Microstrip circuits

Wires used to interconnect components will have both a distributed series inductance and shunt capacitance per unit length. When the length of the wires becomes greater than about one-tenth of a wavelength, then the transmission line effects associated with the distributed series inductance and shunt capacitance can no longer be ignored in circuit design. In order to take these effects into account in an analytic manner the interconnecting wires, which often take the form of tracks on a printed circuit board, need to have a well-defined cross-sectional structure. The most common forms of interconnect structure are coaxial cable, stripline, suspended stripline, microstrip, and coplanar waveguide. These structures are illustrated and will be considered in detail