Experimental electrical characterization of interconnects and discontinuities in high-speed digital systems

Experimental procedures suited to characterization of microstrip and stripline interconnects and discontinuities on printed circuit boards (PCBs) and multichip modules (MCMs) are discussed. Techniques for calibrated two- and three-port measurements using novel calibration schemes are developed. The first of these utilized symmetry to circumvent the problem of inserting reproducible reflection standards. In the second technique, the complex impedance of a line standard was determined. A closed-form algorithm that accurately characterizes a three-port device is introduced as the third technique