Establishing SI of a 56 Gb/s channel requires a combination of advanced test equipment, simulation software, as well as experienced engineers capable of correctly interpreting the results. Today’s greatly escalating bandwidth and sensitivity to a host of circuit parameters make that approach too costly, time consuming, and wildly inaccurate. Years ago, a physical prototype could be built to determine if a proposed design would work. Signal integrity (SI) analysis has become an integral part of the circuit design process to achieve that goal. A conversation with Signal Integrity Evangelist Eric Bogatin.Īs system speeds continue to rise and new product design cycles shrink, the ability to design circuits that have a high probability of meeting system specifications with the first iteration has become a top priority.
