Transmission line simulator for TDR-based measurements
A transmission line simulator for applications to TDR measurements and TDR-based sensors is presented. The proposed simulator, fully developed in MATLAB environment, is designed to be a fast, efficient and easily customizable tool, and its performance are compared with commercial simulation software packages. The simulator is intended for measuring arbitrary profiles of primary parameters (R, C, G, L) of a transmission line, by matching simulated TDR waveform with experimental TDR data. In the paper, this use is demonstrated by measuring the parameter profiles of actual coaxial cables. The simulator can be used in any kind of TDR measurement, e.g. leak detection in pipes, distributed moisture measurements in soil, health monitoring in building concrete, etc.