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Application Note 1546
QLx411G Evaluation Board User Guide
Introduction to QLX411G
Evaluation Kit
The QLX 411G series Evaluation Board is a versatile
stand-alone card developed to evaluate the performance
of Intersil QLx411G series Quad Equalizer.
The evaluation kit includes:
• QLX411G evaluation board
• Power cable
The key features of the evaluation board are:
• QLX411G series IC
• Single 5V external power supply
• On board DC/DC converter that provides 1.2V supply
to the IC
• 8 sets of SMA connectors for high speed signals input
and output
• 4 sets of 50Ω terminators on the channel outputs
• A variable potentiometer to set DT
• Boost setting for each channel via two sets of
headers
Operation of the QLX411G
Evaluation Board
After a brief description of the board design and layout
we will describe the different features and options to
operate the board. In particular we will describe:
• The power supply to the board
FIGURE 1. QLx411G EVALUATION BOARD EXTERNAL
POWER SUPPLY CONNECTOR
Power Supply
The Evaluation Board requires an independent external
5.0V power supply. On board voltage regulators supply
the appropriate 1.2V to the QLx411G IC.
Power is supplied to the board via header P1 highlighted
on Figure 2. P1 connectivity is specified in Table 1. The
typical current consumption for the board including the
voltage regulator and the IC is 440mA with all channels
active.
POWER SUPPLY CONNECTOR
• The high speed differential I/Os
• The variable Detection Threshold
• The Control Boost setting
FIGURE 2. QLx411G EVALUATION BOARD EXTERNAL
POWER SUPPLY CONNECTOR
TABLE 1. DESCRIPTION OF CONNECTOR P1
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1
8 – NC
7 – NC
6 – 5.0V
5 – 5.0V
4 – NC
3 – NC
2 – GND
1 – GND
CAUTION: These devices are sensitive to electrostatic discharge; follow proper IC Handling Procedures.
1-888-INTERSIL or 1-888-468-3774 | Intersil (and design) is a registered trademark of Intersil Americas Inc.
Copyright Intersil Americas Inc. 2010. All Rights Reserved
All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
Application Note 1546
High Speed Data I/O Interface Connectors
Loss of Signal (LOS) indicator
There are sixteen SMA connectors on the board, eight for
the CML differential inputs and eight for the CML
differential outputs. All the connections from the SMA
connectors to the QLX411G chip are AC coupled with a
220nF broad band capacitor.
QLx411G LOS[k] pins are used to output the state of the
muting circuitry to serve as a loss of signal indicator for
channel k. This signal is directly derived from the muting
signal off the DT-threshold signal detector output. The
LOS signal goes ‘HIGH’ when the power signal is below
the DT threshold and ‘LOW’ when the power goes above
the DT threshold. This feature is meant to be used in
optical systems (e.g. QSFP) where there are no
quiescent or electrical-idle states. In these cases, the DT
threshold is used to determine the sensitivity of the LOS
indicator.
During operation all unused channel I/Os need to be
properly terminated with 50Ω terminators.
Detection Threshold (DT)
The QLx411G contains special lane management
capabilities to detect and preserve periods of line silence
while still providing the fidelity-enhancing benefits of
limiting amplification during active data transmission.
Line silence is detected by measuring the amplitude of
the equalized signal and comparing that to a threshold
set by the voltage at the DT pin. When the amplitude
falls below the threshold, the output driver stages are
muted and held at their nominal common mode voltage.
On the QLx411G evaluation board the LOS[k] pins are
accessible through two 3x2 headers, JP4 and JP5
(Figure 4). A voltage reading superior to 1V shall be
interpreted as Loss of Signal, whereas a reading inferior
to 250mV shall be interpreted as a valid signal.
The DT voltage can be changed on the QLx411G
evaluation board by adjusting the potentiometer VR1
(Figure 3). Typically the potentiometer should be set so
that the voltage between the adjacent 0Ω resistor and
ground is 500mV.
LOS1
FIGURE 3. QLx411G EVALUATION BOARD DT
POTENTIOMETER
2
LOS2
LOS3
LOS4
FIGURE 4. LOS INDICATORS ON QLx411G
EVALUATION BOARD
TABLE 2. JP4 AND JP5 CONNECTIVITY
JP4
JP5
2- LOS1 4- LOSS2 6- GND
2- Mode 4- LOS4 6- LOS3
1- GND
1- GND
3- GND
5- GND
3- GND
5- GND
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Application Note 1546
FIGURE 5. EQUALIZER BOOST CONTROL HEADERS
Boost Setting Control
The boost setting configuration (compensation setting)
for each individual equalizer channel is done through a
3x3 header. There are four sets of headers, one for each
equalizer channel. Figure 5 illustrates the location of the
headers.
The notation CP[1-4]_[A,B] refers to the QLx411G series
quad equalizer control pins. They are associated with the
4 channels 2-bit number where ‘A’ is the MSB and ‘B’ is
the LSB. Table 3 describes the relationship between the
CPs and the five equalizer boost settings. Bit A is binary
(Jumper to Low, No Jumper), while bit B is tri-state
(Jumper to Low, No Jumper, Jumper to High).
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TABLE 3. CP BOOST SETTINGS
CP[1-4]A
CP[1-4]B
BOOST LEVEL
Jumper to Low
Jumper to Low
0
Jumper to Low
No Jumper
1
Jumper to Low
Jumper to High
2
No Jumper
Jumper to Low
3
No Jumper
No Jumper
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Schematic and Bill Of Materials
The schematic of the evaluation board is illustrated in Figure 6. The silk screen shots of the top and bottom of the board are shown in Figure 7. The Bill of
Materials can be found in Table 4.
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Application Note 1546
FIGURE 6. SCHEMATICS OF THE QLx411G EVALUATION BOARD
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Application Note 1546
Silk Screens
FIGURE 7. QLx411G EVALUATION BOARD TOP (LEFT) AND BOTTOM (RIGHT) SILK SCREENS
TABLE 4. QLx411G EVALUATION BOARD BILL OF MATERIALS
REF DES
TOP/
BOT
DESCRIPTION
PART NO. (DIGIKEY)
QTY
PCC103BQCT-ND/
PCC2268CT-ND
2/2
25 BRD
QTY
MURATA SUB
TOP SIDE
C36, C37
Note: On C36, C37 install 10nF first, then
1µF on top.
T
10nF/1µF doublestack
C3, C4, C33, C34, C34A,
C39
T
10µF TANT CAP
478-1673-1-ND
6
150
GRM40X5R106K16H539
C40, C41, C42, C43,
C44, C45
T
220nF
PCC2272CT-ND
6
150
GRM36Y5V224Z16D500
C5, C6, C7, C8, C9, C10,
C11, C12, C13, C14,
C15, C16, C17, C18,
C19, C20
T
220nF wideband
BB0502Y5V224M16NVT98205
16
400
5
50/50 GRM36C06103K25D500/
n/a
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Application Note 1546
TABLE 4. QLx411G EVALUATION BOARD BILL OF MATERIALS (Continued)
REF DES
TOP/
BOT
DESCRIPTION
PART NO. (DIGIKEY)
QTY
25 BRD
QTY
MURATA SUB
PCC103BQCT-ND
16
400
GRM36X7R103K25D500
C1A, C2A, C3A, C4A,
C5A, C6A, C7A, C8A,
C9A, C10A, C11A, C12A,
C13A, C14A, C15A, C16A
T
10nf 0402
D1
T
0Ω 0603
P0.0GCT-ND
1
25
J1, J2, J3, J4, J5, J6, J7,
J8, J9, J10, J11, J12,
J13, J14, J15, J16
T
SMA VERT MNT
A24691-ND
16
400
JP1, JP2, JP4, JP5, JP6,
JP7
T
2x3 HDR
WM26806-ND
6
150
JP10, P1
Note: cut keying pin on
P1 per drawing
T
2x4 HDR
WM26808-ND
2
50
JP3, JP8, P9
Note: cut keying pin on
P9 per drawing
T
1x6
WM6506-ND
3
75
L1, L2, L3, L4
T
1206 SMD IND
LQH31CN2R2M03L (Murata)
4
100
LED1
T
1206 LED
350-1566-1-ND
1
25
P8
T
USB CONN
H2959CT-ND
1
25
Q1
T
NPN XSISTOR
2SC248000LCT-ND
1
25
R1, R6
T
3.9k
P3.9KJCT-ND
2
50
R11, R12, R13, R14,
R15, R42
T
10k
311-10.0KLRCT-ND
6
150
R18
T
100
311-100JRCT-ND
1
25
R29
T
680Ω
P680JCT-ND
1
25
R30, R31, R32, R33,
R34, R35, R36, R37,
R38, R39, R40, R41
T
25k
541-25.5KLCT-ND
12
300
R19
T
180
U2, U3
T
LM-1117 VOLT REG
P180JCT-ND
1
25
LM1117MP-ADJCT-ND
2
50
U4
T
CY8C24894 MCU
CY8C24894-24LFXI (Cypress)
1
25
U5
T
65220 ESD
296-9694-1-ND
1
25
VR1
VR2 jumper
T
1k TRIM POT
CT94EW102-ND
1
25
PV36W102C01B00
T
Do not install pot.
Wire jumper pin 2 to
pin 3
n/a
1
25
PV36W501C01B00
Do not install SM
component
C1, C38
B
10nF
PCC103BQCT-ND
2
50
C22, C23, C24, C25,
C26, C27
B
100pF
PCC101CQCT-ND
6
150
R10
B
6k
P6.04KLCT-ND
1
25
R3, R4, R5, R23, R24,
R25
B
1.5k
P1.5KJCT-ND
6
150
R7, R8, R9, R26, R27,
R28
B
1k
RHM1.00KLCT-ND
6
150
BOTTOM SIDE
GRM36X7R101J25D50
DO NOT INSTALL
C35, JP9, JP11, R20,
VR2, C22, C23, C24,
C25, C26, C27
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Application Note 1546
About Q:ACTIVE®
Intersil has long realized that to enable the complex
server clusters of next generation datacenters, it is
critical to manage the signal integrity issues of electrical
interconnects. To address this, Intersil has developed its
groundbreaking Q:ACTIVE® product line. By integrating
its analog ICs inside cabling interconnects, Intersil is able
to achieve unsurpassed improvements in reach, power
consumption, latency, and cable gauge size as well as
increased airflow in tomorrow’s datacenters. This new
technology transforms passive cabling into intelligent
“roadways” that yield lower operating expenses and
capital expenditures for the expanding datacenter.
Intersil Lane Extenders allow greater reach over existing
cabling while reducing the need for thicker cables. This
significantly reduces cable weight and clutter, increases
airflow, and improves power consumption.
Intersil Corporation reserves the right to make changes in circuit design, software and/or specifications at any time without notice. Accordingly, the
reader is cautioned to verify that the Application Note or Technical Brief is current before proceeding.
For information regarding Intersil Corporation and its products, see www.intersil.com
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