Designing Matching Networks in RF Systems

Matching networks in RF system enable maximum power transfer from the source to the load. You can design a set of circuits that match the impedance of a source to the impedance of a load at a specific center frequency using the matchingnetwork object or the Matching Network Designer app. You can also use the object and the app to visualize, and compare matching networks for the one-port loads.

Using the object and the app, you can also:

Design two- and three-component lumped-element matching networks at desired frequencies and unloaded-Q factors.
Provide source and load impedance as a one-port Touchstone file, scalar impedance, RF circuit object, RF network parameter object, Antenna Toolbox™ object, or as an anonymous function.
Sort matching networks using constraints such as operating frequency range and power wave S-parameters.
Plot power wave S-parameters [1] of the matching network on a Smith™ chart and Cartesian plot.
Plot voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) and impedance transformation plots.
Plot magnitude, phase, real, and imaginary parts of power wave S-parameters of the matching network.
Export selected networks as circuit objects or power wave S-parameters as sparameters objects.

Available Configuration

You can design matching networks in these network configurations:

Pi Topology
T Topology
L Topology
Three-Components

Design Workflows

You can design matching networks for RF systems using these workflows:

Design Matching Networks for Passive Multiport Network — This workflow shows how to design matching networks for 16-port passive networks at 39 GHz for 5G mm Wave systems. You design a matching network for each port that functions between two 1-port terminations.
Design Broadband Matching Networks for Antennas — This workflow shows how to design a broadband matching network between a resistive source and inductive load using optimization with direct search methods.
Designing Matching Networks for Low Noise Amplifiers — This workflow shows how to verify the design of input and output matching networks for a low noise amplifier (LNA) using a gain and noise figure plot.
Design Broadband Matching Networks for Amplifier — This workflow shows how to design broadband matching networks for a LNA.
Design of Quarter-Wave Transformer for Impedance Matching Applications (RF PCB Toolbox) — This workflow shows how to design a quarter-wave transformer for impedance-matching applications using pcbComponent, microstripLine, and traceRectangular objects.

References

[1] Kurokawa, K. “Power Waves and the Scattering Matrix.” IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques 13, no. 2 (March 1965): 194–202. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMTT.1965.1125964.

[2] Ludwig, Reinhold, and Gene Bogdanov. RF Circuit Design: Theory and Applications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2009.