Sam Palermo

Analog & Mixed-Signal Center

Texas A&M University
ECEN689: Special Topics in High-Speed
Links Circuits and Systems
Spring 2012
Lecture 3: Time-Domain Reflectometry & S-Parameter Channel Models
Announcements
This Thursday lab time will be used for a
make-up lecture

No class next Monday

Reference Material Posted on Website
TDR theory application note
S-parameter notes

2
Agenda
Interconnect measurement techniques
Time-domain reflectometry (TDR)
Network analyzer
S-parameters
Cascading S-parameter models
Full S-parameter channel model
Transient simulations
Impulse response generation
Eye diagrams
Inter-symbol interference
3
Lecture References
Majority of TDR material from Dally
Chapter 3.4, 3.6 - 3.7

Majority of s-parameter material from Hall
Advanced Signal Integrity for High-Speed
Digital Designs Chapter 9
4
Interconnect Modeling
Why do we need interconnect models?
Perform hand calculations and simulations (Spice, Matlab, etc)
Locate performance bottlenecks and make design trade-offs
Model generation methods
Electromagnetic CAD tools
Actual system measurements
Measurement techniques
Time-Domain Reflectometer (TDR)
Network analyzer (frequency domain)
5
Time-Domain Reflectometer (TDR)
TDR consists of a fast step generator and a high-speed
oscilloscope
TDR operation
Outputs fast voltage step onto channel
Observe voltage at source, which includes reflections
Voltage magnitude can be converted to impedance
Impedance discontinuity location can be determined by delay
Only input port access to characterize channel
6
[Agilent]
[Dally]
TDR Impedance Calculation
7
( )
( ) ( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
V 5 . 0 1 If
2 1
1
STEP
0 0 0
0
0
= =
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
|
|
.
|

\
|

+
=
|
|
.
|

\
|

+
=
+

= =
i
i r i
r i
r
r
T
T
T
i
r
r
V V V
t V V
t V
Z
t V V
t V V
Z
t k
t k
Z t Z
Z t Z
Z t Z
V
t V
t k
( )
( )
( )
( )
|
.
|

\
|
= =
|
|
.
|

\
|

x
t Z x Z
t V V
t V
Z t Z
T T T
2

1
0
TDR Waveforms (Open & Short)
Open termination
8
I nput step at 1ns
2t
d
2t
d
Short termination
TDR Waveforms (Matched & Mismatched)
Matched termination
9
Mismatched termination
2t
d
Z
T
> Z
0
Z
T
< Z
0
TDR Waveforms (C & L Discontinuity)
10
2t
d
2t
d
2
0
C Z
C
=
0
2Z
L
L
=
Shunt C discontinuity
Series L discontinuity
(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
=

|
.
|

\
|

r
t
r
e
t V
V
1
Peak voltage spike
magnitude:
t
r
= 10ps
TDR Rise Time and Resolution
TDR spatial resolution is set by step risetime

Step risetime degrades with propagation
through channel
Dispersion from skin-effect
Lump discontinuities low-pass filter the step
Causes difficulty in estimating L & C values
Channel filtering can actually compensate
for lump discontinuity spikes
11

r
t x >
TDR Multiple Reflections
12
TDR Waveforms (Multiple Discontinuities)
13
A B C Load
A
B
C
BAB,
CBC
BAC,
CBCBC,
CAB
Note: Step comes at 1ns
Time-Domain Transmission (TDT)
14
Can measure channel transfer function
Hard to isolate impedance discontinuities, as they are
superimposed on a single rising edge

( )
( )
( )

j V
j V
j H
1
2
=
TDR TDT
[Dally]
Network Analyzer
15
Stimulates network with
swept-frequency source
Measures network response
amplitude and phase
Can measure transfer
function, scattering matrices,
impedance,
[Dally]
Transfer Function & Impedance
Measurements
16
[Dally]
Scattering (S) Parameters
Why S Parameters?
Easy to measure
Y, Z parameters need open
and short conditions
S parameters are obtained
with nominal termination
S parameters based on
incident and reflected wave
ratio
17
[Dally]
Formal S-Parameter Definitions
18
[Agilent]
Cascading S-Parameters
Network analysis allows cascading of
independently characterized structures

However, cant directly cascade s-
parameter matrices and multiply

Must first convert to an ABCD matrix (or T
matrix)
19
ABCD Parameters
20
0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
1

= = = =
= = = =
v i v i
i
i
D
v
i
C
i
v
B
v
v
A
2
2 1
i
v
D C
B A
i
v
i
=
[Hall]
Converting Between S & ABCD Parameters
21
[Hall]
22
Example: Cascaded Via & Transmission Line
Taken from Advanced Signal Integrity for High-Speed Digital Designs by Hall
23
Example: Cascaded Via & Transmission Line
Taken from Advanced Signal Integrity for High-Speed Digital Designs by Hall
Using conversion table:
Can also use T matrixes to cascade
S-Parameter Channel Example
24
[Peters, I EEE Backplane Ethernet Task Force]
S-Parameter Channel Example
(4-port differential)
25
(
(
(
(

(
(
(
(

=
(
(
(
(

(
(
(
(

=
(
(
(
(

0
0
44 43 42 41
34 33 32 31
24 23 22 21
14 13 12 11
4
3
2
1
44 43 42 41
34 33 32 31
24 23 22 21
14 13 12 11
4
3
2
1
v
v
S S S S
S S S S
S S S S
S S S S
a
a
a
a
S S S S
S S S S
S S S S
S S S S
b
b
b
b
( )
( )
41 23 43 21
0
1
2
21
31 13 33 11
0
1
1
11
2
1
2
1
4 2
4 2
S S S S
a
b
S
S S S S
a
b
S
a a
d
d
dd
a a
d
d
dd
+ = =
+ = =
= =
= =
[Hall]
Data from 50MHz to 15GHz in
10MHz steps
S-Parameter Channel Example
26
S
21
S
11
Impulse Response
Channel impulse responses are used in
Time domain simulations
Link analysis tools
27
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) { } w H F t h
x t h t x t h t y
X H Y
1

=
= =
=

Generating an Impulse Response from
S-Parameters
Perform the inverse
Fourier transform on the
s-parameter of interest

Step 1: For ifft, produce
negative frequency values
and append to s-
parameter data in the
following manner
28
( ) ( ) { } S F t h
1
=
( ) ( )

= f S f S
Positive
Frequency
Negative
Frequency
Increasing Impulse Response Resolution
Could perform ifft now,
but will get an impulse
response with time
resolution of



To improve impulse
response resolution
expand frequency axis
and zero pad
29
( )
ps 3 . 33
GHz 15 2
1
2
1
max
= =
f
zero padding
For 1ps resolution:
zero pad to +/-500GHz
Channel Impulse Response
Now perform ifft to
produce impulse response
30
Can sanity check by doing an
fft on impulse response and
comparing to measured data
Impulse Response of Different Channels
31
7 Desktop/ 0Conn
17 Refined BP/ 2Conn
17 Legacy BP/ 2Conn
Channel Transient Response
32
*
Eye Diagrams
33
[Walker]
Eye Diagrams vs Data Rate
34
Eye Diagrams vs Channel
35
Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI)
Previous bits residual state can distort the current bit,
resulting in inter-symbol interference (ISI)
ISI is caused by
Reflections, Channel resonances, Channel loss (dispersion)
36
Single I nput Bit
Output Pulse
Response
ISI Impact
At channel input (TX output), eye diagram is
wide open
As data pulses propagate through channel, they
experience dispersion and have significant ISI
Result is a closed eye at channel output (RX input)
37
Edge connector
Packaged SerDes
Line card trace
Backplane trace
Via stub
-100ps 100ps -50ps 0ps 50ps
-500mV
500mV
-400mV
-300mV
-200mV
-100mV
-0.0mV
100mV
200mV
300mV
400mV
500mV
EyeFFE110.0Gb/s [OPEN,1e-8]NoXtalk
Time
S
ig
n
a
l A
m
p
litu
d
e
V
p
d
DATA=RAND Tx600mVpd AGCGain-5.48dB
XTALK=NONE AGC5.0GHz0.00dB
PKG=0/0 TERM=5050/5050 IC=3/3
HSSCDR=2.3.2-pre2IBMConfidential
Date=Sat01/21/2006 12:00PM
PLL=0F1V0S0,C16,N32,O1,L80 FREQ=0.00ppm/0.00us
FFE =[1.000, 0.000]
-100ps 100ps -50ps 0ps 50ps
-500mV
500mV
-400mV
-300mV
-200mV
-100mV
-0.0mV
100mV
200mV
300mV
400mV
500mV
EyeFFE110.0Gb/s [OPEN,1e-8]NoXtalk
Time
S
ig
n
a
l A
m
p
litu
d
e
V
p
d
DATA=RAND Tx600mVpd AGCGain-6.02dB
XTALK=NONE AGC5.0GHz0.00dB
PKG=0/0 TERM=5050/5050 IC=3/3
HSSCDR=2.3.2-pre2IBMConfidential
Date=Sat01/21/2006 12:01PM
PLL=0F1V0S0,C16,N32,O1,L80 FREQ=0.00ppm/0.00us
FFE =[1.000, 0.000]
I NPUT
OUTPUT
[Meghelli (IBM) ISSCC 2006]
Next Time
Channel pulse response model

Modulation schemes
38