For an introductory slide show, click .
Instructor: Dean P. Neikirk, office ENS 635, phone 471-4669; MERB 1.606F, 471-8549
Course Syllabus
For an introductory slide show, click .
Instructor: Dean P. Neikirk, office ENS 635, phone 471-4669; MERB 1.606F,
471-8549
e-mail: neikirk@uts.cc.utexas.edu
Prerequisites: EE 325; EE 325K, EE 339, and EE 363M won't hurt, but are not required
Objectives:
The "intrinsic" speed/frequency performance of electronic circuits and ICs has increased dramatically in the last ten years. For instance, today you can buy for approximately $100 a MMIC (monolithic millimeter / microwave integrated circuit) amp with 10 dB of gain and about 1 dB noise figure which operates at 94 GHz; ten years ago such performance at even 5 GHz probably cost at least ten times more. Similarly, some state-of-the-art microprocessors operate at clock rates of over 100 MHz, with digital edge transition times well under 1 nsec. But can these improvements continue unabated? Even if intrinsic performance continues to improve, will extrinsic effects limit system performance? What connection (pardon the pun) is there between how the "components" are packaged and system performance? What electromagnetic effects must we understand and model to design high speed/frequency systems?
This course will have several objectives that I consider (broadly) to be "package" related:
i) Internal to the IC level, we will the study "extrinsic" effects which often produce more severe limits than the "intrinsic" device physics.
a. impact of finite conductivity of metal interconnects
b. contact resistance to semiconductors and at interfaces
c. propagation delay, mainly RC
i) At the level just above the IC (included here is the IC package itself) we will again look at "parasitics" that affect performance:
a. "lumped" element and transmission line models for packages and PWBs/PCBs
b. causality and propagation delays, mainly RLC.
Two years ago in a microwave device class our goal was to try to prove or disprove the following conjecture:
The physical world is fundamentally unfriendly towards complex (read: generally useful) electronic systems which operate at frequencies in excess of 100 GHz or speeds faster than 10 psec.
We will again consider this in our study of package-related electromagnetic effects.
Class Projects: You must complete a class project, which will count for 30% of your grade. The project will consist of the identification of a critical, package-related roadblock in high speed/frequency circuits, and the detailed, critical examination of relevant literature. You will then prepare a written discussion of your findings, as well as presenting a DETAILED, BUT UNDERSTANDABLE, oral talk to the class. You will be expected to explain your findings in language we can all understand; I will not accept "conventional" explanations which consist primarily of fancy jargon. Expect to spend at least one hour with me prior to your class presentation, with a return visit to clarify any problems (and I guarantee I will find something to object to) identified in your presentation. Presentations will begin April 3. Your class presentation will be fifteen minutes long, with five minutes for questions, given after practicing your presentation with me. When we finish, we should have a "greatest hits" list of classic papers, a thorough appreciation of their content, and an answer to the conjecture posed above.
Text Book: C. R. Paul, Introduction to Electromagnetic Compatibility. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992.
Really useful references:
H. W. Johnson and M. Graham, High-Speed Digital Design: a Handbook of Black Magic. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: PTR Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1993.
D. P. Seraphim, R. C. Lasky, and C.-Y. Li, Ed., Principles of Electronic Packaging. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1989.
L. T. Pillage, R. A. Rohrer, and C. Visweswariah, Electronic Circuit and System Simulation Methods. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1995.
Other possibly related books:
Microwave Semiconductor Devices, by Sigfrid Yngvesson, Kluwer Academic Publishers (1991); Physics of Semiconductor Devices editor S. M. Sze; Microwave Engineering, by D. Pozar, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. (1990); Fields and Waves in Communication Electronics by S. Ramo, J. R. Whinnery, and T. Van Duzer.
Readings should be completed BEFORE coming to class.
THIS SCHEDULE IS HIGHLY OPTIMISTIC!! WE (I ) WILL FALL BEHIND.
Lectur Date Date Reading from
e
Seraphi Paul Johnson
m
1 1/18 Introduction to packaging
2 1/23 package, PCB/PWB, MCM types
3 1/25 Frequency content, component size, and
lumped circuits
4 1/30 transmission lines, telegraphist's
equations
5 2/1 T-lines cont.
6 2/6 calculation of dc resistance, contact
resistance, bends
7 2/8 R cont.
8 2/13 capacitance, mutual capacitance
9 2/15 C cont.
10 2/20 inductance, self inductance, mutual
inductance, partial inductance
11 2/22 inductance cont.
12 2/27 frequency dependent inductance and
resistance
13 3/1 frequency dependent inductance and
resistance
14 3/6
15 3/8
3/13 Spring Break
16 3/20
17 3/22
18 3/27
19 3/29
20 4/3
21 4/5
22 4/10
23 4/12
24 4/17
25 4/19
26 4/24
27 4/26
28 5/1
29 5/3
5/5 Classes End