Printed circuit board with reduced signal distortion

1. A printed circuit board with reduced signal distortion, the printed circuit board comprising:

one or more layers of non-conductive substrate upon which are disposed conductive pathways that conduct signals, the signals characterized by distortion at least partly caused by orientation of the conductive pathways on the layers of the printed circuit board, and a periodically patterned reference plane;

each conductive pathway that conducts signals oriented orthogonally or diagonally at forty-five degrees with respect to other conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board;

the periodically patterned reference plane comprising a conductor having discontinuities arranged in a periodically recurring pattern, the pattern of the discontinuities oriented on a surface of a layer of the printed circuit board at an optimum angle, with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board, that reduces distortion of the signals, wherein the optimum angle is 22.5 degrees with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board.

2. The printed circuit board of claim 1 wherein the pattern of discontinuities oriented at an optimum angle, with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board, that reduces distortion of the signals further comprises:

the pattern of discontinuities oriented at an optimum angle, with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board, that minimizes the lengths of noise-inducing current return paths through the periodically patterned reference plane.

3. The printed circuit board of claim 1 wherein the pattern of discontinuities oriented at an optimum angle, with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board, that reduces distortion of the signals further comprises:

the pattern of discontinuities oriented at an optimum angle, with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board, to minimize variations in impedance characteristics among all the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board.

4. The printed circuit board of claim 1 wherein the signals have a frequency of at least one gigahertz.

5. A method of signal transmission on a printed circuit board with reduced signal distortion, the printed circuit board comprising:

one or more layers of non-conductive substrate upon which are disposed conductive pathways that conduct signals, the signals characterized by distortion at least partly caused by orientation of the conductive pathways on the layers of the printed circuit board, and a periodically patterned reference plane, the periodically patterned reference plane comprising a conductor having discontinuities arranged in a periodically recurring pattern on a surface of a layer of the printed circuit board;

the method comprising:

orienting by a computer, each conductive pathway that conducts signals orthogonally or diagonally at forty-five degrees with respect to other conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board;

orienting, by the computer, the pattern of the discontinuities on the surface of the layer of the printed circuit board at an optimum angle, with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board, that reduces distortion of the signals, wherein orienting the pattern of the discontinuities on the surface of the layer of the printed circuit board at an optimum angle includes orienting, by the computer, the pattern of discontinuities at 22.5 degrees with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board; and

transmitting, by the computer, a signal along a particular one of the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board, the transmitted signal characterized by a reduced distortion.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein orienting the pattern of the discontinuities on the surface of the layer of the printed circuit board at an optimum angle, with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board, that reduces distortion of the signal further comprises:

orienting, by the computer, the pattern of discontinuities at an optimum angle, with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board, that minimizes the lengths of noise-inducing current return paths through the periodically patterned reference plane.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein orienting the pattern of the discontinuities on the surface of the layer of the printed circuit board at an optimum angle, with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board, that reduces distortion of the signal further comprises:

orienting, by the computer, the pattern of discontinuities at an optimum angle, with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board, to minimize variations in impedance characteristics among all the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein the signal characterized by a reduced distortion and transmitted along the particular one of the conductive pathways has a frequency of at least one gigahertz.

9. A method of designing a printed circuit board with reduced signal distortion, the printed circuit board comprising:

one or more layers of non-conductive substrate upon which are disposed conductive pathways that conduct signals, the signals characterized by distortion at least partly caused by orientation of the conductive pathways on the layers of the printed circuit board, and a periodically patterned reference plane, the periodically patterned reference plane comprising a conductor having discontinuities arranged in a periodically recurring pattern on a surface of a layer of the printed circuit board;

the method comprising:

orienting, by using a computer to execute a PCB layout software application for a PCB layout, each conductive pathway that conducts signals orthogonally or diagonally at forty-five degrees with respect to other conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board;

orienting, by using the computer to execute the PCB layout software application for the PCB layout, the pattern of the discontinuities on the surface of the layer of the printed circuit board at an optimum angle, with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board, that reduces distortion of the signals, wherein orienting the pattern of the discontinuities on the surface of the layer of the printed circuit board at an optimum angle includes orienting the pattern of discontinuities at 22.5 degrees with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board; and

generating, by the computer to execute the PCB layout design software application, the PCB layout for the printed circuit board.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein orienting the pattern of the discontinuities on the surface of the layer of the printed circuit board at an optimum angle, with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board, that reduces distortion of the signal further comprises:

orienting the pattern of discontinuities at an optimum angle, with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board, that minimizes the lengths of noise-inducing current return paths through the periodically patterned reference plane.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein orienting the pattern of the discontinuities on the surface of the layer of the printed circuit board at an optimum angle, with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board, that reduces distortion of the signal further comprises:

orienting the pattern of discontinuities at an optimum angle, with respect to the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board, to minimize variations in impedance characteristics among all the conductive pathways that conduct signals on the printed circuit board.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein the signals have a frequency of at least one gigahertz.