Patent ID: 7230835

Claim:
A circuit board comprising: a first signal layer having a signal conductor and a contact pad in electrical communication with the signal conductor; a second signal layer substantially parallel to the first signal layer, the second signal layer having a conductive plane defining an opening, the opening substantially aligned with the contact pad, and the opening configured to minimize a signal reflection of a signal transmitted through the signal conductor and across the contact pad; and a nonconductive layer disposed between the first signal layer and the second signal layer; wherein the contact pad comprises a pad center axis and wherein the opening, defined by the conductive plane, comprises an opening center axis, the pad center axis substantially perpendicular to the first signal layer, the opening center axis substantially perpendicular to the second signal layer, and the pad center axis and the opening center axis oriented substantially parallel and defining an offset distance between the pad center axis and the opening center axis; and wherein the opening defined by the conductive plane comprises an opening diameter and wherein the contact pad comprises a pad diameter, the opening diameter being at least equal to the contact pad diameter.