The segmental-transmission-line: Its design and prototype evaluation

Abstract

In the PCB (printed circuit board) design for GHz-frequency devices, ensuring the signal integrity is one of the most important design goals. In order to obtain the goal, we have proposed a novel PCB-trace, or a transmission line called "Segmental Transmission Line (STL)" already. In the STL, a transmission line is divided into multiple segments of individual characteristic impedance. And the multiple segments are designed to achieve an idealized wave form on the line by solving a combinatorial explosion problem using genetic algorithm. In our previous papers, we have shown fundamental effectiveness of the STL on the computer simulation already. In this paper, we fabricate an STL prototype using a real PCB and demonstrate its effectiveness based on the prototype. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.