Non-overlapping power/ground planes for localized power distribution network design

Abstract

Power/ground planes are used for low IR-drop and inductance, but they also cause switching noise coupling globally across chip packages and printed circuit boards. The switching noise coupling is a concern for mixed-signal boards, high-speed I/Os, and electromagnetic compatibility. In GHz frequency regime, switching noise cannot be controlled by off-chip discrete decoupling capacitors due to their inductance. In this paper we introduce the non-overlapping power/ground planes design methodology for filtering of GHz power plane noise. Unlike existing approaches, our approach is simple, has wide bandwidth, and does not increase IR-drop or inductance.