Analysis of Via Capacitance in Arbitrary Multilayer PCBs

The signal layer transitions at regions of multilayer printed circuit boards, where high-speed signal lines switch between two signal layers, may affect the board circuit´s signal integrity and electromagnetic compatibility. This study has been focused on the analysis and extraction of values of parasitic capacitance of various designs of through-hole and micro vias as signal layer-changing devices, which are common in practice. The via capacitance is analyzed conceptually by using lumped circuit models for electrically short vias, numerically by the computational calculations based on the transmission line modeling method, and experimentally by laboratory measurements using a vector network analyzer and an LCR meter.