DS90LV018A
Applications Information
(Continued)
offset voltage which is typically +1.2V. The driven signal is
centered around this voltage and may shift
±
1V around this
center point. The
±
1V shifting may be the result of a ground
potential difference between the driver’s ground reference
and the receiver’s ground reference, the common-mode ef-
fects of coupled noise, or a combination of the two. The AC
parameters of both receiver input pins are optimized for a
recommended operating input voltage range of 0V to +2.4V
(measured from each pin to ground). The device will still
operate for receivers input voltages up to V
CC
, but exceeding
V
CC
will turn on the ESD protection circuitry which will clamp
the bus voltages.
POWER DECOUPLING RECOMMENDATIONS
Bypass capacitors must be used on power pins. Use high
frequency ceramic (surface mount is recommended) 0.1µF
and 0.001µF capacitors in parallel at the power supply pin
with the smallest value capacitor closest to the device supply
pin. Additional scattered capacitors over the printed circuit
board will improve decoupling. Multiple vias should be used
to connect the decoupling capacitors to the power planes. A
10µF (35V) or greater solid tantalum capacitor should be
connected at the power entry point on the printed circuit
board between the supply and ground.
PC BOARD CONSIDERATIONS
Use at least 4 PCB board layers (top to bottom): LVDS
signals, ground, power, TTL signals.
Isolate TTL signals from LVDS signals, otherwise the TTL
signals may couple onto the LVDS lines. It is best to put TTL
and LVDS signals on different layers which are isolated by a
power/ground plane(s).
Keep drivers and receivers as close to the (LVDS port side)
connectors as possible.
DIFFERENTIAL TRACES
Use controlled impedance traces which match the differen-
tial impedance of your transmission medium (ie. cable) and
termination resistor. Run the differential pair trace lines as
close together as possible as soon as they leave the IC
(stubs should be
<
10mm long). This will help eliminate
reflections and ensure noise is coupled as commo-mode. In
fact, we have seen that differential signals which are 1mm
apart radiate far less noise than traces 3mm apart since
magnetic field cancellation is much better with the closer
traces. In addition, noise induced on the differential lines is
much more likely to appear as common-mode which is re-
jected by the receiver.
Match electrical lengths between traces to reduce skew.
Skew between the signals of a pair means a phase differ-
ence between signals which destroys the magnetic field
cancellation benefits of differential signals and EMI will re-
sult! (Note that the velocity of propagation, v = c/E
r
where c
(the speed of light) = 0.2997mm/ps or 0.0118 in/ps). Do not
rely solely on the autoroute function for differential traces.
Carefully review dimensions to match differential impedance
and provide isolation for the differential lines. Minimize the
number of vias and other discontinuities on the line.
Avoid 90˚ turns (these cause impedance discontinuities).
Use arcs or 45˚ bevels.
Within a pair of traces, the distance between the two traces
should be minimized to maintain common-mode rejection of
the receivers. On the printed circuit board, this distance
should remain constant to avoid discontinuities in differential
impedance. Minor violations at connection points are allow-
able.
TERMINATION
Use a termination resistor which best matches the differen-
tial impedance or your transmission line. The resistor should
be between 90Ω and 130Ω. Remember that the current
mode outputs need the termination resistor to generate the
differential voltage. LVDS will not work without resistor ter-
mination. Typically, connecting a single resistor across the
pair at the receiver end will suffice.
Surface mount 1% - 2% resistors are the best. PCB stubs,
component lead, and the distance from the termination to the
receiver inputs should be minimized. The distance between
the termination resistor and the receiver should be
<
10mm
(12mm MAX).
FAIL-SAFE FEATURE
The LVDS receiver is a high gain, high speed device that
amplifies a small differential signal (20mV) to CMOS logic
levels. Due to the high gain and tight threshold of the re-
ceiver, care should be taken to prevent noise from appearing
as a valid signal.
The receiver’s internal fail-safe circuitry is designed to
source/sink a small amount of current, providing fail-safe
protection (a stable known state of HIGH output voltage) for
floating, terminated or shorted receiver inputs.
Open Input Pins.
The DS90LV018A is a single receiver
device. Do not tie the receiver inputs to ground or any
other voltages. The input is biased by internal high value
pull up and pull down resistors to set the output to a
HIGH state. This internal circuitry will guarantee a HIGH,
stable output state for open inputs.
2.
Terminated Input.
If the driver is disconnected (cable
unplugged), or if the driver is in a power-off condition,
the receiver output will again be in a HIGH state, even
with the end of cable 100Ω termination resistor across
the input pins. The unplugged cable can become a
floating antenna which can pick up noise. If the cable
picks up more than 10mV of differential noise, the re-
ceiver may see the noise as a valid signal and switch. To
insure that any noise is seen as common-mode and not
differential, a balanced interconnect should be used.
Twisted pair cable will offer better balance than flat
ribbon cable.
3.
Shorted Inputs.
If a fault condition occurs that shorts
the receiver inputs together, thus resulting in a 0V differ-
ential input voltage, the receiver output will remain in a
HIGH state. Shorted input fail-safe is not supported
across the common-mode range of the device (GND to
2.4V). It is only supported with inputs shorted and no
external common-mode voltage applied.
External lower value pull up and pull down resistors (for a
stronger bias) may be used to boost fail-safe in the presence
of higher noise levels. The pull up and pull down resistors
should be in the 5kΩ to 15kΩ range to minimize loading and
waveform distortion to the driver. The common-mode bias
point should be set to approximately 1.2V (less than 1.75V)
to be compatible with the internal circuitry.
PROBING LVDS TRANSMISSION LINES
Always use high impedance (
>
100kΩ), low capacitance
(
<
2 pF) scope probes with a wide bandwidth (1 GHz)
scope. Improper probing will give deceiving results.
4
1.
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