[SI-LIST] Re: AW: Re: AW: AW: Asymmetric differential stripline impedance

  • From: "Lee " <leeritchey@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <jeff.loyer@xxxxxxxxx>, <Gert.Havermann@xxxxxxxxxxx>, "SI-List" <si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2013 09:26:46 -0800

Jeff,

Well put.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Loyer, Jeff
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2013 9:00 AM
To: Gert.Havermann@xxxxxxxxxxx ; SI-List
Subject: [SI-LIST] Re: AW: Re: AW: AW: Asymmetric differential stripline 
impedance

Sorry Gert for the confusion my posting may have invoked.  Yes, I only meant 
to imply alignment regarding accuracy of field solvers.

It sounds like you and Lee take a different approach than me, specifying 
many more particulars than I normally would.  I think I can help clarify 
that disconnect between our approaches...
If I am designing a super-high performance design which is pushing the 
absolute limits of current technology, I would probably take the approach of 
micro-managing every aspect of the stackup, as you and Lee (and others) 
prescribe.

If my design isn't pushing far past the envelope of "standard practice" 
and/or is very cost conscious, that approach is not practical.  For 
instance, I may be designing a server with as many as 6 or 7 PCB's in that 
design, and each of those must have 2 or 3 possible vendors.  Micro-managing 
the stackup of each of those 14-21 unique designs would consume an 
Engineer's entire time.  That is the market I am typically involved in, thus 
I feel more pressure to drive the PCB vendors to develop the tools and 
knowledge necessary to allow me to merely specify an impedance and insertion 
loss spec. and have the PCB vendors meet those requirements.  This way they 
are also responsible for elements I can't own - mechanical reliability, 
expansion coefficients, assembly issues, etc.

I hope this helps clarify the seemingly disparate methodologies.

Also, Scott M. responded off-line about the inherent flaws in our current 
impedance measurement techniques which add another fly to the ointment, and 
I agree wholeheartedly that there is a need for revision here.  I've seen 
some very promising work, extrapolating back to the launch point, though I 
don't recall off-hand who the authors were.

Jeff Loyer

-----Original Message-----
From: si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On 
Behalf Of Havermann, Gert
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2013 8:14 AM
To: SI-List
Subject: [SI-LIST] AW: Re: AW: AW: Asymmetric differential stripline 
impedance

Just to make myself clear:
When I said: "The Processing has so much influence, that I usually just push 
my PCB maker as far as I can to a point where he simply can't mess up my 
design, and then I give him the freedom to implement his processing 
tolerances."
I meant that I specify everything needed to meet the desired performance 
(that's exact prepreg style, glass style, material, copper roughness, 
copperweight, laminate and prepreg position in the stack, layer 
registration). That's much more than just what's needed for impedance, but 
well enough that the PCB maker can't vary things that would influence the 
performance. The only thing he needs to do is to match the etching 
tolerances with his pressing tolerances to meet the impedance.
Knowing that the etch might be adjusted is important as I have to use loose 
enough coupling to allow for modifications (if diff pair spacing is already 
at the producible limit, this wouldn't work out).

And especially for "beginners" it is the better choice to let the PCB maker 
take care about the impedance, and learn from his feedback and from 
literature to become an SI-PBC expert.

BR
Gert



----------------------------------------
Absender ist HARTING Electronics GmbH, Marienwerderstraße 3, D-32339 
Espelkamp; Registergericht: Amtsgericht Bad Oeynhausen; Register-Nr.: HRB 
8808; Vertretungsberechtige Geschäftsführer: Dipl.-Kfm. Edgar-Peter Düning, 
Dipl.-Ing. Torsten Ratzmann, Dr.-Ing. Alexander Rost

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Loyer, Jeff [mailto:jeff.loyer@xxxxxxxxx]
Gesendet: Montag, 7. Januar 2013 16:55
An: leeritchey@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; Havermann, Gert; SI-List
Betreff: RE: [SI-LIST] Re: AW: AW: Asymmetric differential stripline 
impedance

As I've posted in this forum before, I'm more in Gert's camp.  The best you 
can do, in my experience, is to get close to the target impedance and allow 
your manufacturer to make small (<0.5mil is my rule of thumb) changes in 
trace dimensions and/or dielectric thicknesses to meet the impedance spec. 
What I typically find is that most vendors approximately match my impedance 
estimate within those limits.  Those that don't usually have a fundamental 
flaw in their modeling assumptions (incorrect assumption about whether the 
top dielectric thickness is from the top or bottom of the trace, different 
Er assumption, etc.), not an inaccurate modeling tool.

As Gert said, to get more precise correlation you would need information 
from cross-sectioning actual traces after they've been built.  If this tool 
gets within a couple of ohms in most cases, that would probably be 
sufficient for many cases.

To me, this is a separate issue than whether I specify a particular glass 
style or copper finish, and I'd like have them (the fab shops) own these in 
an intelligent/informed fashion also.

Jeff Loyer


-----Original Message-----
From: si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On 
Behalf Of Lee
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 10:07 AM
To: Gert.Havermann@xxxxxxxxxxx; SI-List
Subject: [SI-LIST] Re: AW: AW: Asymmetric differential stripline impedance

That's the way we have done this work for quite a while- let the fab shop 
design the final stackup.  Unfortunately, there is far more to designing a 
stackup than just impedance, such as glass style, copper finish, etc.  Most 
of these, if not all are out of the scope of a fab shop's skill set.  For 
this reason, most of use have no choice but to take charge of the impedance 
calculation as opposed to putting the burden on the fab shop.  It was always 
our job anyway!  We just got away with forcing the fab shop to do it.

For these reasons, it is necessary to get impedance right before sending the 
stackup off to a fab shop.  That is why I argue for field solver based 
calculators and good laminate data.

-----Original Message-----
From: Havermann, Gert
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 8:57 AM
To: Lee  ; SI-List
Subject: [SI-LIST] AW: AW: Asymmetric differential stripline impedance

Lee,

I use it to find a starting point for 3D simulations. It can't be accurate 
as one can not calculate with different prepreg styles or other real world 
problems. But besides that its not a bad tool.

I think the biggest error in the end is the implementation of the design, 
and there even 3D simulation doesn't help you if you don't know how PCBs are 
made and which are the Materials used (not only electrical models, but also 
processing related like flow behavior during pressing, copper fill of the 
layer...). You know what I'm talking about.

If I have all the knowledge, then I take those parameters into my 
calculation and do a 3D simulation of the right offset and the correct 
GND-GND distance and correct material and surface roughness... And then I 
know that the impedance will be at least close to where I wanted it to be.

For others without this detail of knowledge of PCB Fab and Materials, This 
tool is a good starting point for their design. Then you hand this design to 
a pcb vendor with knowledge in Impedance manufacturing and let him do the 
fine tuning of the trace based on his experience to meet +/-10% impedance 
match. If The vendor fails, he looses money, and you loose time, but with 
the right partner it works great even at higher speeds.

The Processing has so much influence, that I usually just push my PCB maker 
as far as I can to a point where he simply can't mess up my design, and then 
I give him the freedom to implement his processing tolerances.

And quite frankly, if someone here asks for a tool that can do "offset 
stripline", then I don't expect this person to know all the PCB processing 
details  yet, as I haven't seen any absolute symmetrical diff-trace in my 
life. In reality they are all offset (sometimes a bit, sometimes a bit 
more).


You are absolutely right, that no one should ever trust a free tool up to a 
point where mistakes can cost money. But free tools can be supportive.

BR
Gert

PS: will you have a DC Booth again this year? If so, I'll stop by for a 
talk.


----------------------------------------
Absender ist HARTING Electronics GmbH, Marienwerderstraße 3, D-32339 
Espelkamp; Registergericht: Amtsgericht Bad Oeynhausen; Register-Nr.: HRB 
8808; Vertretungsberechtige Geschäftsführer: Dipl.-Kfm. Edgar-Peter Düning, 
Dipl.-Ing. Torsten Ratzmann, Dr.-Ing. Alexander Rost

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Lee [mailto:leeritchey@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 3. Januar 2013 18:38
An: Havermann, Gert; SI-List
Betreff: Re: [SI-LIST] AW: Asymmetric differential stripline impedance

Polar's CITS25 is an equation based tool that is accurate only part of the 
time.  It does not use a field solver.  I don't trust its results.

As with most free tools, they are often worth the price!

-----Original Message-----
From: Havermann, Gert
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2013 11:54 PM
To: SI-List
Subject: [SI-LIST] AW: Asymmetric differential stripline impedance

Polar's CITS25 software is quite accurate and easy to use. It comes with 
several different impedance cells. Even though Polar is no longer supporting 
this tool, you will still be able to find the free evaluation version 
somewhere in the web. The only evaluation restriction is the total number of 
calculations, and it can be reset with uninstalling and re-installing.

BR
Gert


----------------------------------------
Absender ist HARTING Electronics GmbH, Marienwerderstraße 3, D-32339 
Espelkamp; Registergericht: Amtsgericht Bad Oeynhausen; Register-Nr.: HRB 
8808; Vertretungsberechtige Geschäftsführer: Dipl.-Kfm. Edgar-Peter Düning, 
Dipl.-Ing. Torsten Ratzmann, Dr.-Ing. Alexander Rost

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] Im 
Auftrag von Hithesh
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 3. Januar 2013 06:04
An: SI-List
Betreff: [SI-LIST] Asymmetric differential stripline impedance

Hi foks,
Is there any online tool to calculate the impedance of assymetric 
differential stripline?
I searched, nothing available for asymmetric differential. It's either 
asymmetric stripline or symmetric differential.
How to calculate differential impedance from single ended impedance?
This is with reference to USB signals.

Thanks
-Hithesh


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