Method and apparatus of detecting the impedance of coaxial transmission line by charging and discharging said line

Claim 1

A method of detecting the impedance of a coaxial transmission line under test comprising: coupling the test line coaxially between two separate sections of a known coaxial transmission line having uniform electrical characteristics and being open-circuited at one one; continuously energizing said known and test transmission lines through a resistor having a high resistance value to charge said lines; periodically establishing a discharge path between a load resistor forming a resistive terminator having an impedance which matches the characteristic impedance of a further known line and the charged lines; and displaying on an ultrawide band oscilloscope a voltage waveform appearing across said load resistor, thereby detecting a distribution pattern of the charges stored on said lines as a representation of the impedance variation thereof.

Claim 2

A method of detecting the impedance of a coaxial transmission line under test comprising: coupling the test line coaxially between two separate sections of a known coaxial transmission line having uniform electrical characteristics and being open-circuited at one one; continuously energizing said known and test transmission lines through a resistor having a high resistance value to charge said lines; periodically establishing a discharge path between a load resistor forming a resistive terminator having an impedance which matches the characteristic impedance of a further known line and the charged lines; and displaying on an ultrawide band oscilloscope a voltage waveform appearing across said load resistor, thereby detecting a distribution pattern of the charges stored on said lines as a representation of the impedance variation thereof.

Claim 3

A method of detecting the impedance of a coaxial transmission line under test comprising: coupling the test line coaxially between two separate sections of a first known coaxial transmission line having uniform electrical characteristics and being open-circuited at one end; providing a second known coaxial transmission line having substantially the same electrical characteristics and dimensions as those of said first known transmission line and having a reference coaxial transmission line in a position corresponding to that of said test coaxial line; continuously energizing said first and second transmission lines individually through respective high resistance resistors; periodically establishing respective discharge paths alternately between a load resistor, forming a resistive terminator having an impedance which matches the characteristic impedance of said known lines and said first line coupled with said test line and between said load resistor and said second line coupled with said reference line; and displaying on an ultrawide band oscilloscope a voltage waveform across said load resistor, thereby detecting the distribution pattern of the charges stored on said first line coupled with said test line comparatively with that of the second line coupled with said reference line.

Claim 4

A method of detecting the impedance of a coaxial transmission line under test comprising: coupling the test line coaxially between two separate sections of a first known coaxial transmission line having uniform electrical characteristics and being open-circuited at one end; providing a second known coaxial transmission line having substantially the same electrical characteristics and dimensions as those of said first known transmission line and having a reference coaxial transmission line in a position corresponding to that of said test coaxial line; continuously energizing said first and second transmission lines individually through respective high resistance resistors; periodically establishing respective discharge paths alternately between a load resistor, forming a resistive terminator having an impedance which matches the characteristic impedance of said known lines and said first line coupled with said test line and between said load resistor and said second line coupled with said reference line; and displaying on an ultrawide band oscilloscope a voltage waveform across said load resistor, thereby detecting the distribution pattern of the charges stored on said first line coupled with said test line comparatively with that of the second line coupled with said reference line.

Claim 6

An apparatus for detecting the impedance of a test coaxial transmission line comprising: a DC power source; a first coaxial line having known uniform electrical and physical properties and coaxially separated into at least two sections, of which an inner conductor is open-circuited at its one end and of which an outer conductor is grounded; a resistor of a high resistance connected between said power source and the other end of said known line; means provided at ends of the two sections of said known coaxial line for coupling the test coaxial line coaxially between said two sections; load means forming a resistive terminator having an impedance which matches the characteristic impedance of said known line; switching means disposed between the other end of said known line and said load means and having a high switching speed and a large current capacity, said switching means effecting a rapid electrical connection between said other end of the known line and said load means so as to be responsible to rapid discharge of charged lines; and means displaying a voltage waveform appearing across said load means.

Claim 7

An apparatus for detecting the impedance of a test coaxial transmission line comprising: a DC power source; a first coaxial line having known uniform electrical and physical properties and coaxially separated into at least two sections, of which an inner conductor is open-circuited at its one end and of which an outer conductor is grounded; a resistor of a high resistance connected between said power source and the other end of said known line; means provided at ends of the two sections of said known coaxial line for coupling the test coaxial line coaxially between said two sections; load means forming a resistive terminator having an impedance which matches the characteristic impedance of said known line; switching means disposed between the other end of said known line and said load means and having a high switching speed and a large current capacity, said switching means effecting a rapid electrical connection between said other end of the known line and said load means so as to be responsible to rapid discharge of charged lines; and means displaying a voltage waveform appearing across said load means.