Design and Characterization of the EBG Waveguide-Based Interconnects

An alternative signal guiding structure, which can be integrated within the printed circuit substrates, is investigated in this paper. The structure is realized by forming a rectangular waveguide in a 2-D electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) substrate. In this manner, a bandpass interconnect is provided that proves to be a promising technology for the high-speed/high-frequency system design. A systematic approach to the design and optimization of this interconnect is presented here followed by investigation of various bend geometries. The studied structures exhibit very low levels of loss and leakage when inspected at tens of gigahertz frequency range. Moreover, the near-end and the far-end crosstalks are monitored in multiple interconnects proving the high efficiency of this alternative routing structure in dense layouts. Nonetheless, the crosstalk performance is degraded as the coplanar microstrip-to-waveguide transitions are added. These transitions are essentially tapered microstrip lines that are connected to other circuitries. Continuous via fences are inserted in the transition sections of multiple structures demonstrating significant improvement in the crosstalk performance.