Parametric Macromodeling of Flexible Printed Interconnects for Mobile Devices

We present a procedure for the generation of parameterized macromodels for flexible printed interconnects typically found in portable devices having moving parts. The interconnects are modeled as lossy and dispersive transmission lines with a cross-sectional geometry which depends on several geometrical/electrical parameters. A parameterized macromodel is derived by introducing a suitable parameterization scheme in the framework of the Generalized Method-ofCharacteristics. Key factors insuring the accuracy, efficiency of the model and allowing to handle the geometrical complexity are delay extraction, rational approximations, and parameter-dependent interpolation schemes. The parameterized macromodels can be translated into SPICE-compatible equivalent circuits, ready for repeated runs in either time or frequency domain, what-if analyses, and system optimization.