Matt Burns, Technical Marketing Manager at Samtec, guides us through a demonstration that incorporates two high-performance connector sets.
Samtec’s 56 Gbps PAM4 Product Demonstration Platform emulates real-world 56 Gbps PAM4 design challenges, which pairs bleeding edge silicon and interconnect solutions using real-world, optimized design practices.
This platform showcases several of Samtec’s interconnect solutions, but this video focuses on the Samtec Bulls Eye® test point system, and the LP Array™ low profile high-density array connector set.
Signal Path
The Credo Bald Eagle 2 retimer transmits QPRBS31 pattern signals at 56 Gbps PAM4 data rates on two separate channels. These signals run differentially, through about 30 mm of PCB trace to the Samtec BE70A Bulls Eye high-performance test system.
The signals travel from the Bulls Eye connector, through phased match pairs of Samtec low-loss microwave coax cable, terminated with 2.4 mm precision RF connectors. These connectors are terminated to a Samtec SI evaluation board for the LP Array system.
The signals travel from the coax cables, through the first SI evaluation board, through two adjacent pairs on a mated Samtec LP Array connector set. This represents a real-life environment including cross talk.
The signals then travel through the second SI eval board, through another set of high-performance precision RF 2.4 mm cables, and back to the Bulls Eye connector. Finally, the data lanes circle back to the Credo Bald Eagle 2 receiver, where the data is recovered nicely.
56 Gbps PAM4 Signal Integrity Performance
The Samtec-developed demonstration software platform shows the LP Array has a bit error rate of about 1e-15. The eye diagrams for both lanes range from 215 mV – 241 mV. The error count is zero. These data results show that the SI Evaluation platform gives us the performance we expect.
SI Eval Kits
Samtec has a variety of Board-to-Board SI Evaluation Kits. These provide system designers and SI engineers easy-to-use platforms for testing many of Samtec’s popular board-to-board connector products. This demo utilizes the LP Array SI Evaluation Kit.
LP Array
Samtec LP Array is a low-profile, open-pin field grid array system. It provides designers with tremendous routing and grounding flexibility. Mated stack heights are 4, 4.5, and 5mm, with up to 400 total pins. LP Array supports 56 Gbps PAM4 applications.
Bulls Eye Test System
This demonstration shows how Bulls Eye can be used on a real-life evaluation board environment. Bulls Eye is ideal for high-performance test-point applications because of its compression interface, small footprint and high cycle count. Samtec Bulls Eye systems are rated at 20, 50, and 70 GHz.
If you have questions about this demonstration, please contact us at SIG@samtec.com.
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