Circuits and techniques for high-resolution measurement of on-chip power supply noise

• Published in: IEEE journal of solid-state circuits Vol. 40; no. 4; pp. 820 - 828
• Main Authors: Alon, E., Stojanovic, V., Horowitz, M.A.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.04.2005; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Analog-digital conversion; Applied sciences; Autocorrelation; Circuit noise; Circuit properties; Circuits; CMOS technology; Conversion; Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits; Electronic circuits; Electronic equipment and fabrication. Passive components, printed wiring boards, connectics; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Frequency; Hardware; High speed; Impedance; Noise; Noise measurement; Oscillators, resonators, synthetizers; power delivery validation; Power measurement; Power supplies; random noise; Samplers; Semiconductor device measurement; spectral measurement; supply noise measurement; Transceivers; Voltage; Random noise; High resolution; spectral measurement; Voltage controlled oscillator; power delivery validation; supply noise measurement; Power supply; Noise measurement; Analog-digital conversion; Transceiver; Sampler; Measurement accuracy; Power spectrum
• ISSN: 0018-9200; 1558-173X
• DOI: 10.1109/JSSC.2004.842853

This paper presents a technique for characterizing the statistical properties and spectrum of power supply noise using only two on-chip low-throughput samplers. The samplers utilize a voltage-controlled oscillator to perform high-resolution analog-to-digital conversion with minimal hardware. The measurement system is implemented in a 0.13-/spl mu/m process along with a high-speed link transceiver. Measured results from this chip validate the accuracy of the measurement system and elucidate several aspects of power supply noise, including its cyclostationary nature.