Tamera Yost, Signal-Integrity Technical Leader, W.L. Gore & Associates
Gregg Wildes, Product Specialist, W.L. Gore & Associates
This paper addresses the question of the potential benefits of mixed dielectric stripline construction by comparing the crosstalk and insertion loss performance of hybrid (mixed-dielectric) stripline constructions to industry-standard, homogeneous PCB stack-ups. The crosstalk testing and simulations compare frequency-domain near-end crosstalk of a single victim line perturbed by a single disturber. The authors examine trace routability and design rules for balanced versus unbalanced striplines and discuss the relative electrical performance of these options. The question of trace routability as it relates to line density focuses primarily on the issue of crosstalk, where tight routing of signal lines adds increased importance to the issue of how much unwanted coupling occurs.
