Effects of Phase Noise and Signal to Noise Ratio in PAM4 Signaling

Early analysis and evaluation of clock phase noise and signal to noise ratio of the channel in a high-speed serial (HSS) link can have a significant effect on correctly designing the core and achieving first time right. This presentation evaluates the effect of measured phase noise and/or channel signal to noise ratio in pulse-amplitude modulation 4-level (PAM4) signaling. The effect of closed-loop phase-locked loop (PLL) bandwidth is also included to further enhance the analysis and estimation of symbol error rate (SER) and total error based on total number of symbols run.