DesignCon 2006 Practical Design Considerations for 10 to 25 Gbps Copper Backplane Serial Links

There is a general consensus that 10 Gbps copper backplane serial links will be deployed in the near future. This paper takes a look at the practical and cost effective design aspects of the 1012.5 Gbps links as well as the feasibility and requirements for the next generation of serial links operating in the 20-25 Gbps range. The design aspects considered include choice of various dielectric materials, connector technologies, via technologies, and active signal conditioning technologies. Four copper based systems are considered for simulation and are shown to be capable of operating at various data rates in the range of 10 to 20 Gbps.