Signal Integrity and High-Speed Interconnects

January-May 2006

Transmission Line Theory

(Part 1)

Dr. José Ernesto Rayas Sánchez

Outline

ƒ Common transmission media

ƒ Modeling uniform interconnects
ƒ Interconnect parasitics and their physical significance
ƒ From lumped circuits to distributed circuits
ƒ Fundamental transmission line equations

Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 2

Dr. J. E. Rayas Sánchez

http://iteso.mx/~erayas erayas@iteso.mx
 Signal Integrity and High-Speed Interconnects
January-May 2006

Common Transmission Media

ƒ Uniform Interconnects

Waveguide
a

b
w

Coaxial
Twisted-pair
h

h
εr
w1
w
w2

Coplanar Microstrip

Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez (Hewlett-Packard's RF Design and Measurement Seminar, 2000) 3

Common Transmission Media (cont)

ƒ Practical interconnects can be decomposed in segments of

uniform interconnects (if necessary)

PCB
(add-in card)

Components
(Chip + Pkg)

PCB Connector
(Motherboard)

Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez (H. Heck, 2005) 4

Dr. J. E. Rayas Sánchez

http://iteso.mx/~erayas erayas@iteso.mx
 Signal Integrity and High-Speed Interconnects
January-May 2006

Modeling Uniform Interconnects

(A. Weisshaar, Tutorial on High-Speed Interconnects, IMS June 2004, Fort Worth, TX)

Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 5

Modeling Uniform Interconnects (cont)

ƒ Parasitic effects associated to each transmission media

– Capacitance between conductors, C
– Resistance of conductors (conductor losses), R
– Inductance of conductor loops, L
– Dielectric conductivity (dielectric losses), G
ƒ R, C, L, and G must be determined per unit length
Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 6

Dr. J. E. Rayas Sánchez

http://iteso.mx/~erayas erayas@iteso.mx
 Signal Integrity and High-Speed Interconnects
January-May 2006

Interconnect Shunt Capacitance

(A. Weisshaar, Tutorial on High-Speed Interconnects, IMS June 2004, Fort Worth, TX)
Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 7

Fringing Capacitance Effect

(A. Weisshaar, Tutorial on High-Speed Interconnects, IMS June 2004, Fort Worth, TX)
Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 8

Dr. J. E. Rayas Sánchez

http://iteso.mx/~erayas erayas@iteso.mx
 Signal Integrity and High-Speed Interconnects
January-May 2006

Interconnect Series Inductance

(A. Weisshaar, Tutorial on High-Speed Interconnects, IMS June 2004, Fort Worth, TX)
Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 9

Interconnect Series DC Resistance

(A. Weisshaar, Tutorial on High-Speed Interconnects, IMS June 2004, Fort Worth, TX)
Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 10

Dr. J. E. Rayas Sánchez

http://iteso.mx/~erayas erayas@iteso.mx
 Signal Integrity and High-Speed Interconnects
January-May 2006

Skin Effect

(A. Weisshaar, Tutorial on High-Speed Interconnects, IMS June 2004, Fort Worth, TX)
Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 11

EM-Simulation of Conductor Current Distribution

(A. Weisshaar, Tutorial on High-Speed Interconnects, IMS June 2004, Fort Worth, TX)
Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 12

Dr. J. E. Rayas Sánchez

http://iteso.mx/~erayas erayas@iteso.mx
 Signal Integrity and High-Speed Interconnects
January-May 2006

Proximity Effect

(A. Weisshaar, Tutorial on High-Speed Interconnects, IMS June 2004, Fort Worth, TX)
Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 13

Edge and Indy Effects – Example

0.6 GHz

FR4

W 1 GHz
H

W = 5 mm L = 25 mm
H = 5 mm εr = 4.5
dielectric loss tan = 0.025

Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 14

Dr. J. E. Rayas Sánchez

http://iteso.mx/~erayas erayas@iteso.mx
 Signal Integrity and High-Speed Interconnects
January-May 2006

Interconnect Shunt Conductance

(A. Weisshaar, Tutorial on High-Speed Interconnects, IMS June 2004, Fort Worth, TX)
Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 15

Loss Tangent of Typical Materials

(A. Weisshaar, Tutorial on High-Speed Interconnects, IMS June 2004, Fort Worth, TX)
Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 16

Dr. J. E. Rayas Sánchez

http://iteso.mx/~erayas erayas@iteso.mx
 Signal Integrity and High-Speed Interconnects
January-May 2006

Equivalent Circuit Models for Interconnects

ƒ On-chip Interconnects
– lumped C if very short
– lumped RC if very short and R significant
– cascaded lumped RC if short
– distributed RC if long
– RLC distributed line (high performance VLSI circuits
and microwave ICs)

ƒ Off-chip Interconnects (→ usually distributed models)

– LC line if losses can be ignored
– RLC line on low dielectric loss PCBs
– RLGC line (if dielectric loss is significant)

Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 17

Lumped Equivalent Circuit Models

Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 18

Dr. J. E. Rayas Sánchez

http://iteso.mx/~erayas erayas@iteso.mx
 Signal Integrity and High-Speed Interconnects
January-May 2006

From Lumped Circuits to Distributed Circuits

(A. Weisshaar, Tutorial on High-Speed Interconnects, IMS June 2004, Fort Worth, TX)
Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 19

Transmission Line Model

The interconnect is modeled using an infinite number

of RLCG sections
Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez (R. Ludwig and P. Bretchko, RF Circuit Design, Prentice Hall, 2000) 20

Dr. J. E. Rayas Sánchez

http://iteso.mx/~erayas erayas@iteso.mx
 Signal Integrity and High-Speed Interconnects
January-May 2006

Transmission Line Model

The interconnect is modeled using an infinite number

of RLCG sections
Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez (R. Ludwig and P. Bretchko, RF Circuit Design, Prentice Hall, 2000) 21

Transmission Line Model

ƒ Generic equivalent circuit for each section (R, L, C

and G are per unit length)
ƒ The interconnect is modeled using an infinite number
of these sections, making ∆z → 0

Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez (R. Ludwig and P. Bretchko, RF Circuit Design, Prentice Hall, 2000) 22

Dr. J. E. Rayas Sánchez

http://iteso.mx/~erayas erayas@iteso.mx
 Signal Integrity and High-Speed Interconnects
January-May 2006

Transmission Line Equations

ƒ Time-Domain (Telegrapher Equations)

∂v( z , t ) ∂i ( z , t )
= − Ri ( z , t ) − L
∂z ∂t
∂i ( z , t ) ∂v( z , t )
= −Gv( z , t ) − C
∂z ∂t
ƒ Telegrapher Equations in Frequency-Domain
dV ( z )
= − ( R + j ωL ) I ( z )
dz
dI ( z )
= −(G + jωC )V ( z )
dz

Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 23

Transmission Line Equations (cont)

ƒ Wave Equation (frequency domain)

d 2V ( z ) d 2 I ( z)
2
− γ 2V ( z ) = 0 2
− γ 2 I ( z) = 0
dz dz
where γ = ( R + jωL)(G + jωC ) ≡ α + jβ
is the complex propagation constant

ƒ Solutions to the wave equation are

V ( z ) = Vo+ e −γz + Vo− e +γz I ( z ) = I o+ e −γz + I o− e +γz

incident waves
reflected waves
Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 24

Dr. J. E. Rayas Sánchez

http://iteso.mx/~erayas erayas@iteso.mx
 Signal Integrity and High-Speed Interconnects
January-May 2006

Transmission Line Equations (cont)

ƒ Characteristic Impedance of the TL

Vo+ Vo−
Zo ≡ + =
I o − I o−
then
R + j ωL
Zo =
G + j ωC

ƒ Reflection Coefficient along the line, Γz

V ( z ) = Vo+ e −γz + Vo− e +γz

Vo− e +γz Vo− +2γz
Γz ( z) = = e
Vo+ e −γz Vo+
Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 25

Transmission Line Equations (cont)

ƒ Solutions in the frequency domain

V ( z ) = Vo+ e −γz + Vo− e +γz I ( z ) = I o+ e −γz + I o− e +γz
γ = ( R + jωL)(G + jωC ) ≡ α + jβ
ƒ Solutions in the time domain
v( z , t ) = | Vo+ | cos(ωt − βz + φ + )e −αz + | Vo− | cos(ωt + β z + φ − )e +αz

ƒ Wavelength ƒ Phase velocity, wave velocity or

propagation speed
v p 2π
λ= = dz ω
f β vp = =
dt β
(speed at which a constant phase point
Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez travels down the line) 26

Dr. J. E. Rayas Sánchez

http://iteso.mx/~erayas erayas@iteso.mx
 Signal Integrity and High-Speed Interconnects
January-May 2006

Transmission Line Symbol

ƒ (Lossy) Transmission Line

l

Zo , γ

ƒ Length along the line

Zo , γ

z
l
Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 0 27

Reflection Coefficient

ƒ Reflection coefficient along the line

Zo , γ ZL Vo− e −γl Vo− −2γl

Γl (l ) = + +γl = + e
Vo e Vo

l
0
ƒ Reflection coefficient at the load
Vo− Z L − Z o
Γ = Γl (l = 0) = =
Vo+ Z L + Z o

Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 28

Dr. J. E. Rayas Sánchez

http://iteso.mx/~erayas erayas@iteso.mx
 Signal Integrity and High-Speed Interconnects
January-May 2006

Input Impedance

ƒ Input Impedance along the line

Zo , γ ZL

l
0

V (l ) Z + Z o tanh(γl )
Z in (l ) = = Zo L
I (l ) Z o + Z L tanh(γl )

Dr. J.E. Rayas Sánchez 29

Dr. J. E. Rayas Sánchez

http://iteso.mx/~erayas erayas@iteso.mx