A novel global interconnect method using nonlinear transmission lines

We propose the nonlinear transmission line (NLTL) as an effective global interconnect method that offers capabilities of rise/fall edge sharpening, signal shaping/amplification, and impedance matching. Interconnect line characteristics of NLTLs implemented with the MIT Lincoln Lab 0.18μm FDSOI (fully-depleted silicon-on-insulator) CMOS process are investigated up to 35GHz using S-parameters. The excellent return and insertion loss properties in a broadband illustrate the advantage of the NLTL interconnect. NLTL also provides a convenient way to tune the transmission-line characteristic impedance at microwave frequencies.