Signal Integrity

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Statistical BER Analysis of Concatenated FEC in Multi-Part Links

DesignCon 2023 Best Paper Award Winner

This paper proposes a model that can serve as a tool for evaluating FEC choices in 200+ Gb/s applications. It allows the comparison of the effect of different inner/outer codes and inner-FEC interleaving schemes on post-FEC BER. It can also be used as a tool for system-level transceiver design, allowing designers to see the impact of design choices on the post-FEC BER efficiently.


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The Influence of Material Characteristics on High Speed Design Part 2: Roughness and Skew

Copper foil and oxide roughness are also major drivers of insertion loss behavior. As discussed in Part 1 of this article series, the first crucial step to efficacious design and development is understanding how the dielectric material attributes are to be carefully considered when assessing impedance and insertion loss performance. This article by Keshav Amla highlights the importance of considering roughness attributes in this assessment, ensuring a well-rounded approach to addressing impedance and loss, as well as skew, a signal integrity concern of ever-increasing importance.


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Next-Generation PCB Loss Analysis

In preparation for 224 Gb/s and beyond, Samtec engaged in a research project to characterize the transmission performance of emerging PCB material sets. Brandon Gore explores the current state of the art for PCBs and cables, comparing them and assessing the technology gap to fully support the insertion loss performance required for higher data rates.


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The Importance of Owning the PCB Stackup Process

In this article, Kella Knack outlines the stackup process, highlighting the importance of taking material issues, structural issues, and performance factors into account from the beginning of the design process. Knack discusses how providing fabricators with proper design documentation that includes precise information enables them to build to specification, ensuring correct functionality while avoiding additional costs for design.


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