SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Sanmina-SCI Corporation (Nasdaq: SANM), a leading electronics contract manufacturer and high performance printed circuit board fabricator, has developed several processes to optimize the electrical performance of via structures used to interconnect traces on different layers in printed circuit boards (PCB) and backplanes. Opti-Via(TM) structures significantly improve the signal integrity performance of high speed interconnects. Using Opti-Via(TM) structures, cross talk, jitter, and inter-symbol interference (IFI) are significantly reduced. Via losses at 5 GHz (corresponding to an aggregate throughput of 10 Gb/s per differential pair) can be reduced by as much as 40 dB (100X improvement). "It is not difficult to design unusually-shaped via structures whose computer simulations predict superior electrical performance," explained Franz Gisin, Director of Backplane Design Technology and Signal Integrity Design for Sanmina-SCI's Global Technology Solutions Division. "The problem is many of these via structures are difficult and expensive to manufacture. Opti-Via(TM) structures, on the other hand, are compatible with existing industry-standard manufacturing processes and techniques, including Sanmina-SCI's patented Buried Capacitance(TM) power distribution planes, so enhanced signal integrity performance can be incorporated into high-speed advanced technology PCBs and backplanes with minimal cost and schedule impact." Using Opti-Via(TM) structures, the need for expensive, power-hungry active signal conditioning circuits can also be minimized or replaced by passive compensation techniques based on Sanmina-SCI's patented Annular Buried Resistor (ABR(TM)) technology. Sanmina-SCI Corp.