Investigating the upper bound of high-frequency electromagnetic waves on unshielded twisted copper pairs

Abstract

This paper explores the behaviour of the ubiquitous twisted pairs at high frequencies and wideband excitation of twisted pairs up to 12 GHz. Higher carrier frequencies on twisted pairs can enable the data rates required by the future communication networks; hence, the existing copper infrastructure can be utilised on the last mile complementing the fibre networks. In this paper, we show a fundamental limit on the operating frequency of twisted pairs beyond which twisted pairs start to radiate and behave like an antenna. To validate our theoretical derivations through measurements, we designed a microstrip balun to excite the differential mode on the twisted pairs. At the end, we demonstrate that the standard twisted pairs used in the UK can be used up to 5 GHz carrier frequency without any radiation effect and this upper-bound can be moved to higher frequencies by decreasing the twist lengths.