JESD204B vs. Serial LVDS I/F for wideband data converter apps

George Diniz, Analog Devices
11/6/2012 3:51 PM EST

JESD204B Introduction

The JESD204A industry standard for serial interfaces was developed to address the problem of interconnecting the newest wideband data converters with other system ICs in an efficient and cost saving manner. The motivation was to standardize an interface that would reduce the number of digital inputs/outputs between data converters and other devices – such as FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays) and SoC (system-on-chip) devices – through the use of a scaleable high-speed serial interface.

Trends show that new applications, as well as advances in existing ones, are driving the need for wideband data converters with increasingly higher sampling frequencies and data resolutions. Transmitting data to and from these wideband converters poses a significant design problem as bandwidth limitations of existing I/O technologies force the need for higher pin counts on converter products. Consequently, systems PCB designs have become increasingly more complex in terms of interconnect density. The challenge is routing a large number of high-speed digital signals while managing electrical noise. The ability to offer wideband data converters with Gsps sampling frequencies, using fewer interconnects, simplifies the PCB layout challenges and allows for smaller form factor realization without impacting overall system performance.

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