High Speed Digital Interconnects and

Signal Integrity
1
0
Digital Signal Integrity
This is more like what we get in real life:
This would be considered to be a cleansignal.
This is what we would like to have:
0
1
In real life, it is not always 1,0,1,0
Signal Aberrations
We are trying to create a Square Wave, but Mother Nature just wont let us do it!
It is Physically Impossible to create a perfect Square Wave!
Logic Levels
The Signal Voltage must make into the End Zonewithin the allotted period of time.
Possible Bit Error
Pulse Risetime
Risetime is the most important factor in determining Bandwidth requirements.
Differential Signaling
Immunity from Ground Noise
Immunity to Electromagnetic Interference
Works with low Voltages, saves Power
Differential Mode
Common Mode
Twinax / Quadrax Field Patterns
Twinax Electric Field Twinax Magnetic Field
Eye Pattern
The Eye Pattern is simply a
bunch of pulses, both positive
and negative, chopped up and
overlaid upon each other.
It is an easy way to evaluate
the Signal Integrity of
Thousands of pulses at a glance.
The shape of each pulse is
affected by the whether the
previous pulse was a 1 or 0.
This is why we need to use a
Pseudo Random Bit Stream
(PRBS) to simulate an actual
data stream.
Eye Pattern Mask
High Speed Digital & Signal Integrity
What makes High Speed Digital different than old
fashion digital?
The High Frequency content of the Digital Signal
requires that High Frequency Design Techniques
be taken into account in order to preserve the
Signal Integrity.
Understanding High Frequency Design
Techniques requires understanding the basics of
Transmission Line Theory.
First, we need to understand the High Frequency
content of the Digital Signal
Frequency Content of the Digital Signal
Mother Nature cant create Square Waves, she can only create Sine Waves.
Waves of any other shape are Composed of Overlapping Sine Waves.
Square Waves are composed of a Superposition of Odd Harmonic Sine Waves.
Time Domain Vs Frequency Domain
The Fourier Transform(pronounced 4EA) is a mathematical technique
used to convert between the Time and Frequency Domains.
Pulse Shape Vs Frequency
1st Harmonic (Fundamental Frequency)
1
st
& 3
rd
Harmonic
Pulse Shape Vs Frequency
1
st
, 3
rd
& 5
th
Harmonic
1
st
, 3
rd,
5
th
, & 7
th
Harmonic
Pulse Shape Vs Frequency
1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, & 9th Harmonic
The Risetime becomes faster as you add more Harmonics.
After the 9th Harmonic, very little benefit is gained by adding more Harmonics.
Filtered Data Lines should have their cut-off frequency ~10 X the Data Rate.
Bandwidth Required
If all you know is the Data Rate, then:
Bandwidth ~ 3-5 X Data Rate
If you know the Risetime, then:
Bandwidth ~ 0.35 / Risetime
Risetime is more important than Data Rate in determining Bandwidth.
Transmission Line Basics
Question: What is a Transmission Line?
Answer: A Transmission Line is a device designed to guide electrical energy
from one point to another.
Question: What is the Characteristic Impedanceof a transmission line?
Answer: The Characteristic Impedanceof a transmission line is the
ratio of voltage to current on an infinitely long transmission line. It is
symbolized by Zoand expressed in units of Ohms.
Question: Why is the Characteristic Impedanceof a transmission line
important?
Answer: The transmission line must be terminated at both ends with
impedances matching the Characteristic Impedanceto minimize
any signal reflections and maximize signal throughput.
Question: What causes signal reflections and why does it matter?
Answer: Signal reflections cause power loss and can cause interference with
the desired primary signal. Lets proceed to look at a simple example of
reflections on transmission lines
Transmission Line Basics
Question: What happens if I connect a 1 Volt Battery to a Transmission Line?
Answer: A 1 Volt pulse propagates down the transmission line at the speed
of light in that medium.
Question: What happens when the pulse reaches the end of the line?
Answer: That depends on how the line is terminated
If the line is terminated with a matched load, the pulse is absorbed by the
load and there are no reflections.
Matched Termination
Transmission Line Basics
If the line is terminated with a short circuit, there can be no voltage across
a short circuit, so nature cancels the incoming pulse by creating an equal
but opposite voltage pulse and reflects it back towards the source.
Short Circuit Termination
If the line is terminated with a impedance < Zo, then the reflection is
similar to an short circuit, except the reflection will be reduced in
magnitude because part of the incoming pulse is absorbed by the load.
This is how a mirror works. The highly conductive silver coating on
the back of the glass shorts outthe electric field in the light (E/M)
wave and reflects it back at you!
Transmission Line Basics
If the line is terminated with a open circuit, there can be no current at an
open circuit, so nature cancels out the incoming current by creating an
equal but opposite current and reflects it back towards the source as a
positive pulse.
Open Circuit Termination
If the line is terminated with a impedance > Zo, then the reflection is
similar to an open circuit, except the reflection will be reduced in
magnitude because part of the incoming pulse is absorbed by the load.
These examples also show how a TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry) works!
Transmission Line Basics
Question: When do you need to take Transmission Line Theory into account?
Example: Suppose that there are two identical electrical power plants.
One is in San Francisco and the other is in Las Vegas. Both plants are
supplying power to San Francisco.
Question: What happens if everybody in San Francisco shuts off their
power at the same time and power demand drops to zero?
Answer 1: The plant in San Francisco will simply throttle back its generators
and go into idle mode. No Problem.
Answer 2: The plant in Las Vegas is about Wavelength away at 60 Hz, or
Wavelength round trip. This will cause a 180 phase shift and the Open Circuit
in San Francisco will appear as a Short Circuit to the plant in Las Vegas. The
Las Vegas plant will have to Scramand shut down immediately, in order to
avoid melting down its generators by trying to feed power into a Short Circuit!
Answer: Any time that the length of the transmission line becomes a
significant portion of a wavelength at the highest frequency of interest.
(i.e. >5%)
Digital Rule of Thumb: For every Nanosecond of Rise Time, you can get
away with about 1 Inch in length before Transmission Line Theory
becomes a Significant Factor.
Signal Integrity
This signal injected here.
What happened?
Reflections within the connectors caused the degradation.
Becomes this after a pair of connectors.
Noise
J itter
Transmission Line Discontinuities
Signal reflections will occur anywhere that there is a change in Impedance.
Signal reflections will also occur at each and every discontinuity in the connector pair.
The Design Engineers job is to maintain a constant Impedance and to make sure
that each and every discontinuity is properly compensated to minimize these
reflections and preserve the Signal Integrity.
Reflections and Re-Reflections cause Multi-Pathwithin the connector,
causing variations in Propagation Delay, otherwise known as J itter.
Signal Integrity
This signal injected here. Becomes this after 6 feet of cable.
Mask
The Mask determines the lowest acceptable limits for logic levels and timing.
Signal Integrity
This signal injected here. Becomes this after 12 feet of cable.
What happened? Cable losses attenuated the high frequency harmonics.
Frequency Dependant Cable Attenuation
NF24Q100 Insertion Loss per Foot
3 9
15
1
st
Harmonic 3
rd
Harmonic 5
th
Harmonic
Frequency Dependant Cable Attenuation
SKIN EFFECT
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
1
.
0
0
E
+
0
6
1
.
0
0
E
+
0
7
1
.
0
0
E
+
0
8
1
.
0
0
E
+
0
9
1
.
0
0
E
+
1
0
Frequency
C
u
r
r
e
n
t

D
e
p
t
h

(
u
I
n
)
Copper
Gold
The Skin Effect increases the resistance of the conductors at higher
frequencies, thereby increasing the cable attenuation at higher frequencies.
Frequency Dependant Cable Attenuation
It is possible to partially compensate for the
Frequency Dependant Cable Attenuation and
achieve longer cable runs.
Pre-Emphasis can be done at the transmitter to
emphasizeor amplify the higher frequencies to
compensate for the cable loss.
Equalization can be done anywhere, including in
our connectors, by selectively attenuating the
lower frequencies to flatten the attenuation curve.
These techniques can allow for ~50% longer
cable runs.
Crosstalk
Crosstalk is undesired coupling between nearby lines.
NEXT = Near End Crosstalk FEXT = Far End Crosstalk
Skew
Skew is defined as the
difference in propagation
delay between two or more
signal paths.
Skew is of greatest concern
between two conductors of a
differential pair.
If both path lengths arent
matched precisely, skew in a
differential pair can lead to
increased Insertion Loss,
Impedance Mismatch,
Crosstalk and EMI.
Low skew between multiple
paths can be important in a
parallel bus.
EMI = ElectroMagnetic Interference
Terms You Might Hear
Signal Integrity: Making sure that properly shaped pulses reach the
receiver.
Eye Pattern: A graph that overlays thousands of pulses as a easy
way to check their Signal Integrity.
Crosstalk: Undesired coupling between nearby lines.
Skew: Difference in Time Delay between Different Signal Paths.
J itter: Noise induced Timing Errors.
Edge Rates: Risetime & Falltime.
EMI: ElectroMagnetic Interference.
GBPS: Giga Bits per Second.
PRBS: Pseudo Random Bit Stream.
BER: Bit Error Rate.
BERT: Bit Error Rate Test or Tester.
NEXT: Near End Crosstalk.
FEXT: Far End Crosstalk.
ISI: Inter-Symbol Interference.
LVDS: Low-Voltage Differential Signaling.
Backplane: An interconnection panel into which PC Boards can be
plugged.
Summary
High Speed Digital Signals are composed of a
Superposition of High Frequency Odd Harmonic Sine
Waves.
High Frequency Design Techniques must be used to
preserve the necessary Harmonics and assure the
Integrity of the Signal.
In Connectors, Reflections are the main concern and
each and every discontinuity must be properly
compensated to minimize these reflections and preserve
Signal Integrity.
In Cables, Losses and Frequency Dependant Cable
Attenuation are the main issues affecting Signal Integrity.
This limits the length of a cable run.
It is possible to achieve longer cable runs through the
use of Pre-Emphasis and/or Equalization.
The End