Solderless Coax-to-Microstrip Connector up to 67 GHz Using Capsule Clearance Transition and Neural Network Optimization

As data rate increases into tens of gigahertz, the signal integrity for interconnects is compromised, so test connectors cannot be used at broadband and high frequencies. For the design of vertical solderless connectors from dc to 67 GHz, this study proposes a structure that uses a capsule clearance in layers 2–4 to mitigate return loss in the coax-to-microstrip transition region. A full-wave simulation is performed to characterize the transition region and an equivalent circuit is used to represent the transition behavior. An artificial neural network (ANN) model is then established, and the physical parameters for the structure are accurately mapped to the output performance. A design contour is then plotted to quickly determine the optimal physical parameters. The optimized design reduces the return loss for the transition region from greater than −10 dB to less than −26 dB from dc to 67-GHz band.