Excess Capacitance and Inductance

UltraScale Architecture PCB Design User Guide (UG583)

Document ID
UG583
Release Date
2023-11-14
Revision
1.27 English

Most differential transitions are overly capacitive. The P and N paths couple to each other, increasing capacitance. Many transitions have a frequency response identical to that of a lumped capacitor over a wide frequency band.

By design, adding inductance cancels this excess capacitance in many cases except when impacted by density concerns and physical limitations. While techniques such as blind vias, solder balls on a larger pitch, and very small via pads reduce capacitance, they are not always feasible in a design.

Time domain reflectometry (TDR) techniques, either through simulation or measurement, allow the designer to identify excess capacitance or excess inductance in a transition.