— The high-order compact finite difference (HCFD) method is adapted for interconnect modeling. Based on the compact finite difference method, the HCFD method employs the Chebyshev polynomials to construct the approximation framework for interconnect discretization, and leads to improved equivalent-circuit models. The HCFD-based modeling requires far fewer intervening grid points for building an accurate discrete model of the transmission line than other numerical methods like traditional Finite Difference (FD) method. It is believed that given the number of state variables, the presented method gives more accurate results than other known passive discrete modeling methods. The theoretical proof shows that HCFD-based modeling preserves the passivity.