02/07/2015

Controlledimpedancedesignfortest

ControlledImpedanceDesignforTest
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ApplicationNoteAP132

Background
TDR(TimeDomainReflectometry)hasbecometheestablishedtechniqueforthemeasurementofcontrolledimpedance
onprintedcircuitboards.Ideally,tracelengthsofapproximately6inches(asrecommendedinStandardIPC2141)allow
foreasymeasurement,astherewillbeasignificantlyflatregionofthetracetoallowanaccurateaverageimpedance
measurementtobemade(seetheCITS900impedancetracebelow).Designingyourboardswithtestinginmindwill
assistfabricatorsachievebestyieldsandreducethecostofyourhighperformanceboards.

PolarCITS900impedancetrace

Testingwithcoupons
ThesimplesttechniqueforPCBshopsisthewidelypractisedutilizationoftestcouponsforverificationofcontrolled
impedancePCBs.Theseareeitherdesignedbythecustomeroraddedbythefabricator'sfrontenddepartment.
Often,however,acustomerwillprohibitchangestothecoupon.ThiscanrequirethePCBfabricatorto INVEST ina
widevarietyoftestsystemprobeswhichmustbeinterchangedfrequently,withsubsequentreductionintheR&Rofthe
measurementsystem.Itisthereforepreferablethatthedesignerandmanufacturercollaboratetomodifyacoupon
footprintinordertominimisethenumberofprobevariationsrequired.

Whynotusevariablepitchprobes?
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Whilsttheseprobesarereadilyavailable,theyareexpensiveandaredesignedfornoncontinuousoperation.Variable
pitchprobesarelesseasyforoperatorstouse,andlongtermhighvolumeuseofvariablepitchprobescanresultin
poorR&R.

Makeiteasyfortheoperator
Asyouhavestandardisedonacouponfootprint,doensurethatallthecontactpointsonthecouponhavethesame
orientation.
Polar'sCouponGeneratorisdesignedtotakeimpedancecontrolledstackupinformationdirectlyfromthePolar
SpeedstackPCBandSpeedstackSiautomaticfieldsolverandlayerstackupdesignsystemsandgeneratethe
appropriateimpedancetestcouponcontainingalltherequiredPCBcontrolledimpedancetransmissionlinestructures.

SpeedstackCouponGeneratorproducescouponsfromexistingstackupdata
Designingallcontactpointsonthecouponwiththesameorientationisbeneficialtobothmanualandautomatictesting.
Withamanualsystemtheoperatorisnotrequiredrepeatedlytotwisttheprobeinordertocontactthetestpads,whilein
anautomaticsystem,aligningallthepointstothesameorientationwillresultinthefastesttestwithbestR&Rasthe
testheadneedsonlyXandYaxispositioning.
Wherethecouponsarebuiltintoboards,forexampleonRambusRIMMmodules,testpointorientationisequally
important.EarlyRIMMdesignsusedtestpointswithgroundpositionsthatwere180degreesrotatedateachendofthe
board.Newerdesignshavealltestpointsorientedinthesameway.IfyouneedtochangeanearlyRambusdesign
pleaseaskustoconnectyouwiththeRambusstaffmemberwhocanconfirmthechangeauthorisation.

Testingonboards
Mosttestingisperformedoncoupons.Ifitisnecessarytotesttracesonboards,ideallytheinboardcoupontrace
shouldterminateneartheedgeandbeclearlymarked.Alsotheviaholesshouldbelargeenoughtofacilitatemanual
probing.ItisalmostimpossibletomanuallyTDRtestonamicrovia!AlthoughtheRFcontactmaybeexcellent,itisnot
practicaltomanuallyprobesuchasmallcontactarea,especiallyifthousandsoftestsperdayarerequired.Ifyouneed
totestonactualPCBtraces,thenrememberthatthetestneedstostartatanetendandtheremustbeaccessto
groundnexttothesignaltestpoint,otherwiseitwillnotbepossibletomakeagoodRFconnectiontothetraceunder
test.

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Lengthoftesttrace
Toobtainrepeatableandconsistentresultsinmanufacturing,youneedtodesigntesttracesthatareofsufficientlength
toavoidmeasurementresultsbeinginfluencedbytheeffectsofprobetotraceinterconnectionaberrations(fromthestart
ofthetrace)andpulsedispersion(whichcausesthetracetostarttorisebeforethephysicalendofthetrace.)Although
somepublicationsmayrecommendthespecifictraceregiontobetested(e.g.50%to70%)thisisnotalwaysoptimum
forshorttraces.
Theoptimumtracelengthonacouponisaround6inches(150mm).IPCD317containsfurtherinformationoncoupon
design.
Wesuggestthatyouselectthetestregionbychoosingtheflattest,leastdisturbedwaveformregionthatfallsbetween
anyaberrationsnearthetracestartandtheclimbtowardsanopencircuitatthetraceend.Onceselected,thesame
regionshouldbeusedforallsubsequenttestsofthattypeofPCB.

Resources
Samplemanufacturingdataforacouponcontainingawidevarietyofstructuresareavailablefordownload(followthe
linkinthenextparagraph).Thistypicalcouponcanbemodifiedtosuityourprocessandisdesignedwithtestaccessfor
bothmanualandautomaticimpedancetestsystems
DownloadsampletestcouponGerberfiles:mpcd1345.zip(170kb)

Footprints
Awidevarietyofprobefootprintsisavailable.YoucandownloadthelatestavailableIPProbeFootprintsfordifferential
andsingleendedtests.

Polar'sCouponGeneratorutilisesawiderangeofpopularprobefootprints
Youwillseewhyitisimportanttostandardiseontestpointssoyoucanavoidholdingtoomanyprobevariantsin
STOCK .Ifyouarejuststartingtobuildcontrolledimpedanceboardsorifyouwanttorationalisethetypesofprobes
youuse,thenpleaseemailmartyn.gaudion@polarinstruments.comwhowillbedelightedtodiscussthemostpopular
probefootprintswithyou.

Modifyingdesigns
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Itisimportantforfrontendengineerstomaintainagooddialogwiththeoriginaldesignerofimpedancecontrolledboards.
Sometimessmalladjustmentsinlinewidtharenecessarytomaximiseyields,ornonavailabilityofparticularcoreor
prepregsizesmayrequireanalterationofthestackupwhichwill,inturn,requirerecalculationoftheimpedance
controlleddimensions.ToassistinthisprocessthePolarSpeedstackPCBandSpeedstackSiautomaticfieldsolver
andlayerstackupdesignsystemsallowsPCBdesignersrapidlyto:
goalseeknewvalues
graphsensitivitytochangesinbuildparameters
graphfrequencydependentlosses
interactivelyperformgo/nogoviastubanalysis.
TheSi8000/9000seriesfieldsolverssupportsingleormultipledielectricbuildsinacomprehensiverangeoftraceand
dielectricconfigurationsandallowdesignersandboardfabricatorstocalculateandplotimpedancechangesagainsta
rangeofvaluesforaspecifiedstructureparameter(charting,forexample,Z0forvariationsinH1,Er,etc.)
TheSi9000providesforbothlosslessandfrequencydependentmodellingandextractsfulltransmissionlineparameters
(forexample,RLGCmatricesand2Port(singleended)or4Port(differential)SParameters)forawiderangeofPCB
transmissionlines.Graphingagainstfrequencyisprovidedforimpedancemagnitude,loss(conductorloss,dielectric
lossandinsertionloss),inductance,capacitance,resistance,conductanceandskindepth.
Seealso:
AP124TestingControlledImpedanceBoardswithTestCoupons
AP8502TestingControlledImpedanceBoardswithTestCoupons

IfyouwouldlikemoreinformationpleasecontactyourlocalPolarrepresentative
PolarInstruments|PrivacyStatement|PolarInstruments2015|ISO9001certification

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