminators

Passive

Passive terminators often consist of a single resistor; however, significantly reactive loads may require other passive components such as inductors, capacitors, or transformers.

Active

Active terminators consist of a voltage regulator that keeps the voltage used for the terminating resistor(s) at a constant level.

Forced perfect termination

Forced perfect termination Electrical Termination, Forced Perfect Termination. or diode-clamped.svg
Forced perfect termination

Forced perfect termination (FPT) can be used on single ended buses where diodes remove over and undershoot conditions. The signal is locked between two actively regulated voltage levels, which results in superior performance over a standard active terminator. [2]

Signal Termination Applications

SCSI

All parallel SCSI units use terminators. SCSI is primarily used for storage and backup. An active terminator is a type of single-ended SCSI terminator with a built-in voltage regulator to compensate for variations in terminator power.[ citation needed ]

Controller Area Network

Controller area network, commonly known as CAN Bus, uses terminators consisting of a 120 ohm resistor.

Dummy load

Dummy loads are commonly used in HF to EHF circuits.

Ethernet coaxial 50 ohm

10BASE2 cable end signal terminator 10base2 terminator.png
10BASE2 cable end signal terminator

10BASE2 networks absolutely must have proper termination with a 50 ohm BNC terminator. If the bus network is not properly terminated, too much power will be reflected, causing all of the computers on the bus to lose network connectivity.

Antenna network 75 ohm

A terminating resistor for a television coaxial cable is often in the form of a cap, threaded to screw onto an F connector. Antenna cables are sometimes used for internet connections; however, RG-6 should not be used for 10BASE2 (which should use RG-58) as the impedance mismatch can cause phasing problems with the baseband signal.

Unibus

Unibus terminator-and-bootstrap card from a PDP-11/34 Unibus terminator card.jpg
Unibus terminator-and-bootstrap card from a PDP-11/34

The Digital Equipment Corporation minicomputer Unibus systems used terminator cards with 178 Ω pullup resistors on the multi-drop address and data lines and 383 Ω on the single-drop signal lines. [3]

MIL-STD-1553

Terminating resistor values of 78.7 ohms 2 watt 1% are used on the MIL-STD-1553 bus. At the two ends of the bus, resistors connect between the positive (high) and negative (low) signal wires either in internally terminated bus couplers or external connectorized terminators.

The MIL-STD-1553B bus must be terminated at both ends to minimize the effects of signal reflections that can cause waveform distortion and disruption or intermittent communications failures.

Optionally, a high-impedance terminator (1000 to 3000 ohms) may be used in vehicle applications to simulate a future load from an unspecified device.

Connectorized terminators are available with or without safety chains.

See also

Related Research Articles

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10BASE2 is a variant of Ethernet that uses thin coaxial cable terminated with BNC connectors to build a local area network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">10BASE5</span> First commercially available variant of Ethernet

10BASE5 was the first commercially available variant of Ethernet. The technology was standardized in 1982 as IEEE 802.3. 10BASE5 uses a thick and stiff coaxial cable up to 500 meters (1,600 ft) in length. Up to 100 stations can be connected to the cable using vampire taps and share a single collision domain with 10 Mbit/s of bandwidth shared among them. The system is difficult to install and maintain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Standing wave ratio</span> Measure used in radio engineering and telecommunications

In radio engineering and telecommunications, standing wave ratio (SWR) is a measure of impedance matching of loads to the characteristic impedance of a transmission line or waveguide. Impedance mismatches result in standing waves along the transmission line, and SWR is defined as the ratio of the partial standing wave's amplitude at an antinode (maximum) to the amplitude at a node (minimum) along the line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time-domain reflectometer</span> Electronic instrument

A time-domain reflectometer (TDR) is an electronic instrument used to determine the characteristics of electrical lines by observing reflected pulses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transmission line</span> Cable or other structure for carrying radio waves

In electrical engineering, a transmission line is a specialized cable or other structure designed to conduct electromagnetic waves in a contained manner. The term applies when the conductors are long enough that the wave nature of the transmission must be taken into account. This applies especially to radio-frequency engineering because the short wavelengths mean that wave phenomena arise over very short distances. However, the theory of transmission lines was historically developed to explain phenomena on very long telegraph lines, especially submarine telegraph cables.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Signal reflection</span> When a transmitted signal reflects back through the medium it was transmitted over

In telecommunications, signal reflection occurs when a signal is transmitted along a transmission medium, such as a copper cable or an optical fiber. Some of the signal power may be reflected back to its origin rather than being carried all the way along the cable to the far end. This happens because imperfections in the cable cause impedance mismatches and non-linear changes in the cable characteristics. These abrupt changes in characteristics cause some of the transmitted signal to be reflected. In radio frequency (RF) practice this is often measured in a dimensionless ratio known as voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) with a VSWR bridge. The ratio of energy bounced back depends on the impedance mismatch. Mathematically, it is defined using the reflection coefficient.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coaxial cable</span> Electrical cable type with concentric inner conductor, insulator, and conducting shield

Coaxial cable, or coax, is a type of electrical cable consisting of an inner conductor surrounded by a concentric conducting shield, with the two separated by a dielectric ; many coaxial cables also have a protective outer sheath or jacket. The term coaxial refers to the inner conductor and the outer shield sharing a geometric axis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BNC connector</span> RF connector for coax cable

The BNC connector is a miniature quick connect/disconnect radio frequency connector used for coaxial cable. It is designed to maintain the same characteristic impedance of the cable, with 50 ohm and 75 ohm types being made. It is usually applied for video and radio frequency connections up to about 2 GHz and up to 500 volts. The connector has a twist to lock design with two lugs in the female portion of the connector engaging a slot in the shell of the male portion. The type was introduced on military radio equipment in the 1940s and has since become widely applied in radio systems, and is a common type of video connector. Similar radio-frequency connectors differ in dimensions and attachment features, and may allow for higher voltages, higher frequencies, or three-wire connections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Low-voltage differential signaling</span> Technical standard

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impedance matching</span> Adjusting input/output impedances of an electrical circuit for some purpose

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Input impedance</span> Measure of the opposition to current flow by an external electrical load

In electrical engineering, the input impedance of an electrical network is the measure of the opposition to current (impedance), both static (resistance) and dynamic (reactance), into a load network that is external to the electrical source network. The input admittance is a measure of the load network's propensity to draw current. The source network is the portion of the network that transmits power, and the load network is the portion of the network that consumes power.

RS-485, also known as TIA-485(-A) or EIA-485, is a standard, originally introduced in 1983, defining the electrical characteristics of drivers and receivers for use in serial communications systems. Electrical signaling is balanced, and multipoint systems are supported. The standard is jointly published by the Telecommunications Industry Association and Electronic Industries Alliance (TIA/EIA). Digital communications networks implementing the standard can be used effectively over long distances and in electrically noisy environments. Multiple receivers may be connected to such a network in a linear, multidrop bus. These characteristics make RS-485 useful in industrial control systems and similar applications.

MIL-STD-1553 is a military standard published by the United States Department of Defense that defines the mechanical, electrical, and functional characteristics of a serial data bus. It was originally designed as an avionic data bus for use with military avionics, but has also become commonly used in spacecraft on-board data handling (OBDH) subsystems, both military and civil, including use on the James Webb space telescope. It features multiple redundant balanced line physical layers, a (differential) network interface, time-division multiplexing, half-duplex command/response protocol, and can handle up to 31 Remote Terminals (devices); 32 is typically designated for broadcast messages. A version of MIL-STD-1553 using optical cabling in place of electrical is known as MIL-STD-1773.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SWR meter</span> Measurement device for radio equipment

The standing wave ratio meter, SWR meter, ISWR meter, or VSWR meter measures the standing wave ratio (SWR) in a transmission line. The meter indirectly measures the degree of mismatch between a transmission line and its load. Electronics technicians use it to adjust radio transmitters and their antennas and feedlines to be impedance matched so they work together properly, and evaluate the effectiveness of other impedance matching efforts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parallel SCSI</span> Original SCSI storage interface

Parallel SCSI is the earliest of the interface implementations in the SCSI family. SPI is a parallel bus; there is one set of electrical connections stretching from one end of the SCSI bus to the other. A SCSI device attaches to the bus but does not interrupt it. Both ends of the bus must be terminated.

Open collector, open drain, open emitter, and open source refer to integrated circuit (IC) output pin configurations that process the IC's internal function though a transistor with an exposed terminal that is internally unconnected. One of the IC's internal high or low voltage rails typically connects to another terminal of that transistor. When the transistor is off, the output is internally disconnected from any internal power rail, a state called "high-impedance" (Hi-Z). Open outputs configurations thus differ from push–pull outputs, which use a pair of transistors to output a specific voltage or current.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Test probe</span>

A test probe is a physical device used to connect electronic test equipment to a device under test (DUT). Test probes range from very simple, robust devices to complex probes that are sophisticated, expensive, and fragile. Specific types include test prods, oscilloscope probes and current probes. A test probe is often supplied as a test lead, which includes the probe, cable and terminating connector.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twinaxial cabling</span>

Twinaxial cabling, or twinax, is a type of cable similar to coaxial cable, but with two inner conductors in a twisted pair instead of one. Due to cost efficiency it is becoming common in modern (2013) very-short-range high-speed differential signaling applications.

Nominal impedance in electrical engineering and audio engineering refers to the approximate designed impedance of an electrical circuit or device. The term is applied in a number of different fields, most often being encountered in respect of:

MIL-STD-1397 standard was issued by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to define "the requirements for the physical, functional and electrical characteristics of a standard I/O data interface for digital data." The MIL-STD-1397 classification types A, B and D apply specifically to the Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS).

References

  1. "Clock Termination Techniques and Layout Considerations" (PDF). CTS. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  2. Forced Perfect Termination (PDF), IBM, 1990-08-03, retrieved 2016-12-19 "FPT is a terminator that [dynamically] self-terminates. One that matches itself to the line perfectly, thereby removing all reflections at the endpoints
  3. Digital Equipment Corporation (1979). "Unibus Specification" (PDF).