The Closed Environment Concept in VLSI On-Chip Transmission Lines Design and Modeling

The paper examines the question of when and how can an on-chip transmission line have a stand-alone, independent model in the actual VLSI design environment. The study addresses a certain set of simple structures, covering most of practical VLSI design needs, which includes coplanar single and coupled structures. Based on theoretical analysis and numerical results, practical criteria of "sufficiently closed" transmission line environment are suggested, depending on the kind of designed interconnect, the frequency range, the transmission line type and geometry