DesignCon 2002

acceptable BER. The native equalization algorithms embedded in the statistical tools
were used to equalize and open the eye , achieving a BER of 1x10 -14 (Figure 14).
A
C
B
D
Figure 14: A- Initial pre-layout simulation without any equalization using QuickEye analysis. B-
QuickEye analysis using 5 taps of FFE at the receiver. C- Contour BER eye plot from VerifEye
analysis using 5 taps of FFE at the receiver. D- Bathtub BER plot from VerifEye analysis with 5 taps
of FFE at the receiver.
The contour eye BER plot shown in Figure 14 C yields BER as a function of eye
magnitude and eye width. The color gradient shows different BER values with the blue
eye corresponding to a BER of 1x10 -14 and the red corresponding to a BER of 5x10 -2 . A
VerifEye analysis of transmit Gaussian random jitter (RJ) was performed to determine
what operating margin was left in the system. Transmit RJ of 3 ps (Gaussian average
value) was incorporated into VerifEye. Using a six sigma standard to include 99.73% of
the jitter the peak RJ is ~ 9 ps with a delta of ~18 ps.