Equivalent Elmore delay for RLC trees

Abstract

Closed form solutions for the 50% delay, rise time, overshoots, and settling time of signals in an RLC tree are presented, These solutions have the same accuracy characteristics as the Elmore delay model for RC trees and preserves the simplicity and recursive characteristics of the Elmore delay. The solutions introduced here consider all damping conditions of an RLC circuit including the underdamped response, which is not considered by the classical Elmore delay model due to the non-monotone nature of the response. Also, the solutions have significantly improved accuracy as compared to the Elmore delay for an overdamped response. The solutions introduced here for RLC trees can be practically used for the same purposes that the Elmore delay is used for RC trees.