Polynomial chaos-based tolerance analysis of microwave planar guiding structures

This paper focuses on the derivation of an enhanced transmission-line model allowing to describe a realistic microwave interconnect with the inclusion of external uncertainties, like tolerances or process variations. The proposed method, that is based on the expansion of the well-known telegraph equations in terms of orthogonal polynomials, turns out to be accurate and more efficient than alternative solutions like Monte Carlo method in determining the transmission-line response sensitivity to parameters variability. An application example involving the analysis of the S-parameters of a realistic PCB coplanar waveguide concludes the paper.