Calculating Connector Impedance & Irregular Wire Char. Impedance

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the challenges of calculating the characteristic impedance of unshielded twisted pair wires and connectors, particularly in the context of irregular wire characteristics and non-uniform spacing. Participants explore theoretical models, practical measurement techniques, and the need for field solvers or alternative calculation methods.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant notes that traditional equations for twisted wire pairs yield results with a 10% accuracy, primarily due to assumptions of tight winding and uniform spacing, which may not hold in practice.
  • Another participant questions whether the discussion pertains to a single pair of wires without an outer sleeve, suggesting that non-uniform spacing would lead to non-uniform impedance.
  • A participant explains that the twisted pair configuration complicates the electric field modeling due to concentric insulation, indicating that there is no simple analytic solution available.
  • Suggestions are made to experiment with different wire diameters and insulation thicknesses using TDR measurements to optimize impedance.
  • A link to a resource on twisted pair cable characteristics is provided, which may contain relevant information for the calculations being discussed.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express varying views on the modeling challenges and the implications of wire configuration on impedance calculations. There is no consensus on a definitive method or solution, and multiple perspectives on the problem remain present.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include the dependence on specific wire configurations and the unresolved nature of the mathematical models discussed. The discussion highlights the complexity of accurately modeling twisted pair cables due to physical characteristics that deviate from ideal assumptions.

roTTer
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Hi,

I am modeling the Unshielded Twisted Pair Wire and I have hit a roadblock there. I have studied the mathematical equations for the twisted wire pair. And they give results with an accuracy of 10%.

This is in part due to the fact, that almost all equations assume that both the wires are tightly wounded and there is no space between the two twisted pairs. But in reality, if the twist/rate is low, the wires won't be wounded in a tight formation, and that results in incorrect results from the calculations.

I have char. impedance and delay(ns/m) values measured using TDR of 4 sample wires.

I understand that having a field solver to do this would simplify the calculations very easily. But is there any article/book that explains how to do it. If there is an evaluation version of a solver that would allow me to do it, that would be swell.

If you have any idea on how to go about doing it manually/excel/code, please do explain or link me to it. Google search didn't give any results.

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I am working on calculating Connector impedance of cables. They will be used for freq. upto 100Mhz.

The connectors are not for high-speed PCBs.

I want to model something that looks like...in the attachment.

I do not have any Field Solvers to aid me in this. Is there any material/textbook or site that could help me out with this? There are too many unknown parameters for the design of this. Though I would just like to try.

Are there any software's that are good for these type of calculations. Something that offers an evaluation version would be really good! Or a way to calculate it without them would be good too!

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Is this part of a cable or a single pair?

If it is a single pair with no outer sleeve, like you would pull off of a wire spool, and the wires to wire spacing is not uniform, then the impedance will not be uniform.
 
The problem that you face is that your twisted pair will be made by twisting two insulated wires together. Each wire has concentric insulation. The outer insulation boundary with the surrounding air does not conform to the circular, (but eccentric), electric field about the wires. So there can be no simple analytic solution.

The electric field of a twisted pair is usually modeled as a single wire reflected in a plane of symmetry. The eccentric equipotential field of a single wire above a ground plane demonstrates the concentric insulation problem.

If you have a TDR then you could experiment with different wire diameters, against different insulation thickness combinations, to find a solution with optimum impedance.
 

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