Electrical Solitons: Theory, Design, and Applications

The dominant medium for soliton propagation in electronics, nonlinear transmission line (NLTL) has found wide application as a testbed for nonlinear dynamics and KdV phenomena as well as for practical applications in ultra-sharp pulse/edge generation and novel nonlinear communication schemes in electronics. While many texts exist covering solitons in general, there is as yet no source that provides a comprehensive treatment of the soliton in the electrical domain.

Drawing on the award winning research of Carnegie Mellon’s David S. Ricketts, Electrical Solitons Theory, Design, and Applications is the first text to focus specifically on KdV solitons in the nonlinear transmission line. Divided into three parts, the book begins with the foundational theory for KdV solitons, presents the core underlying mathematics of solitons, and describes the solution to the KdV equation and the basic properties of that solution, including collision behaviors and amplitude-dependent velocity. It also examines the conservation laws of the KdV for loss-less and lossy systems.

The second part describes the KdV soliton in the context of the NLTL. It derives the lattice equation for solitons on the NLTL and shows the connection with the KdV equation as well as the governing equations for a lossy NLTL. Detailing the transformation between KdV theory and what we measure on the oscilloscope, the book demonstrates many of the key properties of solitons, including the inverse scattering method and soliton damping.

The final part highlights practical applications such as sharp pulse formation and edge sharpening for high speed metrology as well as high frequency generation via NLTL harmonics. It describes challenges to realizing a robust soliton oscillator and the stability mechanisms necessary, and introduces three prototypes of the circular soliton oscillator using discrete and integrated platforms.

David S. Ricketts is an Assistant Professor of ECE at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.