Istvan Novak, Distinguished Engineer, Signal and Power Integrity, SPARC Volume Servers,
Sun Microsystems
Yasuhiro Mori, Senior Product Manager, Agilent Technologies
Michael Resso, Signal Integrity Specialist, Agilent Technologies

This paper discusses practical solutions for improving the quality and accuracy of frequency-domain Power Distribution Network (PDN) component measurements in the near-DC to MHz frequency ranges, which is gaining increasing importance for PCB-level of todayÕs low-voltage digital circuits. The paper will discuss and illustrate how to measure milliohm impedances of DC-DC converters more accurately by understanding measurement accuracy, limitation and error sources of different measurement systems. It will also show how to accurately characterize Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCCs) and inductors/ferrite beads that have AC-signal and DC-bias dependences. In these discussions, the paper will introduce new approaches to the milliohm impedance measurements and AC/DC-biased impedance measurements with a new 5 Hz-to-3 GHz Vector Network Analyzers (VNA).