[SI-LIST] : Power-plane resonance article

Ray Anderson ([email protected])
Thu, 10 Sep 1998 13:48:57 -0700 (PDT)

I've just read the Signal Integrity column by Howard Johnson that
was recently (Sept. 1 '98) published in EDN magazine and wanted to congratulate
Howard on his timely article and to suggest that others on the list who haven't
had an opportunity to read his comments should make it a point to look it over.

His comments hit close to home as I've seen examples of many of the
effects he describes. The article is light on theory, but very strong on
technical philosophy.

As our systems in the industry keep pushing the envelope with faster
risetimes and higher clock speeds it will become imperative that designers
pay close attention to the power distribution system in their products. In
this case the "power distribution system" is not just the silver box you plug
into the wall, but includes the power supply, the bulk capacitors, the bypass
capacitors, the power planes, and even the chip package.

As a matter of curiosity I was wondering how many of the si-list subscribers
involved with high performance systems are currently modeling the effects of the
power distribution system in their design work. Any comments why or why not ?
What kind of tools do you use ? Difficulties encountered ?

Ray Anderson

Sun Microsystems Inc.

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