At EDI CON USA 2017 (Hynes Convention Center, Boston, MA September 11-13), there will be a special High-Speed Symposium detailing the best practices used in the industry for integrating material properties into high-speed channel simulations. The symposium is sponsored by Signal Integrity Journal and will include invited papers, each 50 minutes long, followed by a panel session.

To accurately simulate a channel’s performance, everyone agrees we need to have accurate models for the materials, both copper and dielectrics, and accurate values for these parameters. There are many routes to navigate this complex situation. More than one approach results in good agreement between the final simulation and measurement of a differential channel. What are some of these best practices?

In this special invited session, we intend to bring together industry experts who have successfully demonstrated a process flow that incorporates material models and measurements that give good measurement and simulation agreement.

Some of the details we would expect to see presented in your process flow are:

• What causal material model do you use in your simulator?
• What design and materials input information does your simulator require?
• How do you typically get accurate values of these parameters?
• What is the test vehicle you use to extract material properties?
• How do you de-embed fixtures in your measurements?
• How well does the simulation match measurements of longer channels?
• What metrics have you compared, such as the mixed-mode S-parameters in the frequency and time domains and the dispersion in the frequency domain?
• What different copper and dielectric material systems have you explored?

We encourage team presentations that might include representatives from materials suppliers, copper foil suppliers, board design and fabrication engineers, simulation vendors and other experts.

At the end of this extended session, one person from each group will participate in a panel discussion on best practices for the industry.

If you would like to participate in this special session, please contact Eric Bogatin, editor, Signal Integrity Journal, directly at eric@signalintegrityjournal.com or 913-424-4222.  Proposals will be reviewed by the Editorial Advisory Board of Signal Integrity Journal and event management. (Please do not submit proposals through the general EDI CON call for papers portal.) Deadline for submission of proposals to Eric Bogatin is April 3.