Items Tagged with 'skew'

Among various forms of signal degradation, skew is a key contributor to timing errors in systems operating at multi-gigabit data rates. An increasingly important factor at high speeds is material-induced skew due to local differences in dielectric constant arising from the PCB’s woven glass fabric reinforcement. This article aims to unpack the root causes of material-induced skew, particularly focusing on the glass weave effect, and explores mitigation techniques ranging from laminate selection to signal routing strategies.

In this article, it is demonstrated that intra-pair skew cannot be properly defined on a screened single pair, as the signal launched in a single wire does not propagate as such along the pair due to inter-wire coupling.

Samtec expands its Eye Speed cable family with twinax cable specifically developed for 224 Gbps PAM4 systems.

Intra-pair skew is a crucial metric when working with multiple lines. Its behavior, measurements, and interpretations are closely linked to other forms of signal degradation, making the definition of a single skew value a nuanced issue that requires careful consideration. In this article, Gustavo Blando and Prashant Pappu introduce three distinct methods for measuring skew, providing options for a wide variety of contexts and skew measurement goals.

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.

Fiber weave effect skew, also known as glass weave skew, is becoming more of an issue as bit rates continue to soar upwards. Today’s 56 GB/s is state of the art in high-speed routers and 112 GB/s is just around the corner. Next-generation PCIe, used in the personal computer and server industry, is rapidly moving to 64 GT/s. 

Uniform transmission lines are best suited for high-speed data transmission because of their broadband impedance characteristics. In some applications, a minor deviation from uniformity can help in optimizing other desired signal integrity metrics. This paper addresses some of the challenges involved with this approach.