AD9516-0
APPLICATION NOTES
LVPECL CLOCK DISTRIBUTION
USING THE AD9516 OUTPUTS FOR ADC CLOCK
APPLICATIONS
The LVPECL outputs of the AD9516 provide the lowest jitter
clock signals available from the AD9516. The LVPECL outputs
(because they are open emitter) require a dc termination to bias
the output transistors. The simplified equivalent circuit in
Figure 57 shows the LVPECL output stage.
Any high speed, ADC is extremely sensitive to the quality of its
sampling clock. An ADC can be thought of as a sampling mixer,
and any noise, distortion, or timing jitter on the clock is
combined with the desired signal at the analog-to-digital
output. Clock integrity requirements scale with the analog input
frequency and resolution, with higher analog input frequency
applications at ≥14-bit resolution being the most stringent. The
theoretical SNR of an ADC is limited by the ADC resolution
and the jitter on the sampling clock. Considering an ideal ADC
of infinite resolution where the step size and quantization error
can be ignored, the available SNR can be expressed
In most applications, an LVPECL far-end Thevenin termination
is recommended, as shown in Figure 69. The resistor network is
designed to match the transmission line impedance (50 Ω) and
the switching threshold (VS − 1.3 V).
VS_LVPECL
VS_LVPECL
LVPECL
V
S
127Ω
127Ω
50Ω
approximately by
SINGLE-ENDED
(NOT COUPLED)
LVPECL
⎛
⎜
⎜
⎝
⎞
⎟
⎟
⎠
1
SNR(dB) = 20×log
2πfAtJ
50Ω
83Ω
83Ω
V
= V – 1.3V
S
T
where:
fA is the highest analog frequency being digitized.
tJ is the rms jitter on the sampling clock.
Figure 69. LVPECL Far-End Thevenin Termination
VS_LVPECL
VS_LVPECL
0.1nF
Figure 68 shows the required sampling clock jitter as a function
of the analog frequency and effective number of bits (ENOB).
100Ω DIFFERENTIAL
(COUPLED)
100Ω
LVPECL
LVPECL
110
0.1nF
TRANSMISSION LINE
18
1
SNR = 20log
2πfAtJ
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
200Ω
200Ω
16
14
12
10
8
Figure 70. LVPECL with Parallel Transmission Line
LVDS CLOCK DISTRIBUTION
The AD9516 provides four clock outputs (OUT6 to OUT9) that
are selectable as either CMOS or LVDS level outputs. LVDS is a
differential output option that uses a current mode output stage.
The nominal current is 3.5 mA, which yields 350 mV output
swing across a 100 Ω resistor. The LVDS output meets or
exceeds all ANSI/TIA/EIA-644 specifications.
6
10
100
1k
A recommended termination circuit for the LVDS outputs is
shown in Figure 71.
fA (MHz)
Figure 68. SNR and ENOB vs. Analog Input Frequency
VS
VS
See AN-756 and AN-501 application notes at www.analog.com.
Many high performance ADCs feature differential clock inputs
to simplify the task of providing the required low jitter clock on
a noisy PCB. (Distributing a single-ended clock on a noisy PCB
can result in coupled noise on the sample clock. Differential
distribution has inherent common-mode rejection that can
provide superior clock performance in a noisy environment.)
The AD9516 features both LVPECL and LVDS outputs that
provide differential clock outputs, which enable clock solutions
that maximize converter SNR performance. The input
requirements of the ADC (differential or single-ended, logic
level, termination) should be considered when selecting the best
clocking/converter solution.
100Ω
100Ω
LVDS
LVDS
DIFFERENTIAL (COUPLED)
Figure 71. LVDS Output Termination
See AN-586 application note at www.analog.com for more
information on LVDS.
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