6/30/2014

Lesson EPSI-02-01 Download the pdf file

Course EPSI:
Essential Principles of Signal Integrity
With Eric Bogatin,
Signal Integrity Evangelist,
Teledyne LeCroy Front Range Signal Integrity Lab

EPSI-02-10: recorded live, Dec 1, 2013

Differential pairs

A secret to immunize confusion about diff pairs

Don’t use Differential mode impedance

Differential pairs, differential signals and odd and even mode impedance
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 2014 1

Lesson EPSI-02-10 Intro to Diff Pairs

Course EPSI:
Essential Principles of Signal Integrity
With Eric Bogatin,
Signal Integrity Evangelist,
Teledyne LeCroy Front Range Signal Integrity Lab

EPSI-02-10: recorded live, Dec 1, 2013

Differential pairs

A secret to immunize confusion about diff pairs

Don’t use Differential mode impedance

Differential pairs, differential signals and odd and even mode impedance
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 2014 2

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Day 1

EPSI 1 Transmission Lines

EPSI 2 Differential Pairs and Lossy Lines

Lunch

EPSI 3 Reflections and Terminations

EPSI 4 Routing Topologies and Discontinuities

Day 2

EPSI 5 Eliminating Ground Bounce

EPSI 6 Navigating Return Path Discontinuities

Lunch

EPSI 7 NEXT and FEXT Features

EPSI 8 PDN and EMI Design

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 3

A Secret to Minimize Confusion About Differential Impedance

1
2

Differential mode
Think:
Common mode Differential signals
Common signals
Odd mode
Even mode
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 4

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Lesson EPSI-02-20 Differential Signals

Course EPSI:
Essential Principles of Signal Integrity
With Eric Bogatin,
Signal Integrity Evangelist,
Teledyne LeCroy Front Range Signal Integrity Lab

EPSI-02-20: recorded live, Dec 1, 2013

Differential and common signals in LVDS drivers

Decomposing any signal into diff and common components

What is the impedance the differential signal sees

When microstrip traces are far apart what is the differential impedance
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 2014 5

Differential and Common Refer to SIGNALS

LVDS
common
V1 V1 V2
differential
V2

Definitions:

Vdiff = V1 – V2

Vcomm = ½ (V1 + V2)

Differential and common signals propagate

independently on differential pairs

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 6

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Very Important Principle

Difference signal
V = 1v
0v V = 0v
1v

R = Zdiff

Differential impedance is the

instantaneous impedance the
differential signal sees
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 7

Differential Impedance and Single-ended Impedance

What is the equivalent impedance between the two signal lines?

with no coupling:

Zdiff Zdiff = Z0 + Z0

Z0 Z0 Zdiff = 2 x Z0

What happens to Z0 when traces move closer together?

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 8

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Lesson EPSI-02-30 Differential Impedance and Coupling

Course EPSI:
Essential Principles of Signal Integrity
With Eric Bogatin,
Signal Integrity Evangelist,
Teledyne LeCroy Front Range Signal Integrity Lab

EPSI-02-30: recorded live, Dec 1, 2013

Impedance of one line when the other line is driven opposite

Differential impedance and coupling

Why tightly coupled differential pairs should be the first choice

How to maintain 100 Ohms and tight coupling
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 2014 9

Differential Impedance and Single-ended Impedance

What is the equivalent impedance between the two signal lines?

with no coupling:

Zdiff Zdiff = Z0 + Z0

Z0 Z0 Zdiff = 2 x Z0

What happens to Z0 when traces move closer together?

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 10

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Differential Impedance and the Impedance of Each Line

What is the equivalent impedance between the two signal lines?
with no coupling: with coupling:

Zdiff
Zdiff
Z0 I ~ Ccoupling x 2 dV/dt
Z0

Current increases,
impedance decreases
Zdiff = Z0 + Z0
Zdiff = 2 x (Z0 – ∆Z)
Zdiff = 2 x Z0 The larger the coupling, the lower
the differential impedance
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 11

Lesson EPSI-02-40 Currents on Differential Pairs

Course EPSI:
Essential Principles of Signal Integrity
With Eric Bogatin,
Signal Integrity Evangelist,
Teledyne LeCroy Front Range Signal Integrity Lab

EPSI-02-40: recorded live, Dec 1, 2013

The most important principle of differential signal propagation

How to think about how a differential signal propagates

Design Space for constant differential impedance

The Johnny Cash Principle for diff pair design

TDR example of single ended and differential impedance
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 2014 12

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Differential Impedance and the Impedance of Each Line

What is the equivalent impedance between the two signal lines?
with no coupling: with coupling:

Zdiff
Zdiff
Z0 I ~ Ccoupling x 2 dV/dt
Z0

Current increases,
impedance decreases
Zdiff = Z0 + Z0
Zdiff = 2 x (Z0 – ∆Z)
Zdiff = 2 x Z0 The larger the coupling, the lower
the differential impedance
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 13

Keeping The Instantaneous Differential Impedance Constant

in Stripline
Nominal 5 mil line width, 100 Ohms, uncoupled
H_total = 13 mils, t = 0.7 mils, Dk = 4
6
Design curve for constant
5 100 Ohm impedance
Line Width, mils

1
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
w = 5.2 mils, uncoupled
Edge to Edge Spacing, mils w = 3.5 mils for tightly coupled
30% narrower line for tightly coupled
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 14

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MS diff pair Designed for Uniform Diff Impedance

To keep diff
Measured single-ended impedance
impedance 5 Ohms/div, 50 Ohms center
constant as
coupling changes,
requires line width
change Measured differential impedance
10 Ohms/div, 100 Ohms center

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 15

Lesson EPSI-02-50 Tight to Loose Coupling

Course EPSI:
Essential Principles of Signal Integrity
With Eric Bogatin,
Signal Integrity Evangelist,
Teledyne LeCroy Front Range Signal Integrity Lab

EPSI-02-50: recorded live, Dec 1, 2013

The most important consequence of tight coupling

Trade off analysis: tight or loosely coupled diff pairs?

The cost-bandwidth-loss tradeoffs
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 2014 16

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Keeping The Instantaneous Differential Impedance Constant

in Stripline
Nominal 5 mil line width, 100 Ohms, uncoupled
H_total = 13 mils, t = 0.7 mils, Dk = 4
6
Design curve for constant
5 100 Ohm impedance
Line Width, mils

1
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
w = 5.2 mils, uncoupled
Edge to Edge Spacing, mils w = 3.5 mils for tightly coupled
30% narrower line for tightly coupled
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 17

MS diff pair Designed for Uniform Diff Impedance

To keep diff
Measured single-ended impedance
impedance 5 Ohms/div, 50 Ohms center
constant as
coupling changes,
requires line width
change Measured differential impedance
10 Ohms/div, 100 Ohms center

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 18

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Which is Better, Tight or Loose Coupling?

?

Lowest cost will always be with highest interconnect density:

Tight coupling should always be the first choice.

What is the downside to tight coupling?

Narrower line width  more loss

If loss is important, > 2-3 Gbps, and long lines, consider loose coupling
(Can actually be slight increase in channel to channel cross talk from tighter
coupling!)

@ > 10 Gbps, loss is critical: loose coupling should be first choice

Regardless of bit rate, always do your own analysis
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 19

Lesson EPSI-02-60 Frequency dependent loss- so what

Course EPSI:
Essential Principles of Signal Integrity
With Eric Bogatin,
Signal Integrity Evangelist,
Teledyne LeCroy Front Range Signal Integrity Lab

EPSI-02-60: recorded live, Dec 1, 2013

The typical attenuation in a channel

The rise time of the signal out of a lossy channel

Consequence of the frequency dependence of loss

Why lossy interconnects can completely close eyes
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 2014 20

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The Most Important Building Block Circuit Element: A

Differential Pair Transmission Line
What is a differential pair transmission line?
Ans: Any Two Single-ended Transmission Lines

1
2

Primary features for optimized performance:

(L) Wide lines, low Df laminate

(R) Uniform differential impedance (controlled impedance)

(N) Far from other channels

(M) Symmetric lines: matched length, cross section

What is the optimum coupling? tight or loose?
“it depends!”

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 21

Frequency Domain and Time Domain Responses of the

Channel
TX RX
How much signal gets to the receiver?
(36 inches, FR4, 4 mil wide line)
FOM ~ 34 dB/36 inch/10 GHz = ~ 0.1 dB/inch/GHz

Step response

100 psec/div

What will the eye look like if the UI is 1 nsec, 0.5 nsec, 0.1 nsec?

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 22

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It’s not just Attenuation @ Nyquist, it’s Frequency Dependent

Attenuation
No attenuation:
Perfect eye

5 Gbps
-20 dB Constant attenuation:
Nyquist = 2.5 GHz Collapsed, but NO
jitter- Can be
recovered with some
5 Gbps gain at RX

-20 dB
Frequency Frequency
dependent dependent
attenuation:
Completely
collapsed eye with
too much jitter

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 23

Lesson EPSI-02-70 How much attenuation is too much?

Course EPSI:
Essential Principles of Signal Integrity
With Eric Bogatin,
Signal Integrity Evangelist,
Teledyne LeCroy Front Range Signal Integrity Lab

EPSI-02-70: recorded live, Dec 1, 2013

Attenuation in a channel

A quick review of the dB

Eye diagram at different data rates

How much attenuation at the Nyquist is too much?

Instantly estimating channel bandwidth from the attenuation
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 2014 24

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It’s not just Attenuation @ Nyquist, it’s Frequency Dependent

Attenuation
No attenuation:
Perfect eye

5 Gbps
-20 dB Constant attenuation:
Nyquist = 2.5 GHz Collapsed, but NO
jitter- Can be
recovered with some
5 Gbps gain at RX

-20 dB
Frequency Frequency
dependent dependent
attenuation:
Completely
collapsed eye with
too much jitter

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 25

Quick Review of the dB

A dB 0 dB = 1
Voutput V 
= 10 20
A dB = 20 x log  output  dB
Vinput  V -20 dB is:
 input 
−20
Voutput
Ratio of amplitudes value in dB = 10 20 = 0.1 = 10%
100% 0 dB Vinput
90% -1 dB
80% -2 dB
70% -3 dB
-40 dB is:
−40
50% -6 dB Voutput
30% -10 dB = 10 20
= 0.01 = 1%
Vinput
10% -20 dB
5% -26 dB
3% -30 dB -10 dB is:
1% -40 dB −10
Voutput 1
= 10 20 = ~ 30%
Vinput 10
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 26

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Attenuation at Nyquist and Eye Diagram

Atten @Nyquist:

What is the connection between attenuation at
Nyquist and the eye diagram? 2 Gbps -4 dB

Define xx dB-Bandwidth as the highest frequency at (little impact from losses)
which the attenuation is less than xx dB

What BW is required for eye opening?

4 Gbps -8 dB
(highest data rate without
equalization)

7 Gbps -12 dB
(eye barely open)

9 Gbps -16 dB
(eye completely closed-
can be opened with CTLE)
2 dB/div, 10 GHz full scale

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 27

What if Attenuation @ Nyquist is > |-8| dB?

Bit error ratio (BER) maybe too high

Must use equalization to recover data:

CTLE: continuous time linear equalizer

FFE: feed forward equalization

DFE: decision feedback equalization

Just CTLE may give acceptable eye when |S21| < |-15| dB

Very good equalization may give acceptable eye when |S21| < |-25| dB

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 28

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Minimize Rise-Time Degradation by Preserving the Original

Spectrum at the Receiver
Amplitude

Frequency
Solution #1: make the response of the
interconnect flatter

Active
Equalization

Solution #2: adjust the spectrum of the signal

De-Emphasis
Pre-Emphasis

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 29

Example: Typical 40 inch Backplane

-8 dB Limit to no equalization (2 Gbps)

-15 dB Limit to CTLE only (4.6 Gbps)

-25 dB Limit to practical CTLE, FFE, DFE (8 Gbps)

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 30

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Lesson EPSI-02-80 Estimating attenuation in a channel

Course EPSI:
Essential Principles of Signal Integrity
With Eric Bogatin,
Signal Integrity Evangelist,
Teledyne LeCroy Front Range Signal Integrity Lab

EPSI-02-80: recorded live, Dec 1, 2013

A simple model for estimating attenuation

Dielectric loss and material properties like dissipation factor

Conductor loss and skin depth

Impact from surface roughness
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 2014 31

Estimating Attenuation (a first order approximation)

 R [Ohms / in] 
atten [ dB / in] = 4.34 x  len + GL [Siemens / in] x Z0 [Ohms] 
 Z [Ohms] 
 0 
Conductor loss Dielectric loss
Dk
GL = 2πf x C0 x Dk x Df = 2πf x CL x Df Z0 =
c CLen
 Dk  4.34 x 2π
atten [ dB / in] = −4.34 x  2πfCLenDf x  =− x f x Df x Dk
 cC  11.8 inch
 Len  n sec

= −2.3 x f x Df x Dk
Attenuation from dielectric loss:
- only depends on the materials, NOT design
- scales linearly with frequency
- is dominated by dissipation factor of material FR4:
- simple figure of merit (FOM): dB/in/GHz = 2.3 x Df x sqrt(Dk) = 0.1 dB/inch/GHz
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 32

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Attenuation from Dielectric: Figure of Merit

atten per length[dB / inch] = 2.3 x f x Df x Dk dB / inch
@ ~ 1 GHz
Material Dk Df atten, dB/inch/GHz

Park Nelco N4000-6 4.3 0.02 0.1

Isola 370HR 4.4 0.016 0.077

GETEK 3.5-4.4 0.008- 0.01 0.046

N4000-13SI 3.4 0.01 0.042

Isola FR408HR 3.7 0.009 0.04 Typical Vendors:

Park-Nelco N4000-13EP 3.6 0.008 0.035 Isola, Taconics,
Rogers, Park-Nelco,

Rogers RO4350 3.6 0.004 0.017
Panasonic, Gore

GoreSpeedBoard 2.6 0.004 0.015

Panasonic Megtron 6 3.7 0.002 0.009
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 33

Skin Depth Limited Current Distributions: Smooth Copper

Microstrip:
1 1
δ= = 2.1µ f in GHz 50 Ohm, FR4 @100 MHz
σπµ0µf f εr = 4.2
h = 38 µ
t = 3 mils
@ 1 GHz, skin depth = 2 u w = 5 mils

Properties of series resistance: Ansoft SI 2D

Above ~ 10 MHz, for 1 oz copper, current is
skin depth limited

R will increase ~ sqrt(freq)

All high end 2D field solvers will
calculate the resistive and dielectric Estimating conductor loss:
loss over frequency 1. Smooth copper

Polar

Mentor Graphics HyperLynx 2. Skin depth

Agilent ADS 3. Return current loss

HFSS, CST, W 4. Roughness

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 34

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Impact from Copper Surface Roughness: Can increase

attenuation by > 2x
Currently no good analytical predictions
of measured copper surface texture and
resulting attenuation- MUST rely on
measurement characterization
Measured Insertion Loss for Different Copper
Foils Laminated to Rogers Ultralam 3850 (an
LCP)
Increasing
surface
roughness

Note: very
rough surfaces
have atten ~ f,
not sqr(f)

Courtesy of John Andresakis Source: Rogers Corporation

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 35

Typical Worst Case: Total Attenuation in FR4

 R [Ohms / in] 
atten [ dB / in] = 4.34 x  len + GL [Siemens / in] x Z0 [Ohms] 
 Z [Ohms] 
 0 
1
atten [ dB / in] ~ f [GHz ] + 2.3 x f [GHz ] x Df x Dk
w [mils]
- skin depth
- current on both surfaces
- resistance of return path
- 2x surface roughness
- for 50 Ohm single-ended, 100 Ohm diff

Example: @ 1 GHz, (2 Gbps) w = 5 mil, Dk = 4.3, Df = 0.02

1
atten [ dB / in] ~ 1 + 2.3 x 1 x 0.02 x 4.3 =
5
Figure of Merit ~ 0.3 dB/in/GHz 0.2dB / in + 0.1dB / in = 0.3dB / in

Example: @ 4 GHz, (8 Gbps) w = 5 mil, Dk = 4.3, Df = 0.02 1

atten [ dB / in] ~ 4 + 2.3 x 4 x 0.02 x 4.3 =
5
Figure of Merit ~ 0.22 dB/in/GHz
0.4dB / in + 0.5dB / in = 0.9dB / in
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 36

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 6/30/2014

Lesson EPSI-02-90 Examples of attenuation in channels

Course EPSI:
Essential Principles of Signal Integrity
With Eric Bogatin,
Signal Integrity Evangelist,
Teledyne LeCroy Front Range Signal Integrity Lab

EPSI-02-90: recorded live, Dec 1, 2013

Estimating attenuation in lossy and low loss channels

The most important figure of merit for a channel

Examples of attenuation figure of merit in a few interconnects

How to engineer lower attenuation in an interconnect
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 2014 37

Typical Worst Case: Total Attenuation in FR4

 R [Ohms / in] 
atten [ dB / in] = 4.34 x  len + GL [Siemens / in] x Z0 [Ohms] 
 Z [Ohms] 
 0 
1
atten [ dB / in] ~ f [GHz ] + 2.3 x f [GHz ] x Df x Dk
w [mils]
- skin depth
- current on both surfaces
- resistance of return path
- 2x surface roughness
- for 50 Ohm single-ended, 100 Ohm diff

Example: @ 1 GHz, (2 Gbps) w = 5 mil, Dk = 4.3, Df = 0.02

1
atten [ dB / in] ~ 1 + 2.3 x 1 x 0.02 x 4.3 =
5
Figure of Merit ~ 0.3 dB/in/GHz 0.2dB / in + 0.1dB / in = 0.3dB / in

Example: @ 4 GHz, (8 Gbps) w = 5 mil, Dk = 4.3, Df = 0.02 1

atten [ dB / in] ~ 4 + 2.3 x 4 x 0.02 x 4.3 =
5
Figure of Merit ~ 0.22 dB/in/GHz
0.4dB / in + 0.5dB / in = 0.9dB / in
Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 38

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Typical Best Case: Total Attenuation in Megtron6

 R [Ohms / in] 
atten [ dB / in] = 4.34 x  len + GL [Siemens / in] x Z0 [Ohm s] 
 Z [Ohms] 
 0 
1
atten [ dB / in] ~ f [GHz ] + 2.3 x f [GHz ] x Df x Dk - skin depth
w [mils] - current on both surfaces
- resistance of return path
- 2x surface roughness
- for 50 Ohm single-ended, 100
Ohm diff
Example: @ 1 GHz, (2 Gbps) w = 7 mil, Dk = 3.7,
1
Df = 0.002 atten [ dB / in] ~ 1 + 2.3 x 1 x 0.002 x 3.7 =
7
0.14dB / in + 0.009dB / in = 0.15dB / in
Figure of Merit ~ 0.15
dB/in/GHz
Example: @ 4 GHz, (8 Gbps) w = 7 mil, Dk = 3.7,
Df = 0.002 1
atten [dB / in] ~ 4 + 2.3 x 4 x 0.002 x 3.7 =
7
Figure of Merit ~ 0.08 dB/in/GHz 0.28dB
Teledyne / in + Signal
LeCroy 0.035dB / in = Academy
Integrity 0.32dB / in
Very expensive material wasted by conductor loss

39

Attenuation and SDD21: Measured Backplane Channels

Simple rule of thumb: 5-15 mil wide line in FR408 ~ 0.3  0.1 dB/inch/GHz

1 GHz/div 1 GHz/div

20 dB/6 GHz ~ 3.3 dB/GHz

@ 30 inches long
~ 0.11 dB/inch/GHz
20 dB/3 GHz ~ 6.7 dB/GHz
@ 40 inches long
~ 0.17 dB/inch/GHz
Via stub at 8
GHz, ~180 mils
long
Below 3 GHz, losses dominate,
above 5 GHz, impedance variations
Data courtesy of Molex

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 40

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How do we Engineer Interconnects to Have Insertion loss

below ~ -25 dB?

Shortest interconnects practical:

For low loss FOM ~ 0.1 dB/inch/GHz, @ 5 GHz (10 Gbps), atten ~ 0.5
dB/inch. 50 inches max length for < -25 dB

Minimize conductor loss

Engineer widest line width balanced with required interconnect density

Loose coupling

Lowest impedance practical

Lowest Dk practical

Thickest dielectric layers practical

Conductor thickness > ½ oz. copper not much impact

Use smoother copper

Minimize dielectric loss (no design features affect dielectric loss)

Lowest dissipation factor laminate practical

Use lower loss laminate on selected layers for lowest cost

Keep surface traces (microstrip) short

Humidity sensitivity

Higher loss from surface treatment, rougher copper

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 41

Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy 42

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