Efficient signal integrity verification of multi-coupled transmission lines with asynchronously switching non-linear drivers

Abstract

A non-linear driver is modeled as a simple equivalent linear circuit which can be represented with pre-characterized driver model parameters, i.e., a driver input rise time modulation, a driver switching delay, effective-driver resistance, and effective transmission line capacitance. Thereby, an efficient linear-driver-based simulation algorithm for multi-coupled interconnect lines can be directly exploited. In this work, a traveling-wave-based waveform approximation technique which is a linear-driver-based simulation algorithm for the efficient signal integrity verification of multi-coupled transmission lines is combined with the developed driver model. Then it is shown that the signal integrity of asynchronously switching interconnect nets with non-linear drivers can be accurately as well as efficiently verified