Simple Software for Calculating Transmission Line Parameters

This paper focuses on developing a simple and user friendly software for calculating the basic parameters of transmission lines used as parts of printed circuit boards and monolithic microwave integrated circuits. First, technical requirements for the software were formulated, and a small library containing electrophysical parameters of 10 popular materials used in transmission lines was created. Subsequently, software architecture, operating algorithm, and graphical user interface were developed. Finally, the developed software was validated by calculating the characteristic impedance and effective dielectric constant for four structures of transmission lines: a microstrip line, a strip line, a coaxial line, and a slot line. It was shown that results obtained using our software are in good agreement with TX-Line and AppCAD. The average deviation in the results was $2-3 \%$ and the maximum difference did not exceed $5 \%$. The paper concludes with a description of the planned further improvements of the created software.

I. Introduction

Transmission lines (TLs) are essential components of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). Signal and power integrity failures may occur if TLs are designed incorrectly [1]. Therefore, it is crucial to analyze TL parameters during the design process of PCBs and MMICs.