Resonant-coupled transmission line
AssigneeTeradyne, Inc.
InventorAndrew Westwood
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An example printed circuit board (PCB) includes a substrate having layers of a dielectric material, where the layers of dielectric material include a first layer and a second layer; a conductive trace that is between the first layer and the second layer and that is parallel to the first layer and the second layer along at least part of a length of the conductive trace; and a conductive via that extends at least part-way through the layers of dielectric material and that connects electrically to the conductive trace, where the conductive via is configured also to connect electrically to a signal input to receive or to transmit a signal that has a center frequency span.
Claims38
A printed circuit board (PCB) comprising:
- a substrate comprised of layers of dielectric material, the layers of dielectric material comprising a first layer and a second layer;
- a conductive trace that is between the first layer and the second layer and that is parallel to the first layer and the second layer along at least part of a length of the conductive trace;
- a conductive via that extends at least part-way through the layers of dielectric material and that connects electrically to the conductive trace, the conductive via being configured also to connect electrically to a signal input to receive a signal that has a center frequency span;
- a first ground layer that connects electrically to the conductive via, the first ground layer connecting to a reference ground voltage, the first ground layer being adjacent to the second layer, and the first ground layer being located a distance from the conductive trace that is substantially equal to one quarter (¼) of a wavelength of the center frequency span of the signal;
- and
- a second ground layer adjacent to the first ground layer and also connecting to the reference ground voltage, the conductive trace being between the first ground layer and the second ground layer.
A system comprising:
- a device interface board (DIB) configured to hold devices under test (DUTs) for testing;
- a test instrument configured to output signals to test the DUTs, the DIB for routing the signals to the DUTS;
- and
- a control system comprising at least one processing device configured to control operation of the test instrument to output the signals to test the DUTs;
- wherein the DIB comprises:
- a substrate comprised of layers of dielectric material, the layers of dielectric material comprising a first layer and a second layer;
- a conductive trace that is between the first layer and the second layer and that is parallel to the first layer and the second layer along at least part of a length of the conductive trace;
- a conductive via that extends at least part-way through the layers of dielectric material and that connects electrically to the conductive trace, the conductive via being configured also to connect electrically to a signal input to receive a signal that has a center frequency span;
- a first ground layer that connects electrically to the conductive via, the first ground layer connecting to a reference ground voltage, the first ground layer being adjacent to the second layer, and the first ground layer being located a distance from the conductive trace that is substantially equal to one quarter (¼) of a wavelength of the center frequency span of the signal;
- and
- a second ground layer adjacent to the first ground layer and connecting to the reference ground voltage, the conductive trace being between the first ground layer and the second ground layer.
A device interface board (DIB) configured to act as a mechanical and electrical interface between a device under test (DUT) and a test instrument of a test system, the DIB comprising:
- a substrate comprised of layers of dielectric material, the layers of dielectric material comprising a first layer and a second layer;
- a conductive trace that is between the first layer and the second layer and that is parallel to the first layer and the second layer along at least part of a length of the conductive trace;
- a conductive via that extends through the layers of dielectric material and that connects electrically to the conductive trace, the conductive via being configured also to connect electrically to a signal input to receive a signal having a center frequency span;
- a ground layer to cause the signal to reflect along the conductive via, the ground layer also to inhibit dissipation of at least part of the signal into the substrate;
- and
- a conductor to create an electrical connection between the conductive trace and the conductive via, the conductor to match an impedance of the conductive trace to the conductive via to inhibit signal reflection along the conductive trace.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.