Dale Becker, Senior Technical Staff Member, IBM
Istvan Novak, Senior Staff Engineer, SUN Microsystems
Larry D. Smith, SUN Microsystems
Steve Weir, Teraspeed Consulting Group

Power distribution network (PDN) design methodologies are a subject of heated debates at various discussion forums. Modern electronic circuits face constantly increasing power densities and growing frequencies, requiring more attention to detail when it comes to power distribution design. There are a number of different design methodologies, many heuristic or not systematic; a few are based on design goals and repeatable procedures. The difficulty of PDN design is amplified by the multiple uses of the PDN components: not only do they have to provide clean power to the electronics, but for many of the signaling schemes, they also provide the signal return path. Moreover, the size of PDN is often comparable to the wavelength of increasing signaling and switching frequencies, potentially raising radiation concerns. Practicing industry experts in this TecForum will give a comparative view of some of the popular design methodologies by comparing design goals, necessary component count, resulting impedance profiles, and transient noise signatures.