Richard, You bet we live in a wide band world which is why a narrow band linear regulator is only really appropriate if the PLL is susceptible to audio frequency noise. No commercial linear regulator I know of has any kind of closed loop response at 10MHz, much less 300-500MHz. It is the discrete passives and the regulator parasitics that do the work in both of those regions. Essentially, the linear regulator package is acting like a series L/R circuit to the bypass caps on the other side. It works, but one could just as well use: an appropriately selected resistor, some etch, a ferrite bead or any other tiny solution that costs a penny or so to implement, and save the real estate, power loss, cost, etc, etc. OTOH if digital noise in the 1MHz to 1GHz+ region is the problem, then one X2Y cap in a microstrip configuration on a power feed will get you 40dB insertion loss (50 Ohm ports ) up to 1GHz. A pair of them with a little etch will get you 60dB out to 1GHz. Steve Richard Jungert wrote: > Steve. > > Caps are ok but they are bi-directional and narrow band. They work > great when you have all the frequencies figured out or in a narrow > band app. I have seen them work great for say 10mhz applications but > then there is a 300-500 mhz tone causing problems what do you do? > This happens all too often on digital boards. We live in a wide band > world now and so that is why I partially dissagree. > > Richard > > > Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:09:05 -0700 > > From: weirsi@xxxxxxxxxx > > To: r_jungert@xxxxxxxxxxx > > CC: mrose@xxxxxxxxxxxx; si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > Subject: [SI-LIST] Re: plane-to-plane decoupling > > > > Richard, in my experience, linear regulators can be effective for > > cleaning up PLL power on the PCB but they are usually completely > > unnecessary. The bandwidth of even a good linear regulator by itself is > > still in the audio range. If your PLL is insensitive to audio frequency > > disturbances by virtue of a good loop, then what you are really buying > > with the linear regulator is a very expensive series L/R that works > with > > the bypass caps on the PLL side to filter noise from the dirty digital > > realm. With a little care you can usually save a lot of: board > > real-estate, money, and complication by designing a passive filter > to do > > the same or better job. > > > > Steve. > > > > Richard Jungert wrote: > > > Mike. > > > > > > I would recommend putting the PLL circuit near the edge of the > board and also cut a power and ground plane split 270 degrees around > or under the PLL circuit. Cut them both the same shape. If you put it > near the center of the board there is a very high probablility for > much more jitter. > > > > > > Also, in my experience its not a great idea to power the PLL with > a common voltage. Put a small low power voltage regulator in to just > power the PLL circuit and this will isolate him from the rest of the > noisy digital logic. Power and ground plane noise will sneak right > into the PLL and modulate your clock. > > > > > > I have found on three other designs that this approach is very > effective in cutting down phase noise on the clock circuits. > > > > > > Another trick that cuts noise on ground/power planes is decoupling > with caps out to the chassis ground. Decouple out to the chassis > ground and watch the noise decrease. This is also a trick used to > supress EMC problems. > > > > > > Richard Jungert > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >> Subject: [SI-LIST] Re: plane-to-plane decoupling > > >> Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:14:31 -0500 > > >> From: zabinski.patrick@xxxxxxxx > > >> To: mrose@xxxxxxxxxxxx; si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > >> > > >> Mike, > > >> > > >> In answer to your last question, I believe the lowest-inductance > option > > >> involves capacitors placed directly between the two power planes (and > > >> not through the ground plane). > > >> > > >> That said, the scenario scares me. > > >> > > >> For many components that require multiple planes (e.g., FPGAs w/ > > >> SerDes), some of their supplies are very sensitive to noise. For > > >> example, nearly all SerDes cores have an analog supply for > phase-locked > > >> loops (PLLs), and noise injected into them can severely degrade > jitter > > >> performance. Similarly, noise on the I/O supply of a parallel bus can > > >> degrade SI of the output waveform. In many instances, the chip > supplier > > >> provides guidelines for isolating such voltages, often recommending > > >> specific isolation circuits. Adding decoupling between the various > > >> voltages will/can defeat the isolation circuits and inject noise from > > >> one plane onto the next. > > >> > > >> Although adding decoupling between the power planes will help with > > >> discontinuities of the signals traversing the split, you could be > > >> inadvertently creating other problems. As such, I suggest you look > > >> closely at the power planes that you're about to inject noise > into and > > >> ensure they are immune to outside influence. > > >> > > >> Good luck, > > >> Pat Zabinski > > >> Mayo Clinic > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >>> Some diff pairs on L4 will cross power plane splits (actual > different > > >>> power sources and loads) and I wanted to provide an effective AC > path > > >>> for any common-mode return currents. I was thinking about > placing some > > >>> nearby decoupling caps from plane-to-plane across the split. Do you > > >>> think it would be better to decouple from plane-to-ground on > > >>> both sides > > >>> to steer the current through the L6 ground layer? L5 and L6 > > >>> are already > > >>> coupled through the inter-plane capacitance (they're about > > >>> 4mils apart). > > >>> Which will provide a lower inductance path? > > >>> > > >> > > >> ------------------------------------------------------------------ > > >> 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 technical documents are available at: > > >> http://www.si-list.net > > >> > > >> List archives are viewable at: > > >> //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list > > >> or at our remote archives: > > >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list/messages > > >> Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: > > >> http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu > > >> > > >> > > >> > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > > Get more out of the Web. 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