Guaranteed passive coupled-microstrip interconnect modeling using finite element method

As multichip modules (MCMs), monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) and printed circuit board (PCBs) can be found at various levels of the design hierarchy of high-speed electronics, it is essential to model them from the perspective of signal integrity. A new method has been developed to extract systematically a Foster equivalent lumped circuit for symmetrical coupled lossy lines from a two-dimensional FEM simulation. This method guarantees passivity of the resulting equivalent circuits for even and odd modes of the coupled lines. The results obtained from this method are verified by comparison with Ansoft's Spicelink.