Course

Jitter Essentials | EMBD.X407

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As the data rate of parallel and serial transmission increases, analysis and characterization of timing jitter are becoming critical to determine the system performance. The unit timing interval of the current system is shrinking and consequently the timing jitter is now occupying a larger portion of a system’s overall timing budget. The effects of jitter, which in the past may have been safely ignored, must be managed today to advance system performance. It is therefore necessary to directly relate the jitter performance to system performance in terms of Bit Error Rate (BER).

This course is designed for anyone working with jitter who wants to develop a strong foundation and to clearly understand it. Students will learn the definitions of various types of jitter (including phase noise), understand which type of jitter is important to their application and why, learn how to propagate jitter through a system, create jitter budgets, understand the various equipment for measuring jitter, and learn how to minimize jitter. Emphasis will be placed on developing a working knowledge of jitter, such as establishing a common language, understanding jitter beyond the definitions, gaining insight by making simplifying assumptions, and visualizing relationships between different types of jitter. This course teaches the fundamentals of jitter applied to a wide range of products, and is intended for anyone who works with jitter on a regular basis.

Learning Outcomes:
At the conclusion of the course, you should be able to:

• Understand basic jitter terminology
• Identify the type(s) of jitter important to various applications
• Visualize jitter in several ways, to reveal underlying source(s) of jitter
• Describe how jitter propagates through a high-speed serial link, and how standards specify jitter to limit it
• Select the right test equipment to measure jitter across various applications