As the data rate of parallel and serial transmission increases, analysis and characterization of voltage noise and timing jitter are becoming critical to determine the system performance. The available voltage margin is rapidly diminishing and the voltage noise is taking significant portion of the voltage margin.

Engineers working in high-speed links as well as in measurement of current high-speed links needs to develop a strong foundation in link design and analysis as well as advanced modulation and error correction.

In this course, we’ll cover advanced modulation techniques and how error correction is being applied to reduce the channel loss and improve the signal to noise ratio (SNR). We’ll discuss how the unit timing interval is shrinking and how managing the effects of jitter can advance system performance.

We’ll dive into critical skills such as mitigation techniques of noise and jitter in modern links; how to directly relate the modulation and error correction as well as noise and jitter to system performance in terms of bit error rate (BER). We’ll learn the design and analysis of short and long-reach channels including the latest modeling and simulation approaches using IBIS-AMI modeling including the fundamentals of noise and jitter as applied to a wide range of single-ended and differential links

Learning Outcomes
At the conclusion of the course, you should be able to

• Understand basic jitter and noise terminology, sources, and mitigation techniques
• Identify the types of jitter and noise important to various applications
• Describe how jitter and noise propagates through a high-speed serial links
• Compare modulation techniques: PAM4, PAM8, Doubinary, and others
• Visualize jitter and noise in several ways, to reveal underlying sources
• Relate total jitter and well to BER and timing budget of high-speed links
• Select the right test equipment to measure jitter, timing budget and BER

Topics Include

• Review of jitter and noise in high-speed links
• High-speed short and long-reach channel designs for optimum signaling
• Error correction techniques for high-speed links
• Theory of statistical and time-domain simulation techniques for high-speed links
• Linearity assumptions and sources of nonlinearities in high-speed links
• IBIS-AMI models for single-ended and differential signaling
• Fundamentals of deterministic and random noise in high-speed links
• Theory and mathematics of jitter: types, sources, and decomposition
• Review of Jitter and noise duality and analysis in frequency and time domains
• Noise and jitter propagation and amplification in high-speed links

Skills Needed: Familiarity with semiconductor devices (digital, analog component, system engineering) and signal and power integrity basic concepts.