Hi Stefan This is my first post. :-) I have the similiar case as you. If you are talking about the vtt of DDR3 fly-by termination. The ASIC is not planned to support DIMM. So in the package and board design, we use ground reference. After discussion, we change decap to ground now which is the reference or return path of the signals. but I don't think adding both vtt/ground decap and vtt/vdd decap is always good idea. it depends. for example, in the following sencario,it is not a good idea. 1) vtt and vdd are both ground reference or neighbor. 2) signals are ground reference as well. in this case, decap between vtt and ground is the choice, but not decap between vtt and vdd. the cap between vtt and vdd will be a way or bridge to inject noise from vtt rail to power vdd rail. in another word, any noise between vtt and ground will be injected to vdd and ground because of the bridge casued by cap between vtt and vdd. the situation will be worse if you don't have enough cap between vdd and ground near the cap between vtt and vdd. you will see high crosstalk. It will be the worst, if the component is located at the resonance peak of the Vdd/ground cavity. So if you don't want strong coupling, then don't add any cap between them. If you want strong coupling, then add the cap "properly" between them. But how do we know whether strong coupling is needed or not? the answer is "it depends"....... by the way, when you connect the signal in the inner layer with the Rtt in the external layer, you need a signal via. don't forget place a reference via near the signal via. otherwise, you will see the crosstalk. we usually pay attention to the signal via in the middle of the trace. but sometimes omit the signal via near the termination. Thanks Feng At 2012-09-10 06:36:39,"Stefan Milnor" <stefan.milnor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >I guess that is one way to hedge your bets. > >On Sep 9, 2012, at 12:35 PM, "Farooq" <fbhatti@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > >> Hi OP >> I want to second Herman. I agree GND & VDDQ should treated same >> I ALWAYS bypass VTT to GND & VDDQ >> >> Regards >> Farooq Bhatti >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> On Sep 9, 2012, at 10:47 AM, Hermann Ruckerbauer >> <Hermann.Ruckerbauer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> >>> Hello all, >>> >>> I'm a bit late to jump into the discussion, and I can anyhow only repeat >>> what I mentioned last time: >>> >>> I do not like the idea of a solid ground plane and a weak supply plane. >>> The only thing that matters from a voltage point of view is the >>> difference between them. So I try to treat them equally. >>> A rock solid GND does not help if the VDD is having the noise. >>> >>> Additionally one often does not know the used referencing of all >>> contributors (which seems the case in this discussion). Especially for >>> DRAMs with mid level termination both current return rails matters. So I >>> still stay with the target to have GND and VDD treated with the same >>> care, and if I don't know the whole current return I implement a >>> symmetrical decoupling. >>> >>> Hermann >>> >>> >>> Our next Events: >>> ================ >>> >>> "Open the Black Box of Memory" >>> Seminar on 08/09. November 2012 >>> >>> Check our website or contact us for details >>> >>> EKH - EyeKnowHow >>> Hermann Ruckerbauer >>> www.EyeKnowHow.de >>> Hermann.Ruckerbauer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >>> Veilchenstrasse 1 >>> 94554 Moos >>> Tel.: +49 (0)9938 / 902 083 >>> Mobile: +49 (0)176 / 787 787 77 >>> Fax: +49 (0)3212 / 121 9008 >>> >>> schrieb Gregory R Edlund: >>>> The signal arrives at the termination resistors (or the DRAM) in the form >>>> of an electromagnetic wave. Do the E and B fields really store any >>>> information about which MOSFET generated them and which power supply it was >>>> connected to? I don't think so. In this argument, I don't think the >>>> driving MOSFETs matter at all so long as the IO circuits are sufficiently >>>> decoupled on chip. >>>> >>>> If it were me, I'd decouple VTT to GND because that's the reference plane, >>>> but I don't have any lab data to support that. In fact, I haven't seen >>>> many papers that show lab data for a real-life return current discontinuity >>>> (I hate the phrase). Maybe it's better just to call it what it is: a >>>> transmission line reference discontinuity. >>>> >>>> >>>> "The reason for bypassing to 1.5V instead of GND is that VTT is both >>>> sinking and sourcing current. When high side mosfet of the buffer is >>>> turned ON, for logic HI, the current flow is from 1.5V to MOSFET to >>>> termination resistor to VTT power supply. Signal is switched referenced >>>> to VTT, so we need to decouple the buffer's 1.5V pin to VTT, not to GND. >>>> >>>> No need for the decap between buffer's GND to VTT, because GND is much >>>> more robust than 1.5V rail (usually a massive plain) and can supply >>>> necessary instantaneous current for logic LOW." >>>> >>>> Greg Edlund >>>> Senior Engineer >>>> Signal Integrity and System Timing >>>> IBM Systems & Technology Group >>>> 3605 Hwy. 52 N Bldg 050-3 >>>> Rochester, MN 55901 >>>> >>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------ >>>> To unsubscribe from si-list: >>>> si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field >>>> >>>> or to administer your membership from a web page, go to: >>>> //www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list >>>> >>>> For help: >>>> si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field >>>> >>>> >>>> List forum is accessible at: >>>> http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list >>>> >>>> List archives are viewable at: >>>> //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list >>>> >>>> Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: >>>> http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu >>>> >>>> >>> >>> ------------------------------------------------------------------ >>> To unsubscribe from si-list: >>> si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field >>> >>> or to administer your membership from a web page, go to: >>> //www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list >>> >>> For help: >>> si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field >>> >>> >>> List forum is accessible at: >>> http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list >>> >>> List archives are viewable at: >>> //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list >>> >>> Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: >>> http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu >>> >>> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------ >> To unsubscribe from si-list: >> si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field >> >> or to administer your membership from a web page, go to: >> //www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list >> >> For help: >> si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field >> >> >> List forum is accessible at: >> http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list >> >> List archives are viewable at: >> //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list >> >> Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: >> http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu >> >> >------------------------------------------------------------------ >To unsubscribe from si-list: >si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field > >or to administer your membership from a web page, go to: >//www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list > >For help: >si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field > > >List forum is accessible at: > http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list > >List archives are viewable at: > //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list > >Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: > http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from si-list: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field or to administer your membership from a web page, go to: //www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list For help: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field List forum is accessible at: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list List archives are viewable at: //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu