PCB High-Speed Signal Design Guidelines: Agilex™ 5 FPGAs and SoCs

ID 821801
Date 11/18/2024
Public
Document Table of Contents

3.6.2. General Guidelines for GTS Transceiver Ethernet Interface

  • Intra pair skew: ±1mil

BGA Breakout Optimization

Through hole vias with backdrill are used. As outlined in the General Design Considerations section, note the change of impedance control tolerance, total insertion loss and so forth for microstrip routing. Altera recommends to use a 3D simulation for optimization the BGA breakout. Try to make return loss lower than -15 dB at Nyquist frequency (lower than -20 dB is better) and control the impedance changing of cut-out area as small as possible (better within ±5 ohm). The following figures show detailed structures used on SOM for top layer and L3 fan-out. The following figures show the simulation results of return loss and TDR where the drill hole size of 8 mils and pad size of 16 mils is used. Simulation results for 18 mils pad size have been also presented. Both pad sizes can get good performance.

Figure 31. 90 Ω Top Layer Breakout Structure
Figure 32. 90 Ω L3 Breakout Structure
Figure 33. Simulation Results of Return Loss (16 mils pad size)For top layer breakout (left) and L3 breakout (right).
Figure 34. Simulation Results of TDR (16 mils pad size)For top layer breakout (left) and L3 breakout (right).

The following figure (left) shows simulation results for 18 mils pad with the same cut-out size as 16 mils pad. The impedance is lower due to large capacitance caused by larger pad size, and the return loss is approximately 3 to 4 dB higher, however still meeting -15 dB requirement. A larger anti-pad size, such as 28 mils, can improve return loss performance as shown in the following figure (right).

Figure 35. Simulation Results of L3 Breakout (18 mils pad size)Using the same cut-out size (left) and larger anti-pad size (28 mils diameter) (right).

The following figure shows L5 breakout structure, where there is no L5 breakout on SOM. This is for simulation study reference.

Figure 36. 90 Ω L5 Breakout Structure
Figure 37. Simulation Results of Return Loss for L5 Breakout