Signal Integrity Characterization Techniques
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The time domain reflectometer (TDR) has come a long way since the early days when it was used to locate faults in cables. Time domain reflectometry can be used for more than 40 characterization, modeling, and emulation applications, many of which are illustrated in this application note series.
If your applications involve signals with rise times shorter than one nanosecond, transmission line properties of the interconnects are important. TDR is a versatile tool to provide a window into the performance of your interconnects to quickly and routinely answer the three important questions: does my interconnect meet specifications, will it work in my application, and where do I look to improve its performance?
The TDR is not just a simple radar station for transmission lines, sending pulses down the line and looking at the reflections from impedance discontinuities. It is also an instrument that can directly provide first-order topology models, S-parameter behavioral models, and with up to four channels, characterize rise time degradation, interconnect bandwidth, near- and far-end crosstalk, odd mode, even mode, differential and common impedance, mode conversion, and the complete differential channel characterization.