Ladder-network-based model for delay determination in coupled interconnects

A ladder network (LN)-based model for the determination of the delay in coupled interconnects is proposed. The determination of the electrical characteristics of the LN in terms of internal electrical parameters and number of cells allows the estimation, in an approximated but very accurate way, at the time delay for RLC-terminated interconnections. The rational representation of the interconnect allowed by the use of a half-T LN leads to a reduced-order macromodel of the interconnect which is suitable for time delay estimation. Numerical examples confirm the robustness and accuracy of the proposed method which is also suitable for multiconductor transmission lines with both frequency-independent and frequency-dependent per-unit-length parameters.