Lpc2000

Hi,

I'm using a LPC2214 & have connected the XCLK pin to a single input of 
another IC which needs to be sync'd with the CPU. I'm driving XCLK at 
59MHz and I'm seeing an almost sinusoidal waveform ~2v pk-pk going 
between 0.5v & 2.5v which is very marginal. Is the XCLK pin capable of 
driving a 10pF input located 15mm away from the XCLK pin ?

Thanks
Dave Baker

Hello Dave,

> 
> I'm using a LPC2214 & have connected the XCLK pin to a single input of 
> another IC which needs to be sync'd with the CPU. I'm driving XCLK at 
> 59MHz and I'm seeing an almost sinusoidal waveform ~2v pk-pk going 
> between 0.5v & 2.5v which is very marginal. Is the XCLK pin capable of 
> driving a 10pF input located 15mm away from the XCLK pin ?
> 

10pF represents around 270ohms at that frequency. I am not familiar
with the LPC2214 but that doesn't seem like much of a load for a uC.
Are you sure it's only 10pF?

Lift the pin of the other IC and look again. If still sinusoidal the
trace capacitance might be a bit high. If your scope probe is suspect
you could use a resistive divider into a 50ohm coax and hook that to a
fast scope (at least 1GHz) with the scope input terminated with
50ohms. The divider should have a ratio of 5-10, not more to avoid
stray capacitances that could otherwise foul up things.

If your trace is longer than an inch or two you may need a controlled
impedance trace and a terminator at the target IC.

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Joerg

Thanks for the suggestions.

Using a very short ground probe I've got an improved waveform 2.5V pk-
pk but asymmetrical, where the fall time is approx 3ns and the rise 
time is about 8ns.  

Removing the load improves the risetime and I get ~3v pk-pk. My scope 
has a 200MHz b/w & I've looked at a 70MHz clock on another board & I'm 
seeing a nice clean squarewave so I'm happy that the scope isn't 
giving a false picture. It does seem that the XCLK pin is having a 
hard time driving the load. 

I've doubled checked the datasheet & the load input capacitance is 
10pF max. The clock trace is on the top layer & is ~15mm long, 12mil 
wide with no vias. There is a groundplane on the next layer.

Do you have any other suggestions ?

Regards
Dave

--- In lpc2000@yahoogroups.com, "Joerg Schulze-Clewing" <joergsch@...> 
wrote:
>
> Hello Dave,
> 
> > 
> > I'm using a LPC2214 & have connected the XCLK pin to a single 
input of 
> > another IC which needs to be sync'd with the CPU. I'm driving XCLK 
at 
> > 59MHz and I'm seeing an almost sinusoidal waveform ~2v pk-pk going 
> > between 0.5v & 2.5v which is very marginal. Is the XCLK pin 
capable of 
> > driving a 10pF input located 15mm away from the XCLK pin ?
> > 
> 
> 10pF represents around 270ohms at that frequency. I am not familiar
> with the LPC2214 but that doesn't seem like much of a load for a uC.
> Are you sure it's only 10pF?
> 
> Lift the pin of the other IC and look again. If still sinusoidal the
> trace capacitance might be a bit high. If your scope probe is 
suspect
> you could use a resistive divider into a 50ohm coax and hook that to 
a
> fast scope (at least 1GHz) with the scope input terminated with
> 50ohms. The divider should have a ratio of 5-10, not more to avoid
> stray capacitances that could otherwise foul up things.
> 
> If your trace is longer than an inch or two you may need a 
controlled

> impedance trace and a terminator at the target IC.
> 
> Regards, Joerg
> 
> http://www.analogconsultants.com/
>

Hello Dave,

> 
> Using a very short ground probe I've got an improved waveform 2.5V pk-
> pk but asymmetrical, where the fall time is approx 3ns and the rise 
> time is about 8ns.  
> 

Again, I don't know the LPC2214 but 3nsec is possibly all it can do.
Usually the output devices in a CMOS chip are similar so I don't quite
get why rise and fall times are different, at least not if you are
driving a CMOS chip with it. Looking at table 10 in the datasheet it
appears that the LPC's outputs are symmetrical in device geometry.

With symmetrical CMOS on both sides uneven rise and fall times
typically happen when you run into a substrate diode, for example when
the supply voltages are different.


> Removing the load improves the risetime and I get ~3v pk-pk. My scope 
> has a 200MHz b/w & I've looked at a 70MHz clock on another board & I'm 
> seeing a nice clean squarewave so I'm happy that the scope isn't 
> giving a false picture. It does seem that the XCLK pin is having a 
> hard time driving the load. 
> 

A brief look at chapter 9 of the datasheet states 10nsec for the
ports, not sure if that holds for XCLK but should be less. I don't
know your configuration but a look at the fosc section could indicate
that you are really pushing it with those 59MHz. If you are running at
3.3V supply then 3Vpp isn't all that bad. Table 10 states that worst
case a port is 400mV off the respective rail at 4mA source resp. sink.
This indicates that the output devices should be 100ohms or less. Into
a 10pF load that would be about a couple nsec to swing well past the
opposite digital threshold (time constant of 1nsec). Considering that
whatever drives it internally isn't infinitely fast you might be
looking at 3nsec or more. This still does not explain your 8nsec rise
time. Something must be in the circuit that wants to hold it down.


> I've doubled checked the datasheet & the load input capacitance is 
> 10pF max. The clock trace is on the top layer & is ~15mm long, 12mil 
> wide with no vias. There is a groundplane on the next layer.
> 

15mm is next to nothing, less than a pF depending on the prepreg
between plane and layer. So there should not be any worries there.


> Do you have any other suggestions ?
> 

I'd try the coax and divider trick to eliminate the scope probe
uncertainty. Changing the length of the ground made a difference as
you had seen. At 50MHz there should not be a ground clip at all, the
coax shield should tie into ground less than 5mm from where you want
to measure. I use a Philips FET probe for that which came with a large
supply of custom solderable coax jacks.

The datasheet is a bit skimpy and I could not link to a family spec
anywhere. The Philips web site is IMHO not a very efficient site.

If you didn't do the layout yourself I'd take a hard look at the
Gerber plots. More than once have I seen leftover stubs where the
layouter wanted to go another route, decided otherwise and left a
piece of the old trace in there. The DRC won't squawk since it's not
connected to a third node but it adds capacitance.

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Joerg

Again, thanks for your advice. I too am a bit surprised about the 8ns 
rise time. The XCLK signal is driving a FPGA global clock which has 
configurable voltage input thresholds - 3.3v CMOS, TTL, etc. I've 
tried selecting different standards but the result is the same. 

I don't think the scope is influencing things significantly as I've 
observed faster & better quality waveforms. However I'm keen to try 
the coax connector & divider trick you described. I'm not 100% clear 
of the configuration though. Could you talk me through the setup ?

Regards
Dave

wrote:
>
> Hello Dave,
> 
> > 
> > Using a very short ground probe I've got an improved waveform 2.5V 
pk-
> > pk but asymmetrical, where the fall time is approx 3ns and the 
rise 
> > time is about 8ns.  
> > 
> 
> Again, I don't know the LPC2214 but 3nsec is possibly all it can do.
> Usually the output devices in a CMOS chip are similar so I don't 
quite
> get why rise and fall times are different, at least not if you are
> driving a CMOS chip with it. Looking at table 10 in the datasheet it
> appears that the LPC's outputs are symmetrical in device geometry.
> 
> With symmetrical CMOS on both sides uneven rise and fall times
> typically happen when you run into a substrate diode, for example 
when
> the supply voltages are different.
> 
> 
> > Removing the load improves the risetime and I get ~3v pk-pk. My 
scope 
> > has a 200MHz b/w & I've looked at a 70MHz clock on another board & 
I'm 
> > seeing a nice clean squarewave so I'm happy that the scope isn't 
> > giving a false picture. It does seem that the XCLK pin is having a 
> > hard time driving the load. 
> > 
> 
> A brief look at chapter 9 of the datasheet states 10nsec for the
> ports, not sure if that holds for XCLK but should be less. I don't
> know your configuration but a look at the fosc section could 
indicate
> that you are really pushing it with those 59MHz. If you are running 
at
> 3.3V supply then 3Vpp isn't all that bad. Table 10 states that worst
> case a port is 400mV off the respective rail at 4mA source resp. 
sink.
> This indicates that the output devices should be 100ohms or less. 
Into
> a 10pF load that would be about a couple nsec to swing well past the
> opposite digital threshold (time constant of 1nsec). Considering 
that
> whatever drives it internally isn't infinitely fast you might be
> looking at 3nsec or more. This still does not explain your 8nsec 
rise
> time. Something must be in the circuit that wants to hold it down.
> 
> 
> > I've doubled checked the datasheet & the load input capacitance is 
> > 10pF max. The clock trace is on the top layer & is ~15mm long, 
12mil 
> > wide with no vias. There is a groundplane on the next layer.
> > 
> 
> 15mm is next to nothing, less than a pF depending on the prepreg
> between plane and layer. So there should not be any worries there.
> 
> 
> > Do you have any other suggestions ?
> > 
> 
> I'd try the coax and divider trick to eliminate the scope probe
> uncertainty. Changing the length of the ground made a difference as
> you had seen. At 50MHz there should not be a ground clip at all, the
> coax shield should tie into ground less than 5mm from where you want
> to measure. I use a Philips FET probe for that which came with a 
large

> supply of custom solderable coax jacks.
> 
> The datasheet is a bit skimpy and I could not link to a family spec
> anywhere. The Philips web site is IMHO not a very efficient site.
> 
> If you didn't do the layout yourself I'd take a hard look at the
> Gerber plots. More than once have I seen leftover stubs where the
> layouter wanted to go another route, decided otherwise and left a
> piece of the old trace in there. The DRC won't squawk since it's not
> connected to a third node but it adds capacitance.
> 
> Regards, Joerg
> 
> http://www.analogconsultants.com/
>

Hello Dave,

> 
> I don't think the scope is influencing things significantly as I've 
> observed faster & better quality waveforms. However I'm keen to try 
> the coax connector & divider trick you described. I'm not 100% clear 
> of the configuration though. Could you talk me through the setup ?
> 

There are several nice instruction sets on the web, like this more
elaborate probe:
http://www.emcesd.com/1ghzprob.htm

I usually forego the resistor to GND and the caps since a well
terminated coax provides a 50ohm load just by itself. This seems to be
what Maxim described in one of their app notes:
http://www.maxim-ic.com/appnotes.cfm/appnote_number/3699

The simplest "probe" would just contain one 450ohm SMT resistor, or
453ohms since that is the closest value you can find in the usual 1%
category. It must be a low-inductance resistor which most of them are
nowadays. When you solder that in series with the center conductor of
a coax you have a 1:10 divider, assuming 50ohm coax which is properly
terminated at the scope. Use a small SMT cap in series if you want to
avoid any DC draw. Make it as neat as you can and as short as practical.

Very important is a short connection to ground. Below 100MHz you can
get away with 1/2".

Then place a jar on the counter where people can "donate" a girl scout
cookie or something delicious. Because everyone in the lab will want
to borrow your new probe at some point.

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Joerg

Thanks for info - I'll let you know how I get on

Regards
Dave

>
> Hello Dave,
> 
> > 
> > I don't think the scope is influencing things significantly as 
I've 
> > observed faster & better quality waveforms. However I'm keen to 
try 
> > the coax connector & divider trick you described. I'm not 100% 
clear 
> > of the configuration though. Could you talk me through the setup ?
> > 
> 
> There are several nice instruction sets on the web, like this more
> elaborate probe:
> http://www.emcesd.com/1ghzprob.htm
> 
> I usually forego the resistor to GND and the caps since a well
> terminated coax provides a 50ohm load just by itself. This seems to 
be
> what Maxim described in one of their app notes:
> http://www.maxim-ic.com/appnotes.cfm/appnote_number/3699
> 
> The simplest "probe" would just contain one 450ohm SMT resistor, or
> 453ohms since that is the closest value you can find in the usual 1%
> category. It must be a low-inductance resistor which most of them 
are
> nowadays. When you solder that in series with the center conductor 
of
> a coax you have a 1:10 divider, assuming 50ohm coax which is 
properly
> terminated at the scope. Use a small SMT cap in series if you want 
to
> avoid any DC draw. Make it as neat as you can and as short as 
practical.
> 
> Very important is a short connection to ground. Below 100MHz you can
> get away with 1/2".
> 
> Then place a jar on the counter where people can "donate" a girl 
scout

> cookie or something delicious. Because everyone in the lab will want
> to borrow your new probe at some point.
> 
> Regards, Joerg
> 
> http://www.analogconsultants.com/
>