Efficient and accurate extraction of full-wave equivalent circuit for printed circuit structures

Abstract

Due to the ever-increasing clock speeds of electronic devices, PCB layouts of high-speed digital circuits become very challenging due to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and signal integrity (SI) design issues. The purpose of PCB is to provide the necessary signal and power interconnections for the digital integrated circuit mounted on board. Without due diligence in PCB layout, the electronic device could malfunction due to poor SI design and worst still, it could fail the maximum allowable radiated emission limit specified by the mandatory EMI regulation. The way that the interconnecting traces laid on a PCB plays a crucial role on meeting the SI and EMI design requirements. Based on full-wave modelling approach, this thesis presents an accurate and efficient algorithm that is capable of extracting the full-wave electrical model of any arbitrary printed circuit structure. The extracted electrical model is compatible with any SPICE-based simulation tool. The full-wave electrical model allows electronic engineers to perform SI and EMI analyses of specific PCB layout using the familiar SPICE-based design tools without another set of electromagnetic simulation tool.