The use of via holes for controlling the crosstalk of nonparallel microstrip lines on PCBs

In this work, the metal filled via holes are constructed into fences between the nonparallel microstrip lines to control the crosstalk. In practice, coupling between nonparallel traces is common. On the other hand, via holes are easy and inexpensive to build using the current fabrication process for the commonly used PCBs. The effects of the via holes for alleviating the coupling are investigated experimentally and numerically. The crosstalk is controlled by adjusting the position of the via holes, the structure of via fence, and the length of the via fence. Some design guidelines for the proper placement of the via holes are concluded. Experiments are conducted and the calculated results are compared with the measured data.