Definition

Offset stripline (also called asymmetric stripline) is a signal trace sandwiched between two reference planes but positioned closer to one plane than the other. This is the realistic representation of most stripline routing since PCB stackups rarely place traces at the true center between planes. The asymmetry means different dielectric thicknesses (H1 and H2) above and below the trace, and often different dielectric constants since one side is typically core material and the other prepreg. Field solvers account for this asymmetry when calculating impedance.