High-Speed Digital Systems
Challenging the digital data transfer limit
Data traffic is growing rapidly due to the spread of AI in a wide range of industries, high-definition video streaming services, advances in autonomous driving technologies, and many others. Furthermore, AI and disaggregation technologies are being introduced in the network and computing fields. The high-speed digital interfaces, including PCI Express® (PCIe®), USB, DDR, and DisplayPort, are the backbone of these technologies. The interfaces are essential for high-speed digital systems such as computing, server, and storage systems, and the performance continues to evolve daily.
PCI-SIG®, PCIe® and PCI Express® are registered trademarks of PCI-SIG.
Chip
Add-In Card
Photonic wire
Connector
Prototype Debug
Final Prototype Evaluation
Compliance Test
High-Speed Digital System Challenges
Signal degradation due to the characteristics of higher digital signal frequencies and high-frequency loss characteristics of materials used in transmission lines are the main technical challenges facing high-speed digital systems. The impact of jitter*1, crosstalk*2, and degraded Eye characteristics*3 can occasionally cause poor high-speed digital system operation margins.
- *1 Jitter:
- Jitter is variation in timing on the digital-signal time axis.
- Timing is determined by the frequency, pulse width, duty cycle, and the difference in time between the rise and fall edges of the pulse.
- It is caused by various factors, such as noise in the circuit and communications path, and changes in other circuits and external equipment.
- *2 Crosstalk:
- Crosstalk is the phenomenon of signal leakage between adjacent signal wires (buses).
- High crosstalk causes poor operation of high-speed digital systems.
- *3 Eye Characteristics:
- Eye characteristics can be evaluated from eye diagram, which is a graphical display of the [0] and [1] data stream in serial data signals. This is used to evaluate the quality of digital signals.
High-Speed Digital System Test Solutions
These solutions can help resolve challenging issues.
Case Study
Meiko Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd.
A global high performance PCB manufacturer completes in factory high frequency PCB evaluation. VNAs drive reliability and proposal strength.
Qualitas Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
A leading company in high-speed interconnect IP development enhanced its verification capabilities and development efficiency by leveraging Anritsu’s vector network analyzer.
Micro-Star International Co., Ltd.
Overcoming the technical issues hindering high-speed digital transmission in the development of cutting-edge PCs and peripheral devices.
What has been achieved using a BER tester and VNA?
Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Addressing electromagnetic noise issues in USB 3.2 communication,
while establishing an evaluation environment compliant with RFI testing spec
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