SNAA386 November   2023 CDCE6214 , CDCE6214-Q1 , CDCE6214Q1TM , LMK00301 , LMK00304 , LMK00306 , LMK00308 , LMK00334 , LMK00334-Q1 , LMK00338 , LMK03318 , LMK03328 , LMK3H0102 , LMK6C , LMK6H , LMKDB1104 , LMKDB1108 , LMKDB1120 , LMKDB1202 , LMKDB1204

 

  1.   1
  2.   Abstract
  3.   Trademarks
  4. 1Introduction
  5. 2Introduction to PCIe
    1. 2.1 The PCIe Link
  6. 3PCIe Clocking Architectures
    1. 3.1 Common Clock Architecture
    2. 3.2 Separate Reference Architecture
    3. 3.3 Spread Spectrum Clocking
    4. 3.4 PCIe REFCLK Topology
    5. 3.5 Noise Folding
  7. 4PCIe Clocking Specifications
    1. 4.1 REFCLK Output Format
    2. 4.2 PCIe Jitter Requirements
    3. 4.3 PCIe Time Domain Requirements
  8. 5REFCLK Measurement Technique
    1. 5.1 Clock Generator Measurement Results
      1. 5.1.1 PNA Measurement Result without SSC
      2. 5.1.2 PCIe Filtered PNA Result without SSC
      3. 5.1.3 PNA Measurement Result, With SSC
      4. 5.1.4 PCIe Filtered PNA Result, With SSC
      5. 5.1.5 Time Domain PCIe Measurement Result
    2. 5.2 Clock Buffer Measurement Results
      1. 5.2.1 PNA Measurement Result
      2. 5.2.2 PCIe Filtered PNA Result
      3. 5.2.3 Time Domain PCIe Measurement Result
  9. 6Texas Instruments Products with PCIe Compliance
  10. 7Summary
  11. 8References

1 Introduction

PCIe began with the first generation, PCIe Gen 1.1, in 2003. The standard is by the Peripheral Component Interconnect Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG). PCIe replaced the original PCI, a parallel communication bus. PCIe uses a serial point-to-point architecture which allows for higher data transfer rates, as devices are not competing for bandwidth on a bus. PCIe also employs differential HCSL or LP-HCSL clocks instead of the PCI LVCMOS clocks, allowing for better noise immunity, and Spread Spectrum Clocking (SSC) for reduction of electromagnetic interference (EMI). This application note discusses the clocking architectures for the PCIe link, as well as the measurement techniques for jitter and waveform integrity.