HIGH-SPEED DIGITAL DESIGN A Handbook of Black Magic HOWARD W. JOHNSON, PH.D. Olympic Technology Group, Inc. MARTIN GRAHAM, PH.D. University of California at Berkeley For book and bookstore information G nttpu/www.prenhall.com gopher to gopher.prenhail.com a Prentice Hall PTR, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 07632Contents Preface ix 1 Fundamentals 1 1.1 Frequency and Time 1 1.2 Time and Distance 6 1.3 Lumped Versus Distributed Systems 7 1.4 A Note About 3 dB and RMS Frequencies 8 1.5 Four Kinds of Reactance 10 1.6 Ordinary Capacitance 11 1.7 Ordinary Inductance 17 1.8 A Better Method for Estimating Decay Time 22 1.9 Mutual Capacitance 1.10 Mutual Inductance 29 2 High-Speed Properties of Logic Gates 37 2.1 Historical Development of a Very Old Digital Technology 37 2.2 Power 39 2.3 Speed 59 2.4 Packaging 66vi Contents 3 > Measurement Techniques 83 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 Rise Time and Bandwidth of Oscilloscope Probes 83 Self-inductance of a Probe Ground Loop 86 Spurious Signal Pickup from Probe Ground Loops 92, How Probes Load Down a Circuit 95 Special Probing Fixtures 98 Avoiding Pickup from Probe Shield Currents 104 Viewing a Serial Data Transmission System 108 Slowing Down the System Clock 110 Observing Crosstalk il Measuring Operating Margins 113 Observing Metastable States 120 4 Transmission Lines 133 41 4.2 43 44 4.5 Shortcomings of Ordinary Point-to-Point Wiring 133 Infinite Uniform Transmission Line 140 Effects of Source and Load Impedance 160 Special Transmission Line Cases 167 Line Impedance and Propagation Delay 178 5 Ground Planes and Layer Stacking 189 a 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 High-Speed Current Follows the Path of Least Inductance 189 Crosstalk in Solid Ground Planes 191 Crosstalk in Slotted Ground Planes 194 Crosstalk in Cross-Hatched Ground Planes 197 Crosstalk with Power and Ground Fingers 199 Guard Traces 201 Near-End and Far-End Crosstalk 204 How to Stack Printed Circuit Board Layers 2/2 6 Terminations 223 6.1 6.2 6.3 64 6.5 6.6 7 Vias WA 72 73 74 End Terminators 223 Source Terminators 231 Middle Terminators 235 AC Biasing for End Terminators 236 Resistor Selection 239 Crosstalk in Terminators 244 249 Mechanical Properties of Vias 249 Capacitance of Vias 257 Inductance of Vias 258 Return Current and Its Relation to Vias 260Contents vii 8 PowerSystems 263 8.1 Providing a Stable Voltage Reference 263 8.2 Distributing Uniform Voltage 268 8.3 Everyday Distribution Problems. 279 8.4 Choosing a Bypass Capacitor 28/ 9 Connectors 295 9.1 Mutual Inductance—How Connectors Create Crosstalk 295 9.2 Scrics Inductance How Connectors Create EMI 300 9.3 Parasitic Capacitance—Using Connectors on a Multidrop Bus 305 9.4 Mcasuring Coupling ina Connector 309 9.5 Continuity of Ground Underneath a Connector 312 9.6 Fixing EMI Problems with External Connections 314 9.7 Special Connectors for High Speed Applications 3/6 9.8 Differential Signaling Through a Connector ag. 9.9 Power Handling Features of Connectors 32] 10 Ribbon Cables 323 10.1 Ribbon Cable Signal Propagation 324 10.2. Ribbon Cable Crosstalk 329 10.3 Ribbon Cable Connectors 336 10.4 Ribbon Cable EMI 338 11 Clock Distribution 341 11.1 Timing Margin 341 11.2 Clock Skew 343 11.3 Using Low-Impedance Drivers 346 11.4 Using Low-Impedance Clock Distribution Lines 348 11.5 Source Termination of Multiple Clock Lines 350 11.6 Controlling Crosstalk on Clock Lines 352 11.7 Delay Adjustments 353 11.8 Differential Distribution 360 11.9 Clock Signal Duty Cycle 361 11.10 Canceling Parasitic Capacitance of a Clock Repeater 362 11.11 Decoupling Clock Receivers from the Clock Bus 364 12 Clock Oscillators 367 12.1 Using Canned Clock Oscillators 367 12.2 Clock Jitter 376viii Contents Collected References 385 Points to Remember 389 Calculation of Rise Time 399 MathCad Formulas 409 Index 441Preface This is a book for digital designers. It highlights and explains analog circuit principles relevant to high-speed digital design. Teaching by example, the authors cover ringing, crosstalk, and radiated noise problems which commonly beset high-speed digital machines. None of this material is new. On the contrary, it has been handed down by word of mouth and passed along through application notes for many years. This book simply col- lects together that wisdom. Because much of this material is not covered in standard col- lege curricula, many practicing engineers view high-speed effects as somewhat mysterious, ominous, or daunting. For them, this subject matter has earned the name “black magic.” The authors would like to dispel the popular myth that anything unusual or unexplained happens at high speeds. It’s simply a matter of knowing which principles apply, and how. Digital designers working at low speeds do not need this material. In low-speed designs, signals remain clean and well behaved, conforming nicely to the binary model. At high speeds, where fast signal rise times exaggerate the influence of analog effects, engineers experience a completely different view of logic signals. To them, logic signals often appear hairy, jagged, and distorted. For their products to function, high- speed designers must know and use analog principles. This book explains what those principles are and how to apply them.Preface Readers without the benefit of formal training in analog circuit theory can use and apply the formulas and examples in this book. Readers who have completed a first year class in introductory linear circuit theory may comprehend this material at a deeper level. Chapters 1-3 introduce analog circuit terminology, the high-speed properties of logic gates, and sundard high-speed measurement techniques, respectively. These three chapters form the core of the book and should be included in any serious study of high- speed logic design. The remaining chapters, 4-12, each treat specialized topics in high-speed logic design and may be studied in any order. Appendix A collects highlights from each section, listing the most important ideas and concepts presented. It can be used as a checklist for system design or as an index to the text when facing a difficult problem. Appendix B details the mathematical assumptions behind various forms of rise time measurement. This section helps relate results given in this book to other sources and standards of nomenclature. Appendix C lists standard formulas for computing the resistance, capacitance, and inductance of physical structures. These formulas have been implemented in MathCad and are available from the authors in magnetic form. KNOWLEDGMENTS Many people have contributed to this book, and we would like to thank them all. To our teachers, employers, fellow workers, clients, customers, and students, we thank you for motivating us to learn, for showing us problems we could not solve, and for occasionally humbling us when we acted like we knew too much, The authors would like to thank individually the following people for the generous contributions they have made to the writing of this book: For meticulously reviewing the text and for offering many, many good suggestions we thank Dan Nitzan, Jim Pomerene, Joel Cyprus, Erie Kim, Tim Ryan, and Charlie Adams. For her efficient and cheerful assistance in preparing the figures, we thank our assistant, Pamela Moore. Dr. Johnson would like to thank the former officers and management of ROLM corporation, particularly Ken Oshman, Bob Maxfield, and Gibson Anderson for giving him a big head start in the electronics industry For having a profound effect on his approach to problem-solving, and on his teach- ing career, Martin Graham wishes to acknowledge his mentor of long ago, Professor William McLean. Of course, we owe a big debt of gratitude to Tektronix for loaning us a Tek 11403 digitizing oscilloscope. Their scope produced all the fine waveform displays you see in the book. Each waveform was captured, stored in memory, and then plotted directly to hard copy. Thank you, Leo Chamberlain and Jim McGoffin. Last, and certainly not least, to Gur wives, Elisabeth and Selma, for their devotion and untiring support, we express our heartfelt appreciation and thanks.