Distortion of Short Square Pulses by Transmission Line on Printed Circuit Board

This study deals with shape distortion of short square pulses transferred by transmission line on a conventional printed circuit board. In the experiments were taken into consideration ideal square pulse and three types of realistic square pulses that differ in edges (linear, exponential or both combined). The transfer function of transmission line was measured and approximated. The pulse distortion was estimated for various pulse durations in the nanosecond regime. Obtained results show high distortion of pulses shorter than 0.6 nanoseconds. In some cases, distortion can be slightly optimized by the mutual relation of rise and fall time.