FDTD analysis of conventional and novel delay lines

The FDTD method has been used effectively to analyse delay lines such as the conventional serpentine delay line and the spiral line. Since the FDTD method incorporates the full-wave features of the model, all coupling effects, from the low-frequency capacitive and inductive coupling to the high-frequency microwave effects are included in the model. The flexibility of the FDTD method in treating non-conventional structures such as the spiral line makes it a very viable and powerful tool in designing novel delay lines that are constrained only by the size of the printed circuit board and the imagination of the designer.