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eSilicon, a provider of FinFET ASICs IP platforms and 2.5D packaging solutions, in collaboration with Wild River Technology, announced today at DesignCon 2019 the availability of a test system that addresses the signal integrity demands of 56/112G PAM4 operation.

Switch-mode power supplies (SMPS) are commonly used DC-to-DC converters in many electronic components. By their nature, they can generate a lot of radiated emissions. Unless care is taken, it is difficult to separate what is the actual voltage on the power rail and what is an artifact due to the way we probe the circuit. The project outlined here shows how to avoid EMI pick-up and cable reflection noise.

Executive Q&A with Steve Sandler, Founder of Picotest. Steve Sandler has been involved with power system engineering for nearly 40 years, has been a supporter of SI Journal since its founding, and now sits on its editorial advisory board. Steve is the founder of PICOTEST.com, a company specializing in power integrity solutions including measurement products, services, and training.

While we get the scope’s bandwidth from the vendor, as soon as we add a cable, probe, or amplifier to the scope, we decrease the system bandwidth. The new system bandwidth is as important to know as the scope’s bandwidth, but it is generally difficult to measure except in a calibration lab. We offer a simple method of evaluating the transfer function and system bandwidth of any probing system using a wide band noise source. This method not only gives us information about the probes and interconnects, but it also tells us how the scope responds to the measurement system, information which cannot be measured by a VNA alone.

My aging vibration system started faulting. Shaking for 30 years takes a toll on a thing, after all. The system is pretty straightforward, just a big stack of audio amps and a controller. Much to my lab manager’s chagrin, I had been intentionally ignoring the warning signs.

The power electronics engineer and the power integrity engineer share a common goal: provide the system with the correct voltages, currents, and noise characteristics to achieve the desired performance. Unfortunately, they do not share much else. They generally use different tools, vocabulary, and figures of merit. As a result, both sides lose.

Target impedance has become a standard tool when designing a power distribution network (PDN). It establishes a limit to the highest impedance the power rail on the die should see looking into the PDN. If the PDN impedance stays below this limit, even the worst-case transient current from the die will generate an acceptably low rail voltage noise.

When measuring low impedance with the two-port shunt-through configuration, we potentially create an error due to the resistance of cable braids.  This error can be reduced or eliminated by using appropriate preamplifiers. There are professional preamplifiers on the market that do a great job reducing the cable braid error.  If you want to experiment with your own circuit, this article will help you

The paper discusses the development of GDDR6 as a lower-risk and more cost-effective solution as compared to other high-bandwidth memory solutions.