Accurate measurements to ensure power integrity in your electronic designs
Today’s highly integrated electronic devices use low voltage levels and components with far lower tolerances to fluctuations in power. Consequently, analyzing the performance of the power delivery network on a PCB is an important part of the circuit design process. Where previously measuring power level ripples, noise, and transients in the time domain was an adequate approach, frequency domain measurements are also essential to detect unintentional coupling with signals, resulting in power spikes. An additional factor to consider is potential high frequency responses up to several hundred megahertz during transient phases such as power-on surges and load changes, causing power rails to act as transmission lines, affecting the signal integrity.
Obtaining accurate time domain measurements to detect ripple, noise and transients of very small mV level signals on 1 to 3 V power rails accurately is a challenge. A suitable oscilloscope plus probesmust feature a …