Digital Timing Measurements

Chapter 1: Electrical Basics. 1. Time domain and frequency domain. 1.1 What Is The Frequency Domain, Anyway? 1.2 Moving between domains. 1.2.1 The Discrete Fourier Transformation. 1.2.2 Linear Systems. 1.2.3 Non-periodic signals. 1.3 Digital data streams. 1.4 Signal Bandwidth2. Transmission line theory. 2.1 Low-pass filters. 2.1.1 Rise Times. 2.1.2 Filter Bandwidth, Time Constant, and Rise Time. 2.1.3 Adding Rise Times. 2.1.4 Effects on Signal Propagation. 2.2 Transmission Lines. 2.2.1 Key Parameters of Ideal (Loss-less) Transmission Lines. 2.2.2 Reflections, Timing, and Signal Integrity. 2.2.3 Parasitics in the Transmission Path. 2.2.4 Lumped vs. Distributed Elements. 2.2.5 Lossy Transmission Lines. 2.2.5.1 Ohmic Resistance. 2.2.5.2 Skin Effect and Proximity Effect. 2.2.5.3 Dielectric Losses. 2.2.5.4 Radiation and Induction Losses. 2.2.6 Effects of Parasitics and Losses on Signal Shape and Timing. 2.2.7 Differential Transmission Lines. 2.3 Termination. 2.3.1 Diode clamps. 2.3.2 Current loads (I-loads). 2.3.3 Matched termination (resistive load). 2.3.4 Differential TerminationChapter 2: Measurement Hardware.1. Oscilloscopes & CO. 1.1 A Short Look on Analog Oscilloscopes. 1.2 Digital Real-Time Sampling Oscilloscopes. 1.3 Digital Equivalent Time Sampling Oscilloscopes. 1.4 Time Stampers. 1.5 Bit Error Rate Testers. 1.6 Digital Testers (Comparators). 1.7 Spectrum Analyzers.2. Key instrument parameters. 2.1 Analog Bandwidth. 2.2 Digital Bandwidth; Nyquist Theorem. 2.3 Time Interval Errors, Time Base Stability.3. Probes. 3.1 The Ideal Voltage Probe. 3.2 Passive Probes. 3.3 Active Probes. 3.4 Probe Effects on the Signal. 3.4.1 Basic Probe Model. 3.4.2 Probe DC Resistance. 3.4.3 Parasitic Probe Capacitance. 3.4.4 Parasitic Probe Inductance. 3.4.5 Noise Pickup. 3.4.6 Avoiding Pickup from Probe Shield Currents. 3.4.7 Rise Time / Bandwidth. 3.5 Differential Signals. 3.5.1 Probing Differential Signals. 3.5.2 Single-Ended Jitter Measurements on Differential Signals. 3.5.3 Passive Differential Probing.4. Accessories. 4.1 Cables and Connectors. 4.1.1 Cable Rise Time / Bandwidth. 4.1.2 Skin Effect Compensation. 4.1.3 Dielectric Loss Minimization. 4.1.4 Cable Delay. 4.1.5 Connectors. 4.2 Signal Conditioning. 4.2.1 Splitting and Combining Signals. 4.2.2 Baluns - Conversion between Differential and Single-Ended. 4.2.3 Rise Time Filters. 4.2.4 AC coupling. 4.2.5 Providing Termination Bias. 4.2.6 Attenuators. 4.2.7 Delay Lines.Chapter 3: Timing and Jitter1. Statistical basics. 1.1 Statistical Parameters. 1.2 Distributions and Histograms. 1.3 Probability Density and Cumulative Density Function. 1.4 The Gaussian Distribution. 1.4.1 Some Fundamental Properties. 1.4.2 How Many Samples Are Enough?2. Rise time measurements. 2.1 Uncertainty in Thresholds. 2.2 Bandwidth Limitations. 2.3 Insufficient Sample Rate. 2.4 Interpolation Artifacts. 2.5 Smoothing. 2.6 Averaging3. Understanding jitter. 3.1 What Is Jitter? 3.2 Effects of Jitter - Why Measuring Jitter Is Important. 3.2.1 Definition of the Ideal Position. 3.2.1.1 Data Stream with Separate Clock. 3.2.1.2 Clock-Less Data Stream. 3.2.1.3 Data Stream with Embedded Clock - Clock Recovery. 3.2.1.4 Edge-to-Edge Jitter vs. Edge-to-Reference Jitter. 3.2.1.5 Jitter Trend. 3.3 Jitter Types and Jitter Sources. 3.3.1 CDF and PDF. 3.3.2 Random Jitter. 3.3.3 Noise Creates Jitter. 3.3.4 Noise Types and Noise Sources. 3.3.4.1 Thermal Noise. 3.3.4.2 Shot Noise. 3.3.4.3 1/f Noise. 3.3.4.4 Burst Noise (Popcorn Noise). 3.3.5 Periodic Jitter. 3.3.6 Duty Cycle Distortion. 3.3.7 Data Dependent Jitter. 3.3.8 Duty Cycle and Thermal Effects. 3.3.9 Uncorrelated Deterministic Jitter. 4. Jitter Analysis. 4.1 More Ways to Visualize Jitter. 4.1.1 Bit Error Rates. 4.1.2 Bathtub Curves. 4.1.3 Eye Diagrams and How to Read Them. 4.2 Jitter Extraction and Separation. 4.2.1 Why Analyze