PCB manufacturing variation impact on high frequency measurement fixtures

High-speed digital interconnects found in computer platforms are reaching speeds above 10Gbps in the near future while minimizing the power on-chip. Platform designers now face the challenge of creating interconnects which optimize IO density and performance within the constraints of power and platform affordability. This paper will focus on measurement techniques used to characterize passive interconnect components using fixturing native to the platform's end use. PCB based fixturing inherently contains manufacturing variations dictated by material composition and the manufacturing techniques. Manufacturing variations in the PCB fixtures contribute to uncertainty factors in passive device measurements. A specific focus of on-fixture TRL calibration standards will be studied for manufacturing variations. This information will be used as inputs into a design of experiments to determine the influence of fixture variations on the vector network analyzer (VNA) calibration and its impact to DUT measurements.