IEEE P1394B PHY-LINK Electrical Interface

  1. Electrical
  2. The 1394b interface uses impedance-matched reflected-wave switching. Because of this the drivers’ most critical operations occur at less than full swing. Output characteristics are specified accordingly.

    1. Parameters
    2. Symbol

      Description

      Typical

      Minimum

      Maximum

      Units

      VDDQ

      I/O Supply Voltage

      NA

      1.65

      3.6

      V

      Z0

      Path Impedance

      NA

      50

      75

      Ohms

      CIN

      Input Capacitance

      4.0

      3.0

      5.0

      pF

      VOH

      Launch Voltage (H)

      0.50

      0.45

      0.55

      VDDQ

      VOL

      Launch Voltage (L)

      0.50

      0.45

      0.55

      VDDQ

      VOT

      Output Measurement Point

      0.25

      NA

      NA

      VDDQ

      ZOH

      Output Low Impedance

      NA

      NA

      75

      Ohms

      ZOL

      Output High Impedance

      NA

      NA

      75

      Ohms

      VILDC

      DC Low Input Voltage

      NA

      0.45

      0.50

      VDDQ

      VIHDC

      DC High Input Voltage

      NA

      0.50

      0.55

      VDDQ

      VILAC

      AC Low Input Voltage

      NA

      0.30

      VILDC

      VDDQ

      VIHAC

      AC High Input Voltage

      NA

      VIHDC

      0.70

      VDDQ

      ICL

      Input Clamp Current

      NA

      7.0

      NA

      mA

      VCLH

      Input High Clamp Voltage

      NA

      VDDQ

      VDDQ+300

      mV

      VCLL

      Input Low Clamp Voltage

      NA

      -300

      0

      mV

      VCLM

      Mean Clamp Voltage

      0.5

      0.45

      0.55

      VDDQ

      VEXT

      External Signal Amplitude

      NA

      0.60

      1.60

      VDDQ

      VK0H

      High Keeper Voltage (quiescent)

      0.80

      0.75

      0.85

      VDDQ

      VK0L

      Low Keeper Voltage (quiescent)

      0.20

      0.15

      0.25

      VDDQ

      VKH

      High Keeper Voltage

      NA

      0.75

      1.10

      VDDQ

      VKL

      Low Keeper Voltage

      NA

      -0.10

      0.25

      VDDQ

      VKLM

      Mean Keeper Voltage

      NA

      VILDC

      VIHDC

       

      Table 1: Electrical Parameters

       

       

      Symbol

      Description

      VDDQ

      I/O Supply Voltage of the DUT

      Z0

      Path Impedance exclusive of lumped capacitances at line end. Devices are required to

      CIN

      Input capacitance: point-load-equivalent capacitance of an input. This is exclusive of distributed capacitance at Z0

      VOH

      Output High Launch voltage: the output voltage of a HIGH-state driver into a grounded resistive load of magnitude Z0

      VOL

      Output Low Launch voltage: the output voltage of a LOW-state driver into a resistive load of magnitude Z0 to VDDQ

      ZOH

      Output High Impedance: the dynamic impedance of a driver (di/dv) at VOH

      ZOL

      Output Low Impedance: the dynamic impedance of a driver (di/dv) at VOL

      VILDC

      DC Input Low Threshold: Input voltages less than this are guaranteed to NOT cause the input to change state to HIGH.

      VIHDC

      DC Input High Threshold: Input voltages greater than this are guaranteed to NOT cause the input to change state to LOW.

      VILAC

      AC Input Low Threshold: Input voltages less than this are guaranteed to satisfy timing requirements for input LOW.

      VIHAC

      AC Input High Threshold: Input voltages greater than this are guaranteed to satisfy timing requirements for input HIGH.

      VCLH

      Input clamp test points. Input clamps must hold the input voltage to VCLH or less in response to an input current of ICL and to VCLL or more in response to an input current of -ICLAMP.

      VCLL

      ICL

      VCLM

      Mean Clamp Voltage: Clamps must be symmetrical. VCLM is the arithmetic mean of VCLH and VCLL for ICL between ICL(MIN) and ICL(MAX).

      VEXT

      External Signal Amplitude: The peak-to-peak amplitude of an AC-coupled external square-wave source (at impedance Z0) which the keepers must accomodate.

      VK0H

      High Keeper Voltage: the Thevenin output voltage of the HIGH-state keeper in the absense of external signals

      VK0L

      Low Keeper Voltage: the Thevenin output voltage of the LOW-state keeper in the absense of external signals

      VKH

      High Keeper Voltage: the HIGH-state keeper output voltage when tracking external signals.

      VKL

      Low Keeper Voltage: the LOW-state keeper output voltage when tracking external signals.

      VKLM

      Mean Keeper Voltage: Keepers must be symmetrical. VKM is the arithmetic mean of VKH and VKL for VEXT between VEXT(MIN) and VEXT(MAX).

      Table 2: Description of Parameters

    3. Voltage Scaling
    4. Interoperability between CMOS process generations can be accomplished in several ways. The cleanest is to use the same supply voltage on both sides of the interface. 1394B requires this for directly connected PHY-LINK pairs. It may also be used with isolated pairs, even across process generations, if the I/O system on either side is voltage-agile. Where this is not a viable option (as for instance with galvanic isolation and the high cost of adding an additional isolated supply) it is also possible to mix logic across a single generational gap.

      The standard supply voltages for currently common process generations have been defined by JEDEC as:

      Nominal

      Minimum

      Maximum

      3.3

      3.0

      3.6

      2.5

      2.3

      2.7

      1.8

      1.65

      1.95

      Table 3: JEDEC-Standard Supply Voltages

      To span a generation, the higher-voltage interface must accept signals swinging approximately 60% of the receiver’s supply (e.g. a 2.7v receiver and a 1.65-volt driver.) Similarly, the lower-voltage receiver must tolerate being driven by a source 1.6 times its supply. Since the 1394B PHY-LINK interface is source-synchronous switching symmetry is important. The requirement for symmetry accounts for much of the complexity of the adaptive I/O. Of course, maintaining symmetry with voltage-agile I/O circuits isn’t trivial either.

      1. High-to-Low Mixed Voltage
      2. When a high-voltage source drives a low-voltage receiver, the receiver must operate in two main modes. Following a long quiescent period, the receiver has established a node voltage of VK0L or VK0H and transtions start from these points. Immediately following another transition, the receiver has established a node voltage of VCLH or VCLL and the transition starts from there instead. This causes a shift in threshold crossing. The magnitude of the shift is approximately VK0L-VCLL; for a 1.65v receiver this will be about 713mV, or almost 31% of a 2.3v driver’s output swing. This introduces as much as 0.25*tR in clock-data skew, which must come out of the timing budget.

        Changes to the line state sequence on quiescence may prevent this.

      3. Low-to-High Mixed Voltage

    In extreme cases, a 2.7v receiver must operate reliably when driven by a 1.65v source across a galvanic barrier. If a conventional bus-keeper mechanism is used to bias the receiver, the quiescent state could be ground. The first HIGH transition would take the input to 1.65v, less losses and noise, while VIHAC is 1.89v. Oops. In fact, VIHDC is 1.485v, which leaves only 165mV of noise margin. This is not a formula for reliable high-speed switching.

    To avoid this the 1394b mixed-voltage mechanism uses an adaptive restoration mechanism. The (very) long-term quiescent line state must be at least 0.15* VDDQ. This guarantees that the initial transition drives to at least 0.75* VDDQ, which is in excess of VIHAC by 0.05* VDDQ. (In other words, barely.)

  3. Timing
  4. Note: No attempt has been made to protect the stubbornly clueless from the appropriate consequences.

    1. Timing Budget
    2. The ideal clock/data relationship is quadrature, since it allows the clock to change state when the data lines are quiescent (thereby keeping at least ONE signal well-behaved.) In a nominal 5000 ps Unit Interval that leaves 2500 ps each for the setup and hold processes. A conservative design budget for these would include:

      On-chip Clock Skew

      50

      ps

      Cycle-to-cycle Jitter

      50

      ps

      Flip-flop rise/fall asymmetry

      100

      ps

      On-Chip Source Routing skew

      50

      ps

      Intrinsic Driver Skew

      50

      ps

      Driver Skew (SSO, Rise/Fall, etc.)

      1000

      ps

      PWB Route Skew

      100

      ps

      Input Asymmetry (assume 1000ps rise)

      100

      ps

      On-Chip Receiver Route Skew

      50

      ps

      Flip-Flop Setup/Hold Time

      150

      ps

      Total

      ps

      Table 4: S1600 Timing Budget

      This leaves a reasonably comfortable margin of 800 ps.

    3. Timing Parameters

Symbol

Description

Typical

Minimum

Maximum

Units

VDDQ

I/O Supply Voltage

NA

1.65

3.6

V