Signal Integrity:

Applied Electromagnetics and Professional Practice

CHAPTER 6
DISTRIBUTED ANALYSIS: TRANSMISSION LINES AND Z 0

LECTURE SLIDES BY DR. SAMUEL H. RUSS

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA
CHAPTER 6 OBJECTIVES

• Explain what a transmission line is

• Explain derivation of characteristic impedance (Z0)
• Describe reflections on improperly terminated lines
• Calculate and simulate transmission lines
• Calculate the correct impedance
• Describe different termination strategies
• Diagnose and deal with termination issues
WHERE ARE TRANSMISSION
LINES?
• Maxwell’s equations predicted a world where energy can
radiate and cause voltages miles away
• Hertz used this to build radios
• Einstein keyed off of the “speed of light” to derive relativity
• Transmission lines have relativistic effects
• The destination does not know what is happening at the source
• Also, the signal arrives at the end of a transmission line nearly
intact
• Makes them very useful for carrying information
SO HOW DOES IT WORK?

• Start with 1 meter of RG-11 coaxial cable

• It has 53 pF of capacitance and 299 nH of inductance
• (Yes, that is the datasheet value for RG-11…)
• If you double the length, both double…
• So RG-11 has CL = 53pF/m of capacitance and LL =
299 nH/m of inductance
LAUNCH A SIGNAL…

• Start with RG-11 at ground

• Center conductor and shield at same voltage
• Apply a 50 ps rising edge to the input
• The higher voltage creates an E field between the center
conductor and shield (in the insulator, right?)
• This E field races down the cable at a fraction of the speed
of light

• Very important: The E field races, not the electrons!!

VIEWING THE RISING EDGE
Changing E field
inside cable
Coaxial Cable

t = t1

Point X

t = t2

Point Y
SO WHAT IS HAPPENING?

• From t1 to t2, the rising edge moves down the

cable from point X to point Y
• This is only possible if current is being
sourced into the cable to charge up the
cable’s capacitance
• Remember the E field lies inside a capacitor!
SO HOW MUCH CHARGE IS
NEEDED? Coaxial Cable

Length Y-X
Point X Point Y
Rising edge
moves down
the cable
• The capacitance is CL x (Y-X)
• The voltage is the voltage swing, call it “V”
• Charge = (Y-X) CLV
HOW FAST DOES IT GO?
1
• Maxwell’s formula for speed is
1
• So the speed down this particular lineC L is
L L

• To get from point X to point Y, it takes a time

t  (Y by
interval equal to distance divided  X speed:
) C L LL
HOW MUCH CURRENT IS NEEDED?
Q (Y  X )C LV CL
I  V
t (Y  X ) C L LL LL
• This is the current needed at the source to keep
the rising edge racing down the transmission line.
• It is linearly proportional to the voltage V
• And what do we call a linear proportionality of
current and voltage?
• Resistance! This is a purely real resistance.
REARRANGE THE TERMS…
LL LL
V I  IZ 0  Z0
CL CL

• So Z0 is the ratio of the desired voltage swing

to the current needed to create that swing on
a distributed line
• With capacitance per length CL and inductance
per length LL

• It is a purely real resistance

INGREDIENTS OF Z0

• Distributed system (transmission line)

• System has CL and LL
• CL and LL dictate the speed of propagation
• Electric charge must be pumped into the line to charge the
capacitance at a rate sufficient to keep up with the speed
• Units of distance cancel out – left with only C L and LL
• To the driving gate, the cable looks like a real, actual
resistor of value Z0 to ground
EXAMPLE

• What is the Z0 of RG-11 cable?

298.7n 298700
Z0    5625  75
53.1 p 53.1

• This is why it is called a “75-ohm cable”

SO WHAT IS HAPPENING?

• What is moving down the line?

• An electromagnetic wave, a changing E field
• Not individual electrons – they move much more slowly
• Just like waves can move on an ocean faster than the water
• Where is it located?
• In the dielectric between the conductors!
HOW I REMEMBER IT…

• When you upload a selfie from your cell phone,

how does it travel?
• Through the air from your phone to the cell tower
• In other words, the signal is in the insulator while it
is traveling
• On a circuit board, the signal is in the insulator
between the signal trace and ground plane!
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?

• Return to our example…

• The time is equal to the length divided by the speed
• For length l T0  l C L LL where T0 is the one-way
transmission time

• What is T0 for 1m of RG-11?T  1 53.1 p  298.7n  1 3.98n  3.98ns

0

• By comparison, c = 3.33 ns/m, so RG-11 is a little

slower
ESTIMATING Z0 AND Tp:
MICROSTRIP
87  5.98h 
Z0  ln  
 r  1.41  0.8w  t 
r T p  85 0.475 r  0.67

Note that h, w, and t are in mils and TP is in

ps/inch.
ESTIMATING Z0 AND Tp: STRIPLINE
60  1.9b 
Z0  ln  
 r  0.8w  t 
r
T p  85  r

Note that b, w, and t are in mils and TP is in

ps/inch.
EXAMPLE

• Trace is laid out microstrip over FR-4 (εr=4.2).

It is 5 mils wide and lies 5 mils over the
ground plane. The board uses 1-ounce
copper.
Z 
87 What
 5.98is
ln
 5 Z 0 and Tp?
  36.7 ln(5.53)  62.8
0
4.2  1.41  0.8  5  1.4 

T p  85 0.475  4.2  0.67  85 2.665  138.8 ps / in

SIDEBAR: LUMPED MODEL OF
TRANSMISSION LINE
• The first transmission lines were telegraph
lines
• So the model for them is called the “telegrapher’s
equation”
R R R
• Model treats the line as a large number of
LM G LM G LM G
lumped elements…
CM CM CM
R R R
SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE
WAVE HITS THE OTHER END?
• So the gate launched a rising edge into 1 m of RG-11 cable.
What happens 3.98 ns later?
• It depends!
• The “other end” is called the “load”
• The weird part is that the load is so far from the source that it
doesn’t “know” what is going on there
• If the resistance of the load does not match the resistance of
the line, there is either an excess or deficit of current: causes
reflections
INTRODUCING REFLECTIONS

• If ZL > Z0, there is too much current for the load

• Positive reflection of current back into the line
• … because of the excess
• If ZL < Z0, there is not enough current for the load
• Negative reflection of current back into the line
• … as if the load is “asking” for more current
 MODELING REFLECTIONS

• An incident current and

II IR IT
Transmission Line voltage emerge from the line
+ • Part is transmitted to the load
VI +
- and part is reflected into the
Z0 VT RL line
+ -
VR • Use I, T, R subscripts…
-
• Z0 is impedance of line and RL
is impedance of load
Goal: Calculate ratio
SO WHAT DO WE KNOW?

• We know Z0 and RL, • Voltages at load must

so equal
• II=VI/Z0 • VI+VR=VL
• IR=VR/Z0 • Currents must add up
• IT=VT/RL • II=IR+IL
CONTINUE THE ANALYSIS…

• Substitute into the • Now add and

current equation: subtract to the
VI VR VT
Z0

Z0

RL voltage

2V  V 1 
Z 0equation…


R T  RL 
• And so… 
Z 0VT  Z0 
VI  VR  
2V I  VT 1  
RL  RL 

• … then divide
 FINISH IT OUT

• We call VR/VI the reflection

 Z0 
1   coefficient at the load
VR 

RL   RL  Z 0   • Denote it ρL
L
VI  Z0  R  Z
1   L 0
• If RL>Z0: Positive reflection
 RL 
• If RL<Z0: Negative reflection
• If RL=Z0: No reflection
WHAT ABOUT THE LOAD ITSELF?

• Define VL/VI as the • This lets us calculate

transmission the transmitted
coefficient at the load voltage (voltage at
• Recall VI+VR=VL the load) as a
VI  VR
 1 L 
VT
 TL function of incident
VI VI
voltage
SO, START OVER…
• Waveform is injected at the
source
• Travels down the line in
time T0
• Hits the load
• Some is transmitted to load
• Some is reflected back to line
• The reflection travels back
up the line in time T0
• Hits the source
• Some is transmitted to the
source
• Some is reflected back to line
• And so on…
LET’S DO AN EXAMPLE…
• Line has Z0=50Ω. RS=10Ω, RL=5MΩ.
• Line was quiescently at +4V and so falling edge = -4V.
• Plot what happens in units of T0.
• ρL = (5M-50)/(5M+50) = 1. TL = 1+ ρL = 2.
• ρS = (10-50)/(10+50) = -2/3. TS = 1+ ρS = +1/3.
• One more thing: Source is a resistor divider (10-ohm
source into 50-ohm line). So only 5/6 of falling edge
goes into line
SIMPLE MODEL FOR CIRCUIT
Source Load

+0.833

Line

1/3 -2/3 +1 +2
TS ρS ρL TL

Vsource Vload
+4.000 +4.000
-3.333
CAN CONSTRUCT A BOUNCE
1/3 -2/3 +1 +2

DIAGRAM TS ρS ρL TL

Vsource Vload
+4.000 +4.000
-3.333
-3.333
+0.666
-3.333 -6.666
-2.666
-1.111 +2.222
-0.445
+2.222 +4.444
+1.778
+0.741 -1.481
+0.296
-1.481 -2.961
-1.183
-0.493 +0.987
-0.197
+0.987 +1.974
+0.791
SO WHAT REALLY HAPPENS?

Reflecting voltage
(voltage at load)
INTERPRET THE RESULTS

• The voltage at the load really does bounce up

and down like that!
• That is why it is called reflection
• It looks just like ringing … but it isn’t!
• Caused by an impedance mismatch
• Completely different physical origin than ringing
WHY IS IT BAD?

• Why is this ringing-like behavior bad?

• OK, it is like ringing in this sense…
• The second reflection looks like an extra logic
transition
WHAT ABOUT T→∞?

• As time gets longer, line becomes lumped

again…
• The line turns back into a short-circuit (wire)
• Load resistance is a DC load to the source
TERMINATING IMPEDANCE

• How do we eliminate reflections?

• Set terminating resistance equal to Z0
• Load termination: wave travels down line, hits load,
does not reflect
• Source termination: wave has ½ resistor divider, 100%
reflection off load, comes back to source and stops
EXAMPLES OF DIFFERENT
TERMINATIONS
Transmission Line Transmission Line
Z0
Z0
(Series) Source Termination (Parallel) Load Termination

Transmission Line

Z0
Parallel-AC Termination

Transmission Line

Z0

Driving multiple gates with load termination

SO WHAT IS CORRECT LAYOUT?

• Remember that every sufficiently long circuit trace is a

transmission line
• Run the line to all inputs, past the last one, and
terminate it with RL=Z0
• Connect each input as close to line as possible to
minimize the capacitance
• Each input adds a parallel impedance, lowers the impedance
below Z0, and creates a mini-reflection
DEPARTURES FROM THE IDEAL

• A transmission line is easy to fabricate and

carries signals with nearly perfect integrity
• But often the line is less-than-perfect…
• Slots in the ground plane, vias, right-angle
bends, added inputs…
• They all look like small capacitances or inductances
CAPACITOR IN LINE

• Any jog or bend or logic input in the line adds a parallel

capacitance
• Transmission direction: Capacitor with 2 Z0’s in parallel
forms an RC lowpass filter with a t r of 2.2(Z0/2)C = 1.1Z0C
• Reflection direction: Lowers Z0 (negative reflection);
imaginary impedance makes reflection first derivative of
edge
• This pulse reflects off of source and can hit load again…
SIMULATION: CAPACITOR IN MID-
LINE WITH SOURCE TERMINATION

Reflection off load hits

capacitor and returns
to load: Falling edge
2nd Reflection:
becomes rising pulse
2nd derivative
INDUCTOR IN LINE

• Any slot or hole in the ground plane adds a series

inductance
• Transmission direction: Inductor with 2 Z0’s in series forms
an RL lowpass filter with a tr of 2.2L/(Z0/2) = 1.1L/Z0
• Reflection direction: Raises Z0 (positive reflection);
imaginary impedance makes reflection first derivative of
edge
• This pulse reflects off of source and can hit load again…
SIMULATION: INDUCTOR IN MID-
LINE WITH LOAD TERMINATION

Reflection off inductor

2nd Reflection:
then reflects off of the
source and hits the load.
2nd derivative
 EXAMPLE OF A LAYOUT
NIGHTMARE
• Routed a high-speed bus over the bottom layer of the
board
• Problem: Power plane was hacked up into many smaller
planes so the bus crossed numerous breaks in the plane

• Step 1:Added a ground plane under the high-speed

bus so there was ground continuity
• Under the chip was too crowded to let lines go past
inputs to termination
• Step 2: Moved termination to mid-bus – just before the