An apparatus to design a via pad of a via is described. In one embodiment,
the apparatus includes a vertex determination module configured to
determine a vertex of the via pad based on a position of a trace that is
connected to the via. The apparatus also includes a contour definition
module configured to define an extended contour of the via pad based on
the vertex. The extended contour is defined such that an electrical
length design characteristic of the trace is substantially unchanged by
the extended contour.