A signal integrity-based link performance simulation platform

This paper embodies a methodology used to create high-speed transceiver behavior models employed within a signal integrity-based link simulation platform. This tool includes routines for the optimization of transmitter pre-emphasis and equalization. This platform was created using MATLAB, qualified against Agilent's ADS SI suite, and correlated with measurements. This paper also describes the practical uses of such a simulator developed at Altera to predict link performance over backplanes.

I. Introduction

The challenge in today's quest to minimize BER at ever-increasing data rates has led to SERDES transceivers that have vastly grown in complexity. Such sophisticated transceivers now have a large number of pre-emphasis and/or equalization settings available. Optimizing these settings to obtain the best transceiver performance is necessary to maximize link performance for any given customer link or backplane situation. Doing so, without aid, can be time consuming and difficult. What is required is a tool that accurately takes into account the customer's link or backplane properties and contains models of the transceiver circuit behavior. Knowing the available transmitter and/or equalizer settings, the tool optimizes those settings to offer the best combination for that given link while predicting the link performance.