AP-523
E
22
Resistance of the high frequency capacitors can also be
included in the above analysis, but the resistance and
current for each capacitor are low enough that this should
not be necessary.
While the above calculation provides a theoretical
number of capacitors required to meet the processor di/dt
requirements, high frequency noise may yet persist. More
capacitors may be necessary to control noise from other
sources. However, mixing additional values in the design
to create higher resonance points should not be useful
since the capacitors described (1206 package) have very
high resonant frequencies already. This is shown by
using the values from Table 5 in Equation 10.
Equation 10. Resonant Frequency
f
LC
MHz
=
≈
×
×
≈
1
2
1
2
0
10
1 10
(
73
.
9
6
π
π
( .47
)
)
Note that all 1206 capacitors will have basically the same
inductance value and that smaller components actually
have more inductance. Also, the inductance of the vias
are the larger contributors and actually cause the
resonance to be more like 3.6 MHz .
4.4.
Power Planes or Islands
The imperfections of the power planes themselves have
so far been ignored. These may also introduce unwanted
resistance and inductance into the power distribution
system. In the complex model in Figure 3 these
imperfections are referred to as R
BOARD
and L
BOARD
.
Power should definitely be distributed as a plane. This
plane can be constructed as an
island
on a layer used for
other signals, on a supply plane with other power islands,
or as a dedicated layer of the Printed Circuit Board
(PCB). Processor power should never be distributed by
traces alone. See Figure 20 for an example of a voltage
island.
Due to the fact that the Pentium Pro processor voltage is
unique to most system designs, a voltage island, or
islands, will probably be the most cost effective means of
distributing power to the processors. This island should
be continuous from the source of power to the load. It
should also completely surround all of the pins of the
source and all of the pins of the load.
Figure 20 also shows the placement of an SMA-type
coaxial connection. This connection will later allow the
direct connection of an oscilloscope for accurate power
plane measurements.
Vccs
Vccp
Vccp
DC->DC Converter w/ Bul Decoupling
Decoupling
2H
2
O
N
C
S
Figure 20. A Pentium
Pro Processor Voltage Island